Having been born and
raised in Germany, I became a Karl May fan at a very young age in childhood.
Between the years of
1962-1969, some movies (see our �Film History� section) based on the classic
German novels
of Karl May were produced, and they became the most successful,
theatrically-released, feature films in the history of German movie making.
These films inspired a huge number of young people from all over the world
to visit the American Wild West. More and more children started to read
books about the Wild West, and many even took up horseback riding. With all
of this, Karl May created a new generation of the �young German cowboys and
Indians.� I, myself, was one of those children.
I was fortunate to have
parents who could afford to buy ponies for their children. In fact, my
father purchased a little horse ranch in Germany, which was only a
five-minute bike ride away from our house. Everyday after school and after
completion of homework, we would get on our bikes and take our friends to be
with our ponies�playing cowboys and Indians in the German forests � what a
way to grow up! I am still very thankful to my parents for having given
their children such vast possibilities.
Then, it was time to grow
up. I decided that, after completion of high school, I wanted to see the
world and left my family in order to live on another continent � Africa,
namely the east coast of Africa � in Kenya. I was just 19 years of age when
I started living there. When I was 27 years old, I decided to move back to
Europe � as education was calling. I pursued European Business Studies in
Germany and finalized my studies in the U.S.
During the U.S. study
program, I met my now-husband, Malcolm A. Lesavoy, MD, FACS � at the time
(1994), Professor and Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCLA
(Los Angeles, California) and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance,
California). We discovered that we had many things in common, one being our
love of horses � and he happened to own three horses at the time�Here, I
finally met my real cowboy. For the first time, I sat in a real
Western saddle. I learned about how to keep horses the American way,
and it was a huge experience to me�More freedom for our four-legged friends,
no so-called �cages,� etc�.and feeling like a real cowboy. Eventually,
we created our "country retreat," away from the city, in Topanga Canyon (in the
hills above and bordering Malibu and the San Fernando Valley).
One morning, during a
visit of my nephew Kai from Germany, we went for a ride into the mountains
around our ranch. Suddenly, Kai said to me, �Sabine, when are you going to
fulfill your dream and finally create new Karl May movies?� Kai was my
inspiration to do what I had dreamt off all of my life, being the creator of
new Karl May movies in order to continue a legend in Europe and to introduce
Karl May to the countries which Karl May had not yet been able to touch.
I immediately started
researching who owned the international film rights to all WINNETOU� and
SHATTERHAND� stories written by Karl May. My long-awaited response came
from the Karl-May-Verlag in Bamberg, Germany.
Finally, we did exchange information and started talking on the phone; then,
I went to Germany to introduce myself, and I was able to gain their trust.
During the first few years of my efforts in creating a new Karl May movie,
I became the official U.S. representative to the Verlag in Germany.
Subsequently, I was able to get their approval to register the trademarks
in the U.S. under my name.
My next goal is
to create a quality feature film, followed by a TV series, all with the goal
of introducing Karl May to the U.S. population.
My Karl May project has
been my baby for over 7 years so far. And as the famous and popular
writer/director Roland Emmerich encouragingly said to me in one of my many
producer meetings in my work with the Verlag in Germany, �Sabine, my first
big project success took me 10 years. This was Independence Day.
You have just started with the project, and you need to understand that
quality projects take quality time, and you will need many years to realize
your dream. The main issue here is never give up!�
Therefore, I am actively
working on this project, and of course, your suggestions and input are
always welcome to me.
I look forward to
receiving your comments, questions, etc. to our KarlMayUSA.com website and
remain with my best wishes to you all.
Thanks for your interest and visiting our
website,
Sabine Niederberghaus-Lesavoy
May 2006
