120 Days Film | Trailer
We made this short In an economic climate where certain professions have no sense of responsibility towards the greater good we wanted to create an awkward and, at times, darkly humorous film that gets our audiences thinking.
SYNOPSIS - In late 2008 whilst in a bar with friends we found ourselves like a lot of people discussing the financial crisis that had hit the city of London and all the other major financial centres around the world. We certainly had little sympathy for the major banks and the situation they found themselves in. In a world where moral obligation and social responsibility have become sidelined for the ‘me’ generation should your debt repayment be solely financial or is there also an ethical commitment to business transactions? We discussed how this would impact everyone in Europe and how in particular Spain seemed to be feeling the impact of the economic situation.
A good friend who was at the bar then told us about a story he had picked up from a newspaper… In Spain, where the construction industry, in particular, was in ruins, small companies were struggling to secure outstanding debt. Pursuing debt collection through the courts could take anything up to three years to settle an outstanding account. The news report explained how one company had an innovative and unique solution to the problems of securing the outstanding debt.
The company was called El Cobrador Del Frac which translated means ‘The debt collector in top hat and tails. El Cobrador Del Frac had a system to recoup any outstanding debt: – Humiliate your clients into paying. Imagine arriving at your favourite restaurant sitting at your favourite table to find somebody playing the bagpipes next to you all through dinner. How about shopping in your local supermarket to find somebody dressed as Bugs Bunny following you around? What if at your local cinema the seat next to you is taken up with somebody dressed as Dracula?
El Cobrador Del Frac sent employees nationwide, dressed as a multitude of characters, to shadow, embarrass and doorstep companies into settling their debts.