An Interview with Kate Guyonvarch
This
month I had the pleasure of interviewing
Kate Guyonvarch, directrice of Association
Chaplin, Roy Export and Bubbles, Inc. The
first time I saw Kate was at the now defunct
Chaplin Society UK's meeting in London in
2000. I think it was Thomas Burke who called
Charlie a shiny white light, because you
could just see the energy busting out of
his pores. Well, this was the impression
I had of Kate, one that hasn't proven wrong
over the five years now that I've had the
distinct pleasure of knowing her. Her energy
and creativity are, in fact, well-represented
by my beacon metaphor, but she is more than
that. Much more. Her faith and belief in
me and my work have changed my life and
she has enthusiasm enough for any such project-be
it business, research or otherwise. And,
just as important, you'll never meet a warmer
person, if you travel to the ends of the
earth looking for one.
What exactly
is Association Chaplin and what does it
do?
The Association Chaplin is a Swiss association
for the protection of the name, image
and moral right linked to the works of
Charlie Chaplin. Six out of eight of his
children are members (the other two didn't
want to belong) and Josephine Chaplin
is director. She manages decisions that
are taken, reviews and approves Roy Export
or Bubbles contracts, and oversees complicated
issues that are sent out for vote to her
brothers and sisters (excluding Geraldine,
who at her request was bought out by one
of her siblings a few years ago). If the
majority of the family votes for a project
to go ahead, then the office has leave
to deal with it.
The work I do other than for the Association
is for Roy Export, owner of the films
made from 1918 onwards and all the Chaplin
archives, and Bubbles Inc., the company
that owns Chaplin's image for merchandising
purposes. People tend to think the Association
Chaplin handles all that, as it is an
easier and more identifiable name to
remember, and I realise it is confusing
because it is always the same people
representing the different entities,
but each entity has specific rights
or tasks.
Put a face (or faces) on
the organization for us, if you would.
How did you come to work for the Chaplins
and how has your role evolved over the
years?
I started as a secretary for the Chaplin
office in Paris in 1982, working for
Rachel Ford and her then assistant Pam
Paumier. In those days there was far,
far less work to do. They had been very
busy in the 50s and 60s, and early 70s,
and then things gradually wound down.
When Miss Ford retired, I continued
to work for Pam, who with Lady Chaplin's
support, opened things up more to the
outside world, in particular for 1989,
the centenary of Chaplin's birth. Pam
retired in the early 1990s.
Being from a different generation from
Miss Ford and Pam, less "protective"
perhaps, and with the support of the
Chaplin children (same generation as
me...), the majority of whom have a
firm attitude of "duty-holder" as opposed
to "rights-holder," my aims were and
still are to make Chaplin as available
and present as possible, and to secure
the archives for posterity to enable
the family to say to the world "we have
done our bit, done our best, to preserve
and promote his legacy." Gradually,
thanks to enthusiasm, huge smiles, hard
work, and above all the help of many
people worldwide working on so many
different projects, including you Lisa,
we seem to have been building up more
interest, and it makes me very happy.
The more interest, the more work :
my assistant Claire Byrski has been
with us for about three years and it
changed my life to have her. And Charly
Sistovaris, Josephine's son,
is our website and IT manager. It's
great to think that he is ensuring the
propagation of information about his
grandfather.
We heard about the Charlie
Chaplin archive in Bologna a newsletter
or two ago, do you have anything to add
about it? Is the Montreux, Switzerland
location open to researchers?
The Bologna cinemathèque has been
scanning the archives for the last five
years, and the whole job should be finished
in 2007. We would never have got this
monumental task done ourselves, so I am
incredibly grateful to Gian Luca Farinelli
for instigating it and to the Bologna
Cassa di Risparmio foundation for financing
it. I hope people will enjoy browsing
the catalogue and reading some of the
documents when it is all up there. The
things we have found are amazing, but
my personal passion is for the press books
in Montreux, which are too enormous and
full of clippings to scan as yet. I absolutely
adore taking time off from the office
and going through them, taking notes so
I can tell researchers which albums to
go to when they need something in particular.
I think I'm the first person ever to spend
so much time doing this, which is a great
privilege.
The location in Montreux is open to
researchers if they have prior permission
from us, and I stipulate what they can
and cannot look at.
Are there any new research
projects afoot you can tell us
about?
When all the scanning is complete,
including as much of the press
books as we can, we will bring
out a huge book like the Taschen
Kubrick one or the Phaidon Andy
Warhol one with all the best bits
from the archives, but it will
take a long time to curate.
We are looking forward
to your, Lisa's, biography of
Sydney Chaplin, whose life is
a mystery to us all. The family
are a bit apprehensive of what
you might dredge up!
I'm not aware of any other important
research projects right now, but
it is always nice to learn of
students becoming interested in
Chaplin and writing about him,
even if only school projects.
Can you update us on
the Charlie Chaplin heritage museum
project?
The Chaplin Museum in Switzerland
is currently blocked in its planning
permission by an opposition from
a neighbour, who does not want
trucks and building and traffic
and so has decided to oppose the
project for as long as he can
(in Switzerland democracy goes
a little too far..!). Once the
tribunal has ruled him out, hopefully
later this year, the work should
begin, and will take at least
2 years. If all goes well, this
should be an exciting venue, not
just a house to visit, but also
a place to return to again and
again because of all the things
happening there.
2007 is Charlie's 30th
anniversary year. Can you talk
specifically about what has been
planned so far in terms of exhibits,
performances, festivals, etc.?
Check out the website, http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/infos.