They've been together for 18 years, selling product for VCA, but now top salesmen Marty Turkel and Ed Kail are splitting up... or are they?
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"One of the main reasons that I was reluctant to leave VCA was, Marty and I had always said, if we leave, we're going to leave together," Kail explained. "And when I was approached by Mike Rubenstein and my daughter to come and work with them at Devil's Films, the only hesitation I really had was, what about Marty? So when I went back and I talked to Marty and I told him what transpired, he said, 'Dummy! Take it! Don't worry about me.' And the next day, he calls me up and told me he got a beautiful offer from Bo to open up a West Coast branch for LGI, so everything really worked out well."
Seems that in a move similar to the way LFP bought the distribution rights to the Vivid line of videos, Rubenstein bought the right to distribute Elegant Angel's videos from Elegant owner Patrick Collins.
"So I'll be selling Elegant and Bonnie [Kail, Ed's daughter] will be selling Devil's, so we'll work together, naturally," Kail said proudly.
Turkel had a similar story to tell.
"VCA left Marty Turkel," the sales sexagenarian wanted to make clear. "I'm leaving LFP; there's a difference, a vast difference. I'm very, very sad. It's almost 20 years of friendship and working together, but I'm going on to something that's a challenge, and financially it's very good. I'm going to LGI, Bo Kenney's company. He's out of Virginia, but he's opening up an office in California; I'm opening it for him, and basically, he's a DVD company that has been doing a lot of trading, which is coming to a halt. He's got a decent line, 15 original productions, and he's going to improve on it, and I think we'll do well."
Though Turkel said that Kenney was looking for offices in The Valley, Kail made it sound as if the deal were already done.
"Right now, in the offices that they [Devil's] have, Bonnie's office is about as big as a closet, and I'll be sharing it with her, so we're going to have to buy breath mints," Kail quipped. "But we will be moving, probably November 1st or December 1st, around the corner from VCA. It's on Cozycroft, and Mike Rubenstein and Bo from LGI, where Marty is going, have made a deal that they will rent space from Mike, so Marty and I are still going to be together; two different companies in the same building, so they can't split us up. The surgeons have been canceled; they don't have to cut us from the hip anymore."
But both men expressed great sadness at leaving some long-time co-workers.
"You know, you build up a friendship with people; even though people say it's only work, it's not only work because you socialize afterwards and so forth, but I'm going to stay friendly with the people," Turkel said. "I think it's fantastic what LFP has done, to make a lovely going-away party like this. It's very nice. They're a class outfit; it's just that they're very, very corporate, and when you're used to a more family-type business, it's very difficult. But it's a good company and they're gonna go; they really are."
The party itself featured several varieties of finger-foods, fruits and veggies, with an open bar, which the majority of the attendees gathered near. Former VCA owner Russ Hampshire was in attendance, even though suffering from intense back pain, and the party population included several VCA and LFP employees like current VCA head Don McDonald, head salesman Howard Levine and LFP VP Craig Jelin; director Jane Hamilton, production coordinator Wit Maverick, publicist Mischa Allen and plenty of VCA staff, as well as plenty of industry vets who've known the "selling twins" for nearly two decades: Fred Lincoln, Patty Rhodes, Jim Malibu, Wil Divide, Larry Ross, Ruby Gottesmann, Shanna McCullough, Rob Spallone, Cass Paley, and dozens of others.
The party stretched from 6 to 9 p.m., with a steady flow of people in and out, and a good time was had by all.
