EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Phantom of the Opera producer James Cundall shares Success Strategies & how to excel globally by running 6 international companies, plus enjoying idyllic 400-year-old farm residence in rural north England

(Photo below from the Masquerade scene of the 2012 production of Phantom of the Opera)



One of my most interesting interviews this year was with an international British entrepreneur---James Cundall---in the fascinating business of show business, the big business of musicals and other forms of entertainment.

A former investment banker, this guy has shifted to a no less hectic but totally different business arena of high-culture and world-class entertainment such as Phantom of the Opera, Mama Mia, Cats and many others.

I was earlier this year invited by his company to watch the sold-out performances of the world's most popular musical Phantom of the Opera in Johannesburg City, South Africa. When I did this interview in Manila, it was on the first day gala performance of Phantom.

Let us learn the success strategies and innovative thoughts of this banker-turned-showbiz entrepreneur.

Success strategies & a global view from the 'Phantom of the Opera' producer Bull Market, Bull Sheet column by Wilson Lee Flores The Philippine Star newspaper September 3, 2012

James Cundall, chief executive of the UK-based Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Limited: “We plan to bring in next Dirty Dancing, Starlight Express and one day we shall bring Evita to Manila.”

There’s no business like show business. —Irving Berlin

He is one of the world’s top entertainment entrepreneurs and chief executive of the UK-based Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Limited, which is behind the ongoing blockbuster musical Phantom of the Opera. Now being staged to sold-out audiences at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Phantom producer James Cundall, 55, gave the Philippine Star an exclusive interview just before the star-studded Aug. 30 gala performance. Excerpts:

PHILIPPINE STAR: How many times have you been to the Philippines and what are your impressions?

JAMES CUNDALL: I’ve been coming here to Manila 50 times for over 20 years. I’ve been coming here as fund manager and private banker heading the Hong Kong office of Global Asset Management (GAM) and later as Asia head of Rothschild Asset Management, and I’ve never seen so many construction cranes in Manila’s skyline before. The Philippine economy is growing fast, you’re doing well, even your stock market is up. The growth of the entertainment markets here in the Philippines and Asia follow robust economic growth. I foresee the blossoming of international productions and also those of local entertainment as your economy grows stronger.

I read that last year, in one season of Broadway alone, ticket sales reached nearly US$10 billion. I’m sure the West End of London has the same huge business. In terms of ticket sales and audience, what are the world’s top musicals?

Yes, musicals on Broadway and the West End of London are massive, massive businesses. The markets here in Asia and in Latin America are growing fast. Live entertainment worldwide is a massive business and growing every day. Phantom of the Opera is still the world’s biggest musical and also Broadway’s longest-running musical. The other biggest ones are Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Lion King. Among the new ones, Wicked is big among the next generation.

(Photo below of Cats musical produced by Lunchbox in Manila, one of the performers is Philippine-born international Broadway star Lea Salonga)



(Images below from the musical Les Miserables)








(Images below of Wicked the Musical)







(Photos below from the musical Miss Saigon)





(Photos from Lion King the Musical)





You’ve excelled as an international banker and now as CEO of six companies worldwide, producing big entertainment shows in 22 countries. You were also producer of the outdoor opening ceremony of China’s record-breaking Expo 2010 in Shanghai. What are your success strategies or tips?

Hard work and luck … we work very hard because in this business we start very early and end late at night. It is important to develop discipline of thought, to not be afraid of doing big decisions quickly. Always listen to every bit of advice that comes your way. Be a globalist; think globally. Ignore negative people and negative thoughts. Ultimately, trust your gut instincts. Another thing — if something smells bad, it usually gets worse.

(Photos of the outdoor opwening ceremony of China's record-breaking Expo 2010 in Shanghai)










So your advice to entrepreneurs and even professionals is to excel and think globally?

Yes. I’m producing Phantom here in Manila, and also tonight I have a show in Madrid called Sleeping Beauty on Ice, also a production in Singapore called Slava's Snow Show, plus 20 other shows. We have six Lunchbox companies in Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand regions. I’m a globalist. Ever since I was a private banker, I’ve learned to think globally — that there should be no boundaries for business. I’ve been thinking of the world as a small village. Whether it’s finance, show business or other fields, it’s the same.

(Photo below of Sleeping Beauty on Ice)



(Photo below of Slava's Snow Show)





Is it true your family’s business was farming and auctioneering, then you went into banking and that your present global entertainment business just started out as a hobby?

