Remembering Tony Mendes

Tony Mendes was an iconic figure in the global television industry, inspiring many with his ability to balance business and fun while compromising neither. David Jenkinson reflects on this remarkable man following his death last week.

Within hours of meeting Tony Mendes one evening at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel during Natpe 1994 we were out on the town, with my then business partner, Ian Thornton, Odiri Iwuji and the late, great Chris Gunn.

Our triumphant posse arrived home as the sun was rising, having painted the town every colour of the rainbow, and each retired to recover and prepare for battle on what should have been the next day, but was now just moments away.

I crawled into the market a few hours later only to spy Tony holding court in a meeting with a group of senior US studio execs, bright as a button. As I walked past the stand he flashed a mischievous grin without breaking his flow. There were deals to be done!

Doing the very best work while having the very best time – and making sure those two things complemented each other, not compromised them – was what Tony Mendes was about.

That one smile defined him to me for ever. His intelligence, professionalism, generosity, inclusion, resilience, mischief, defiance, respect, stamina and irrepressible appetite for life was loved by everyone who knew him.

Tony died on August 13 in hospital near his home in Santo André, Portugal following a battle with the brain cancer Glioblastom 4. He was 68.

His passing has had a profound effect on those who knew him and who, doubtless, shared a thousand memories just like those I hold dear.

Tony was surrounded by people who loved him. Always. His wicked sense of humour, his directness, his strong sense of right and wrong and passionate defence of what he believed in sat alongside his wonderful escape valve: to have the most fun possible in any situation.

Born in Angola, he fled the country’s dictatorship to Sweden in the 1970s. Having acclimatised, he went to Lund University and Stockholm University before joining Sveriges Television (SVT), responsible for the international acquisition of documentary films.

He worked his way up to become head of acquisitions at SVT before leaving to be part of the launch team for Sweden’s first commercial broadcaster, TV4, in 1990.

Having helped to build TV4 into one of the most successful channels in Europe, Tony quit in 2001 and left the business, moving to Brazil with his partner, Mikael Johanson. Tony and Mikael left Brazil for Portugal in 2015, where they lived with their beloved beagles.

Throughout Tony’s career, business colleagues quickly became friends. TV4 co-founder Jan Sherman remembers well the warmth others felt for him. “The walk from Hotel Martinez in Cannes to the Mipcom Palais would normally take 15 minutes,” he says. “Together with Tony, it took much more than an hour. Along La Croisette, every other minute someone greeted him. Everyone knew him. There were cordial conversations, accompanied by intense hugs.

“It didn´t matter if Tony had been indignantly angry at the last negotiation. I was there once when he suddenly left the room and slammed the door. Me and a couple of top executives from Fox looked at each other with surprise. Tony had a temper. And even though there were times when I and others thought he was crazy, we loved him. He was a super professional who knew what was on trend and what was not in the TV industry. He was extremely knowledgeable. And his curiosity about the future constantly gave him new knowledge. Tony will always evoke joy and deep respect.”

Marjie Woods, who met Tony through the business and became a close friend, says: “I first met Tony when I was working for J&M Film Sales in the early 80s. He was a quick-thinking and vibrant personality with a wicked sense of humour and we hit it off immediately. He was hugely popular with his colleagues and much loved in the business as he was totally proficient at his job and great to be around. We saw each other regularly at the markets and on my sales trips to Sweden in the 80s and 90s and always had a ‘jolly’ lunch or dinner in Cannes and Monte Carlo with other likeminded personalities, including Theresa Plummer-Andrews and Bill Peck.

“In the late 80s I introduced him to Chris Gunn from Beyond Distribution as they were both such wonderful characters. They immediately became friends and were both full of mischief. We regularly had dinners in the Le Saloon TexMex in Cannes where there was a snooker room, and some of those nights were excessive by today’s standards, but such hilarious memories. When Chris Gunn died we went to Byron Bay for the funeral and Tony spoke of our collective loss as Chris was another extraordinary person, departed way too soon. Chris would have appreciated the madness at the wake.

“We stayed in touch over the years when Tony and Mikael were living in Brazil, and obviously during their time in Portugal. He let me know earlier this year that he was sick and we have been in regular touch ever since, with me sending him photos and talking about old times and all the fun we had. I feel privileged to have known him as a dear friend and I will never forget his unique laugh, his humanity and his strong opinions on everything.

“As a footnote, Tony died on August 13 and strangely Chris died on August 13, 1996. So, I like to think of them partying up there just like they always did – kindred spirits!”

Anthony Utley, who worked at BBC Enterprises in the 80s, says: “I can recall no other character in the industry with whom you could have a furious professional argument but then cast it all aside and go out and party together, both confident that the warm friendship we shared outweighed intense work-related disagreements.

“Tony was one of those rare and special people. After his departure from SVT and subsequently TV4, and mine from the BBC, ITV and Cosgrove Hall Films, we kept in frequent touch when he and Mikael were living in Brazil and then Portugal, and sharing their joy in the acquisition of their beautiful beagles.”

Christian Wikander, now head of drama at Twelve Town, worked with Tony at SVT. “The first word that springs to mind when I think about Tony is ‘supportive.’ We met through my sister in the late Seventies. Tony being a close friend to her and me, a little brother that wanted to hand around the cool grown-ups. Tony was almost like an older brother in the sense that he was always interested in my life and challenges,” he says.

“When we later met at SVT, Tony was working in acquisitions and I was learning about drama production. He used to listen and sometimes give advice. Always close to that wonderful laughter of his.

