How do you become a successful film producer? You start by playing drums with limited talent. Today I interviewed the Zentropa film producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Believing in his own talent, he thought he would become a jazz drummer. After losing a fortune, he then got into the film industry by way of making video segments of Danish hit bands, just as the concept of music videos was new.He found his talent, and more than twenty years later he found himself breathing through Cohibas and running the Zentropa film company, artistically headed by film director Lars von Trier - internationally known for Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Europa among others. And for initiating the whole Dogma concept, where films were stripped from artificial effects down to an absolute essential minimum of natural light and sound.
Today, the off-beat producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen runs the company of Zentropa with a soft heart and hard head. He has introduced singing in the company in the morning, but is known for firing employees through text messages. He will play the drums on special occasions with friends - just for the love of it. Off-beat and with limited talent.