Yes, our family has been in farming and also livestock auctions for five generations in England’s North Yorkshire area. Did you know that I learned to sell cows in my youth? (Laughs) But I felt that it wasn’t for me and told my father. Luckily a family friend was a stockbroker in London who helped me get a job at Schroeder Asset Management. Later on I was headhunted by Global Asset Management (GAM) and posted to run their Hong Kong operations for eight years. Later I was headhunted to Rothschild Asset Management’s Hong Kong office to run their Asia business.

Is that the world-famous 200-year-old Jewish banking dynasty of Europe, which financed Britain’s Suez Canal project as well as the founding of the world’s fourth biggest mining giant Rio Tinto and the world’s biggest diamond mining firm, De Beers?

Yes, that firm I was with was owned both by the British and French branches of the Rothschild family.

Have you met them? Why have they been so good in finance all these generations?

I’ve met all of them, because I was on the board and head of Asia. They were all fascinating. I think they’re genetically — they have an inborn ability to make money. I don’t know their success secret, I think it’s genetics; they’re just brilliant with finance.

(Images below of the successful, world-famous and historic Jewish banking clan of the Rotschilds, including a 1963 Time magazine cover and the family's coat of arms)







How and why did you get into the entertainment business?

While I was a banker in Hong Kong, I established Lunchbox Theatrical Productions originally as a hobby. Why? It’s because I didn’t play golf (laughs). Our first show we brought from UK’s West End to Hong Kong was the Barnum circus show; the second one was South Pacific. The business started as a small idea, which became big. In 1996, we brought Les Miserables and Cirque du Soleil to Hong Kong, and they were both massive. In 1997, I had a falling out with one of the members of the Rothschild family and by that time Lunchbox was becoming big, too, so I decided to leave finance and go into the entertainment business.

(Poster below of a Barnum production)




(Image below of a poster of the South Pacific musical, not of the Hong Kong performance mentioned in this blog post)



(Photo below of the Cirque du Soleil show)





When did you first meet Filipino businessman Francis Lumen and how is it doing business with him in your Philippine productions?

I met Francis for the first time four years ago at Dusit Thani Hotel in  Makati. It’s wonderful doing business with him; he is charming, a talented businessman and has a great sense of humor. It was also absolutely fantastic working with Bambi Verzo here in Manila and Bob Sewell of Ticketworld.

(Photo below of Francis Lumen, Bambi Verzo and Philippine Star columnist Johnny Litton)



Is it true you’re extending Phantom of the Opera at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)? Are any more extensions possible?

We’ve agreed to add 16 more shows due to high demand, but Phantom at the CCP ends on Oct. 14 and we cannot extend, because we’re bringing it to South Korea immediately after.

(Photo below from Phantom of the Opera as staged in Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila)



Another newspaper’s front-page report said the OPM group of Filipino music entertainers had lodged a complaint against the foreign entertainers of Phantom. Your reactions?

The complaint of the OPM group, it’s not our issue because we’ve conformed with the requirements of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID). They ultimately have their own issue. We’ve had no similar issues when we produced similar big productions in other Asian countries like Singapore, Hong Kong or China.

I hope The Philippine STAR newspaper can help highlight the fact that we have between 50 to 65 Filipinos behind Phantom of the Opera every night at the CCP: we’ve got one actor, 14 musicians, 40 backstage crews. What’s enjoyable about Phantom here is we have brilliantly talented Filipinos having this wonderful opportunity to work with the world’s biggest musical with the best music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the most amazing set and costumes, great talents and a beautiful love story.

You and your Philippine business partner Francis Lumen have brought to Manila many big shows. What are your other new plans?

We plan to bring in next Dirty Dancing, Starlight Express and one day we shall bring Evita to Manila.

(Images below of Dirty Dancing the Musical)



(Photo below of Starlight Express musical)




(A poster of the musical Evita on the enigmatic, controversial and well-loved "rags-to-riches" late First Lady of Argentina)






Have you met former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, whom some have compared to the late Evita Peron?

Yes, I met her at the opening nights of Cats and Mamma Mia!, and I heard she’s coming tonight to the gala opening of Phantom. Gosh, she’s much taller than I thought. She loves music; she loves our productions.




How do you assess the world economy? Also, do you see America’s economic decline due to the inevitable pattern of the rise and fall of superpowers similar to what happened to the once-No. 1 British empire?

On the future of the US, you’ll have to ring Mr. Obama about that (smiles). On the world economy, it’s complex. The British economy is very troubled, though the recent well-organized London Olympics can be a psychological boost. I suspect the world economy will stay strained and complex for many years to come, but it doesn’t mean that economies will not grow. It just means the economic situation will not be as simple as it was in the 1990s and the early 2000s.

