Andrés Vicente Gómez

Andrés Vicente Gómez (born 16 September 1943 in Madrid) is a Spanish film producer, head of Lolafilms, with more than 100 films to his credit.

Career Gómez is the winner of an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language film for Belle Époque. Together with the prizes won at festivals like Berlin, Venice, Montreal and San Sebastian, Gomez´s near annual presence at the Spanish Goya Film Awards make him the Spanish producer with most national and international awards to his name.

Many of Spain´s most successful box-office hits have been produced by Andrés Vicente Gómez, who has worked with directors such as Fernando Trueba, Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura, Bigas Luna, Vicente Aranda, Álex de la Iglesia, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Pilar Miró, Santiago Segura, Jose Luis García Sánchez, John Malkovich, and Ray Loriga, amongst others. In recognition for his work as one of the producers most contributing to cinema, in 1998 the Cannes Film Festival paid tribute to Gómez with a special homage.

As a film distributor from the early 1970s onwards, Andrés Vicente Gómez has brought an eclectic selection of international films to Spanish audiences, with classics from directors like Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Melville, and Akira Kurosawa, as well as Oscar scooping titles like "The Last Emperor", "Dances With Wolves", "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Henry V". Gómez has distributed the work of numerous cult directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Bresson, Claude Chabrol, Peter Greenaway, Shoei Imamura, Krzysztof Kieslovski, Alain Resnais, François Truffaut, Bertrand Tavernier, as well as introducing the independent voices of directors like Hal Hartley, Neil Jordan, Paul Morrisey, Tim Robbins and Alan Rudolph.

Alleged embezzlement from Orson Welles Early in his career, Gómez served as a producer on John Hough's 1972 production of Treasure Island, starring Orson Welles. Gómez and Welles hired houses adjacent to one another, and struck up a friendship. Welles was then trying to raise funds for a string of uncompleted films of his own, and Gómez agreed to produce his next film, F for Fake (1973). Gómez recalls, "Treasure Island and [F for] Fake consolidated my relationship with Welles and we signed a three-year agreement of mutual exclusivity through which we expressed our intention to complete all of Orson's unfinished projects. We worked together in 1972 and 1973."

The film's producer Dominique Antoine subsequently endorsed the above account from Barbara Leaming as being "entirely accurate." A July 1986 article in American Cinematographer also corroborates this story, describing Antoine's arrival in Arizona on the set at Southwestern Studios late at night. This story is further corroborated by Peter Bogdanovich, who wrote in November 1997 of the production, "another producer ran back to Europe with $250,000 of Orson's money and never was heard from again (although I recently saw the person on TV accepting an Oscar for coproducing the Best Foreign Film of the year.)" In 2008, film scholars Jean-Pierre Berthomé and François Thomas identified Gómez (who collected a Best Foreign Picture Oscar in 1994) as the alleged embezzler, and they date his withdrawal from the project to 1974. Gómez first met Welles in Spain in 1972, during the making of Treasure Island, in which they were both involved. Gómez then negotiated Welles' deal with the Iranian-owned, Paris-based "Les Films de l'Astrophore", the first product of which was the 1973 film F for Fake, followed by The Other Side of the Wind. As well as the accusation of embezzlement, Welles also had this to say of Gómez: "My Spanish producer never paid my hotel bill for the three months that he kept me waiting in Madrid for the money for The Other Side of the Wind. So I'm scared to death to be in Madrid. I know they're going to come after me with that bill."

Gómez responded to these accusations in a 2001 memoir, subsequently reproduced on his company website:

Regarding the end of my relationship with Orson Welles some lies were told, although he assured me they did not come from him. [A point contradicted by the extensively quoted Leaming account above, which showed the accusations came from an interview with Welles himself; as well as the quote about the hotel bill, which comes from a subsequently emerged (in 2013) audio tape of Welles.] Accordingly, I don't want to go into that matter. I don't deem it relevant to mention the details of our split considering that our relationship was always polite and amicable and we had wonderful moments and experiences together. However, I must make it clear that if I abandoned the project, I didn't do so for financial reasons. My agreement with Welles, written and signed by him, envisaged my work as a producer, not an investor. ... Certain people who were close to Welles and part of his inner circle - the same ones who are spoiling his works and making a living from them—tried to justify his difficulties by linking them to the fact that I pulled out. They have even gone so far as to say that I had pocketed some of the Iranian money which in fact never existed, beyond the funds that were spent appropriately.

Josh Karp's 2015 book on the making of the film cited several pieces of documentary proof which support the allegation:

There are two sets of documents that support this version of events. The first is an August 1974 legal agreement dissolving Orson's partnership with everyone but Astrophore which specifies that [Gómez's] company "failed to" provide its own investment of $150,000 and also had failed to open a production account as it had been obligated to do under a 1973 agreement. Additionally, it claims that the producer's company had misappropriated a whole or substantial part of the money received from Astrophore.

In 1976 and 1977, Boushehri had Coopers and Lybrand audit both Astrophore and the production of The Wind. In each report the auditors stated that Avenel [Welles and Kodar's production company] had signed an August 3, 1973, agreement with the producer's company and with Astrophore under which Orson and Oja's interest in the film was $750,000, while the Iranians and the man's production company were each obligated to provide $150,000 toward completion of the movie. The audits repeat the accusation that the producer misappropriated money he was supposed to transmit from Astrophore to Orson.

