Gerhard Kleindl

After a start as a fine artist at a very early age Gerhard Kleindl started 1970 working in the entertainment industry. At first he programmed for Austrian Radio his own weekly cultural music program for the radio station OE3, then in 1971 he began working as assistant director in film and television. 1975 he founded his own film production company, Signal Film, specialized in producing independent Austrian films. Consequently Signal Film began also distributing films, mostly of Austrian and German provenience. In order to complete his independence within the entertainment world in 1977 Gerhard Kleindl founded together with Dipl. Ing. Kurt Schramek and Dipl. Kfm. Hans Mallner the exhibition company Kleindl & Co. This company became a prominent owner and programmer of independent movie theaters. In 1978 and 1979 Gerhard Kleindl spent his time in Paris writing screenplays and developing film projects, after his relocation back to Vienna he continued to work there with long stints in Munich, Germany, in Warsaw and Lodz, Poland. Being a food enthusiast and food connoisseur Gerhard Kleindl created the restaurant "Siebenstern" which turned quickly into Vienna's place to be, got raving reviews and become a meeting point of Vienna's film and art world. From 1982 on Gerhard Kleindl worked out of New York as producers' liaison for European film production companies doing work in the US. In 1994 Gerhard Kleindl had relocated to Los Angeles, in 2004 to Miami where he married in 2005 the Brazilian, Maria De Lourdes Paes. The couple moved back to Los Angeles in 2006.