(Photo below of producer James Cundall in Manila with the hit musical Mama Mia!)



You’re doing business in three continents the whole year with your six companies; where is home for you and how much time — if any — do you spend there?

I live at a farm in North England on 10 acres in the middle of nowhere. It’s near a town called York, or 10 miles from York. It’s near the hills. I live there on an old farmhouse with a straw roof built 400 years ago. I’m there seven months of the year.

(Note: This photo is not the farm residence of this British entertainment entrepreneur, but that of another north England place in the rural area too)



Wow! Of course, you must have Internet there, cable TV and maybe some cattle or crops?

(Laughs) Yes, I do have Internet, but I don’t want cable TV, I have no time for TV. There are no crops or cattle where I live, just lots of grass and two fiberglass cows to remind me of my childhood (laughs).

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EXCLUSIVE! Uniqlo billionaire & Japan's wealthiest tycoon Tadashi Yanai gives exclusive interview on Success Secrets & global brand building (Uniqlo visionary Tadashi Yanai, photograph by Garry Weaser of The Guardian) (Photos below show Fast Retailing's Uniqlo boss Tadashi Yanai in Paris, France signing up international tennis star Novak Djokovic to a five-year endorsement contract in his bid to popularize Uniqlo's brand appeal among European and U.S. shoppers) Japan's richest tycoon on success secrets and brand building From my column in the Philippine Star newspaper June 18, 2012 Bull Market, Bull Sheet column by Wilson Lee Flores

SM Investment Corp. vice chairman Teresita “Tessie” Sy-Coson welcomes Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Co., Limited chairman, president and CEO, at the first Uniqlo casual wear store opening in SM Mall of Asia on June 15.

Anything worth doing is worth 100 percent. — Konosuke Matsushita 

Commit to your job and your work, whatever it is. Believe in it more than anything else. If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do the best you can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you — like a fever. — Sam Walton

In partnership with Henry Sy family’s SM Group through SM Retail, Inc., Japan’s wealthiest tycoon Fast Retailing Co., Limited chairman, president and CEO Tadashi Yanai opened the first Uniqlo casual wear store in SM Mall of Asia on June 15.

SM Investment Corp. vice chairman Teresita “Tessie” Sy-Coson personally welcomed Yanai, who graduated from Waseda University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics. Yanai is also director of Japan’s telecommunications giant Softbank Corporation.

Philippine STAR had an exclusive interview with Japan’s “fashion king” Tadashi Yanai, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine at US$10 billion and whose company has 30,000 employees worldwide. Several young male and female assistants in dark suits stood around us during the interview.

Yanai could understand my questions in English, but he answered me in the Japanese language and had a pretty interpreter translate every reply meticulously. Excerpts from the interview:


Who are the entrepreneurs you admire the most as ideal role models and why?

TADASHI YANAI:  Sam Walton of Wal-Mart and Konosuke Matsushita of Panasonic. First of all, Walton started his business in Arkansas, which is a rural state in America and he developed his company to become the world’s No. 1. Wal-Mart is an amazing success story. What I particularly admire very much about the late Sam Walton was his policy of valuing his employees. Giving value to employees is very rare in the retail industry. I also admire the strategies Walton used to build up his discount store concept.

(Photo below of the late Wal-Mart retail chain founder and once the world's wealthiest billionaire Sam Walton)




What about the “rags-to-riches” Japanese industrialist Matsushita, why do you consider him another ideal role model for businesspeople?

Konosuke Matsushita was a visionary entrepreneur. He started working very young as a teenager and he eventually created Panasonic to become a truly global company. He not only represented himself and Japan positively to the world, he also supported good political leaders who helped make the country better. Matsushita is wise and a visionary pioneer in investing manufacturing operations in China, which many Japanese companies now do.

(Photo below of the late legendary "rags-to-riches" Japanese industrialist Konosuke Matsushita)



Are you envisioning your Uniqlo to become like Wal-Mart and Panasonic as global leaders?

We’re not in the same industry with either Wal-Mart or Panasonic, but yes, we do aim to become No. 1 globally in our business of casual wear.

(Photo below is Tadashi Yanai with framed calligraphy of four Chinese characters at his back meaning "Number One in the World")




You studied in Japan’s prestigious Waseda University, the same school that South Korea’s late Samsung founder Lee Byung Chull studied in but dropped out of. What are the global Asian brands you admire most?