Karp's 2015 book also reproduces contemporary (May 2, 1974) correspondence from one of the film's creditors Jim Hines to Frank Marshall, in which Hines claims that "The Maricopa County, Arizona prosecutor's office has filed Criminal charges" against Gómez, and that "They have completed their initial investigation and will issue a warrant for his incarceration should he return to the United States. Grand Larceny is an extraditable offense and, as of May 5th (I believe) he will be considered a fugitive by both the State of Arizona and the United States. His Federal Offense will be interstate flight to avoid Prosecution." (1991) by Bigas Luna Una mujer bajo la lluvia (1992) by Gerardo Vera La Reina Anónima (1992) by Gonzalo Suárez Emma Zunz (1992) by Benoît Jacquot Belle Époque (1992) by Fernando Trueba Marathon (1993) by Carlos Saura La Muerte y la Brújula (1993) by Alex Cox El amante bilingüe (1993) by Vicente Aranda Huevos de oro (1993) by Bigas Luna Tirano Banderas (1993) by José Luis García Sánchez Cómo ser infeliz y disfrutarlo (1993) by Enrique Urbizu La teta y la luna (1994) by Bigas Luna El detective y la muerte (1994) by Gonzalo Suárez La pasión turca (1994) by Vicente Aranda El rey del río (1994) by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Cuernos de mujer (1994) by Enrique Urbizu Antártida (1995) by Manuel Huerga El día de la Bestia (1995) by Álex de la Iglesia Two Much (1995) by Fernando Trueba Palace (1995) by Joan Gràcia Paco Mir Carles Sans Matías, juez de línea (1995) by Santiago Aguilar Paco Mir El perro del hortelano (1995) by Pilar Miró Libertarias (1996) by Vicente Aranda Hollow Reed (1996) by Angela Pope La lengua asesina (1996) by Alberto Sciamma La Celestina (1996) by Gerardo Vera Más allá del jardín(1996) by Pedro Olea Sus ojos se cerraron y el mundo sigue andando (1997) by Jaime Chávarri Hasta la victoria siempre (1997) by Juan Carlos Desanzo Sólo se muere dos veces (1996) by Esteban Ibarretxe Tranvía a la Malvarrosa (1996) by José Luis García Sánchez En brazos de la mujer madura (1996) by Manuel Lombardero La duquesa roja (1996) by Francesc Betriu Perdita Durango (1997) by Álex de la Iglesia Grandes ocasiones (1997) by Felipe Vega La mirada del otro (1997) by Vicente Aranda Una pareja perfecta (1997), by Francesc Betriu Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (1998), by Santiago Segura La niña de tus ojos (1998), by Fernando Trueba Muertos de risa (1998), by Álex de la Iglesia No se lo digas a nadie (1998), de Francisco Lombardi Un dulce olor a muerte(1999), de Gabriel Retes Goya en Burdeos (1999), by Carlos Saura Segunda piel (1999), by Gerardo Vera El portero (2000), by Gonzalo Suárez La comunidad (2000), by Álex de la Iglesia Lázaro de Tormes (2000), by Fernando Fernán Gómez, José Luis García Sánchez Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella (2001), by Santiago Segura Tardes de Gaudí (2000), by Susan Seidelman El paraíso ya no es lo que era (2000), by Francesc Betriu La voz de su amo (2000), by Emilio Martínez Lázaro Juego de Luna (2001), by Mónica Laguna Son de mar (2001), by Bigas Luna Girl from Rio (2001), by Christopher Monger Tuno negro (2001), by Pedro L. Barbero, Vicente J. Martín Rain (2001), by Katherine Lindberg Desafinado (2001), by Manuel Gómez Pereira Pasos de baile (2001), by John Malkovich No somos nadie (2001), by Jordi Mollà Ultimas vacaciones (2001), by Neri Parenti La marcha verde (2001), by José Luis García Sánchez El embrujo de Shanghai (2002), by Fernando Trueba Lo más cercano al cielo (2002), by Tonie Marshall El robo más grande jamás contado (2002), by Daniel Monzón Navidad en el Nilo (2002), by Neri Parenti Deseo (2002), by Gerardo Vera Los niños de San Judas (2003), by Aisling Walsh La hija del caníbal (2003), by Antonio Serrano Soldados de Salamina (2003), by David Trueba Tiempo de tormenta (2003), by Pedro Olea ¡Buen viaje, excelencia! (2003), by Albert Boadella El 7º día (2004), by Carlos Saura Isi/Disi – Amor a lo bestia (2004), by Chema de la Peña Sinfín (2005), by Manuel Sanabria, Carlos Villaverde La fiesta del Chivo (2005), by Luis Llosa Isi & Disi, alto voltaje (2006), by Miguel Ángel Lamata Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo (2007), by Ray Loriga Canciones de amor en Lolita's Club (2007), by Vicente Aranda Manolete (2008), by Menno Meyjes Io, Don Giovanni (2009), by Carlos Saura El cónsul de Sodoma (2009), by Sigfrid Monleón La chispa de la vida (2011), by Álex de la Iglesia Herederos de la bestia (2016) Born a King (2014) by Agustí Villaronga Champions (2020) by Manuel Calvo

TV Los pazos de Ulloa (1984) by Gonzalo Suárez TV Mini-Series La grande collection (1991) TV Series Cuentos de Borges (1993) TV Series Petra Delicado (1999) TV Series Far From Home (2014) TV Series To-Day (2014) TV Series

Musicals The Last Horseman,(2012) directed by Victor Conde ¡Ay Carmela!, (2013) directed by Andrés Lima