“Later, when my colleague Peter Emanuel Falck and I frequently visited MipTV and Mipcom during the 90s, Tony always made room in his insanely busy schedule to meet us and share news and strategy. To meet Tony was always an energy boost. His positiveness and caring attitude will always stay with me.

“Tony was very much present in the present, meaning that no matter how much was going on in his own life, Tony always managed to stay present when he met people, so close to a hug or laughter.”

Nadine Nohr, former head of ITV’s distribution business, knew Tony well. “He lived his best life, whether uncompromisingly trailblazing acquisitions for Swedish television or taking early retirement to live in the place he loved with those he loved, moving to a house on the beach in Maceio, Alagoas on the east coast of Brazil with Mikael and their beloved beagles, Buddha, Roffi Williams, Kali von Schinken and Pippi,” she says.

“My abiding memory of Tony will always be the week I spent with them there; early morning walks along the beach with the dogs, music and cocktails on the terrace in the evening with Tony and Mikael cooking up a storm while I mainly lay in a hammock.

“Here a major focus for Tony was the environment, from joining the fight to protect the Amazon rainforest to paying for bins to be installed along the local beachfront and spending hours calling the local council to try to stop them from chopping down a beautiful tree outside the house for no apparent reason.

“Learning that a block of flats was to be built on their beach with sewage running directly into the sea, it became time for the next move, this time to Portugal.

“My camera was stolen at the end of that trip, with hundreds of photos of Brazil and those heady days in Maceio, but that is where I see Tony with his cheeky smile, warm hospitality and deep sense of justice and standing up for the underdog.”

Sky Studios chief commercial officer Jane Millichip says: “Tony Mendes was the best of us. I met him in the early 90s when he was head of programme acquisitions for STV. Highly professional, whip smart, with the warmest and cheekiest smile. I don’t normally put much heed in first impressions, but this one was spot on.

“A political refugee from Angola, Tony was ever grateful to the Swedish nation for affording him both safe harbour and opportunity, which he accepted with dignity.

“He had a long and distinguished career in international TV and always turned the dullest occasions into great fun. We shared a loathing of Las Vegas and during a trip to Natpe we almost got married, just for the hell of it, when the doors of our lift opened randomly at the hotel wedding chapel. Luckily for us it was closed!

“I last saw Tony a couple of years ago in Portugal, and while we hadn’t seen each other for years, if felt as if not a day had passed.

“Honest, ethical, at times outspoken, and yet the warmest of friends, Tony always moved to his own rhythm. He taught me so much about humanity. He was pretty much the best a human can be.”

C21 co-founder Ian Thornton, who spent many hours with Tony throughout his time in the TV business, says: “I shall remember Tony for that astonishing combination of authority and generosity. He was a shining light who could elevate himself above the potential pettiness of the Cannes schoolyard and, quite marvellously, struck that balance with adorable mischief. And that laugh was never far away.

“At my own lowest ebb, he once flew to England to see me, and in doing so, changed the trajectory of my life for the better with his caring sagacity and total decency.”

Maria Mowbray, founder and CEO of Dare, who worked with Tony and TV4, says: “Tony was a pioneer in International acquisitions and back in the 90s helped establish TV4 as a key player on the international marketplace. His genius was to combine a deeply rooted passion for television with a love of people – surely the perfect combination in our business.

“Apart from Tony being a favourite colleague back at the beginning of our careers, he was the one who suggested that the international TV4 gang should get together for dinner in Stockholm with David and Ian from C21, All3Media’s Louise Pedersen and Channel 4’s Stephen Mowbray. Never could we have imagined that would lead to marriage and a Brit as head of acquisitions at SVT!”

Tony was also a favourite interviewee among journalists looking for a strong opinion.

Marlene Edmunds, who began covering the business for Variety in the 90s, remembers: “Commercial television was like the Wild West across Europe, and especially in the Nordic territories. I had lived in Norway so was au fait with Nordic culture and what drove the media landscape, but for me, Tony Mendes was always the go-to guy for comments on what was happening from a commercial perspective. He had come over from SVT to help found TV4, the first commercial competitor to Sweden’s two public TV channels. TV4 began broadcasting by satellite in 1990 from London and, in 1992, began broadcasting terrestrially. All of this coincided with major but similar launches on the continent of commercial TV ventures.

“Tony was brilliant to interview because he did not mince words and his comments came from a much-needed at the time broad international perspective. Born in colonial Angola, Tony fled to Sweden to avoid compulsory service in a string of military campaigns being waged by the Portuguese government across the Sub-Sahara. At that time, Portuguese refugees were scattered across Europe until the Carnation Revolution in 1976 changed the landscape and it became safe for them to return to home.

“As TV4 head of acquisitions, Tony helped grab market share from Swedish pubcaster SVT’s two channels with a wide international programming menu that by 2001, when he resigned to take up other projects, held 28% of the audience share in the territory.

“I checked in with Tony every once in a while after that but we mainly became friends through some shared interest in politics and a lot of other things. Tony had a very wide view of the world and was intensely curious about everything.

“He loved Portugal and was proud of the changes that the country had made since the Carnation Revolution, and especially its ability to contain multiple political points of view. He and Mikael took me to a wonderful evening put on by the mayor of his town, who was elected by a coalition between the Green Party and the Communist Party. I loved it. The mayor went around and talked to every single person at the gathering – probably over 200 people of all political persuasions.

“Tony was a man of honour and integrity, a maverick in almost every sense of the word but with a heart as big as the sky. He was loved by and will be missed by so many.”

These final simple words come from Tony’s partner, Mikael Johanson: “You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can’t forget. Those are your friends.”

Much love from us all.