Yes, the founder of Samsung went to our school. The Asian brand, which I admire for having become a global success, is Samsung. In comparison, we’re just starting, but I believe that we at Uniqlo will be the next Asian brand to do well globally. I believe in the next few years we shall witness the rise of more world-class Asian brands becoming famous globally.

(Picture of Waseda University at night, Tokyo City, Japan)



(Photo below shows the late Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull writing "gyeomheo" or "humbleness" in Chinese calligraphy at his office in Seoul City, South Korea in 1987. Source: Korea Times newspaper)

How did you become a successful international brand? What can others in Asia learn from your experiences?

Our international success started out first because we became the No. 1 casual wear brand in our home market of Japan. Then, we set up stores in the world’s major fashion centers of New York, Paris and London. It is also important that Uniqlo became successful in the booming Asian markets of China and South Korea, and now we’re expanding throughout the rest of Asia.

Also, a lot of companies limit the type of market they service or sell to, like targeting only the youth, the old, sportswear only, etc., but with us at Uniqlo, we make good products for every age and background of people.

How did you make Uniqlo into the No. 1 brand in Japan, since that is a market with so many competitors?

I feel the reasons for the success of Uniqlo are: we provide and sell products which the customers are happy to buy and which are beneficial to them. For a company, there’s a need for a brand to clearly know where its position is.

I heard you have a bold vision of opening a store in every major US city, and up to 200 stores throughout America, with sales per year of $10 billion in North America alone by 2020. How many stores do you expect to open in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia?



Here in the Philippines, I hope we can open 50 Uniqlo stores in three years, and for other countries in Southeast Asia, we also want the same speed in growth of our retail networks.

The problematic US and Euro-zone economies seem to be relapsing into crises. What is your assessment of the state and future of the world economy? 

Europe, the United States and Japan — these First World economies are not doing well, but the developing countries have better economic growth prospects. There will be short-term changes in the world, but in the long-term, I foresee that the most dynamic economic development and growth will shift from the US and Europe towards rising Asia.

What are the secrets to your personal success?

Luck (laughs). I’ve been lucky … my father was the owner of a clothing business, which provided suits, but I converted it into the casual wear business with the Uniqlo brand in 1984.



Which global fashion brands are your direct competitors?

Zara, Gap, Forever 21 and a brand which is not yet here in the Philippines, H&M.

How big are your total sales per year now?

Maybe we shall reach US$12 billion.



What was your original ambition when you were young?

As a youth, I originally thought I wasn’t suited for business as a career. You know, I just wanted to think of a way to survive without working at all (laughs).

Not a few COOs or child of owners in your situation either become spoiled brats, disobedient, too entitled or unmotivated. How did you enter the family business and excel?

I thought I wasn’t suited for business, but because there were no companies where I could get into, I tried working in our business. I came to realize that I could do business, that I was good at it and enjoy it. Oftentimes, young people, they declare so early in their lives that they are not suited or cut out for certain fields, that they are not good at something, but don’t think this way. I encourage young people to try out first before saying that work, profession or business is not for you. That is my advice.

(Photo below of Tadashi Yanai with Philippine celebrity endorsers basketball star Chris Tiu and actress Iza Calzado in the opening of the Uniqlo store in SM Mall of Asia, Metro Manila in 2012)



Where does your drive to excel come from, your vision to be the world’s No. 1?

Probably it’s because I like competition and I see it as a race. I don’t want to lose to Zara or to any other brands.

That’s also exactly what Rafael Nadal said after he won his record seventh French Open championship: “I have always been afraid to lose...”

(Laughs) Next time the French Open champion will be Novak Djokovic! He’s our international tennis brand ambassador, and he will wear not only our Uniqlo sports wear but our other products, too.

What is your hobby, are you a tennis enthusiast?

I play golf every week.



What is your advice on how our leaders can make the Philippine economy better?

My advice for the Philippines is to open your country more to foreign investors and tourists. Let people come here to invest and to spend more. I also encourage Filipinos to continue developing and utilizing your talents to go abroad and contribute to world progress.

(Photo of Tadashi Yanai with Nobel Prize winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus in July 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan's casual clothing brand Uniqlo and Yunus said they would jointly create a textiles company in Bangladesh to help poor women gain financial independence, with Tadashi Yanai's firm Fast Retailing investing US$100,000 to establish Grameen Uniqlo Ltd.)







(August 2012 photo of Uniqlo big boss by Eric Chung of The Wall Street Journal)

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