How Judy Craymer made her choice of business ideas more details

As a child, Judy Craymer, born 16th April 1958 thought she would have a career in horses some how, owing to the fact that she was brought up in a middle class home in North London, and she was a brought horse owner with which she spent several years going to horse shows every weekend and also riding horses for other owners, according to record.

While growing up early in life, Judy got her first taste of the theatre. May be because her parents, a nurse and a solicitor, were serious and keen theatre goers, so they would take her and her younger brother to see shows in the West End. According to her confessed appreciation,: ‘I am forever grateful to them for that . It was a huge treat. The first musical I saw was Oliver. And it was a big experience going to the Haymarket and seeing The Merchant of Venice with Sir Ralph Richardson. We would also take picnics to the open air opera in Holland Park.”

At the age of 18, Judy suddenly changed her mind about pursuing a career with horses, then decided that she would go to drama school instead for a career. Again, she said: one of my horses became very ill and I just thought that’s it, I am going to the Guildhall school of music.’

Although, from the onset, Craymer knew that she was not going to become an actress, according to her, she preferred to work behind the scenes. Then, she got a place to study stage management which she cherished so much. Hear her as she said: ‘I was just in love with what I was doing there. I got completely involved with everything and it became my social life as much as studying.’

And so, after graduating, she got a job as an assistant stage manager at the Haymarket theater in Leicester, and with several other routine jobs in the stage management that followed. Then at the age of 22, she landed a job in London as assistant stage manger for the original production of the musical cats.

However, one year later, she became the assistant to theatre producer, Tim Rice. It was when she was there that she met Bjorn UIvaeus and Benny Andersson, two of the members of the Swedish pop group Abba. Then the group had just disbanded and the two of them were writing the music for Rice’s musical Chess.

Now, Judy saw the development as a big opportunity for her to tap in. Hear what she said: ‘I was never a huge Abba as a teenager, but after meeting Bjorn and Benny I became hooked. I thought bloody hell, these were the men who wrote “Dancing Queen”.’

So after five years to be précised, she left her job with Tim to work in the film industry as a director’s assistant, simply working on films such as White Mischief and Madame souzatska. However, her new-found interest in Abba refused to fuse or go away permanently. At her mid-30s, she started spending hours on end sitting on the floor of her flat listening to old Abba records one after the other. Then, she eventually made up her mind to make a film that told a story using their songs so she started making tapes of how the songs would fit together to give her what she actually wanted.

Judy was able to come in contact with UIvaeus again because he kept a horse at his house in England which she would occasionally exercise for him while he was away. One fateful day, she plucked up the courage to mention her business idea of making a film based on their music because, already Anderson and his colleague had earlier encouraged her when they were about to leave. Craymer had this to say: ‘They patted me on the back and said see you next year.’

Ultimately, her business idea into a realistic project took rather longer than a year, because it took her good ten years to actualize that while taking other jobs in the film and television industry, when it appeared to her as if her pursuit of her Abba idea was leading to nowhere, she attempted to turn her attention to other business ideas. Judy Said: ‘I had lots of other ideas. I was working very hard trying to find projects.’

She confessed that as hard as she tried to forget Abba dream, the more it refused to go away, but kept coming back to it, then finally in 1995, she changed direction, but the same dream. She opted for musical rather than film. Having made up her mind to another direction, she went back to talk to UIvaeus and Anderson. They both agreed on the condition that she could come out with a good story then they would consider giving her the rights to use their songs.

The duo response gave Judy, so she quit her job, found a someone to write the script with and got to work immediately, because part of the condition was that the musical should tell the story of a mother and a daughter.

With little support from her friends, because not all her friends believe in the dream. She said ‘Everyone thought I was crazy. They said that Abba was so passé, and that I should get over it. No one could understand.’

Not moved with negative perception and views of people about her dream, she started to gather people around her to help but as the project gained momentum the tension started to mount from various quarter. Judy said: ‘I still didn’t have the rights to the songs and I knew that bat any moment Bjorn and Benny could jump ship. It was a white knuckle ride because by then I’d started having to pay people. It kept me focused. Also I knew that they had a particular good experience working on the musical Chess, and that if my project was going to have backstage squabbles and unhappy people they would just walk away.’ Judy hired lawyers, flying overseas for meetings and hiring a creative team to work on the project, all from her own money. So serious that by 1997, she had run up a TWENTY THOUSAND POUNDS over draft and had to sell her flat. She said: ‘I think I just numbered myself to it.’

As the saying goes that ‘Good plan, patience and persistence with focus will eventually pay off.’ Craymer persistence eventually paid off by the end of 1997 when she finally secured UIvaeus and Anderson’s agreement to use their songs and to the show. One year after negotiations and meetings, she was also manage to persuade Abba’s record producer Polygram to finance half the THREE MILLION POUNDS cost of putting the show on in London – and even got them to advance her THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS to workshop the show, that was to be called Mamma Mia. UIvaeus and Anderson helped persuade a Swedish bank to invest the rest of the money they needed at the time.

At last, Mamma Mia finally opened in London’s West End in April 1999 and the show was an instant success to recon with, that sold out every night for weeks in advance. That success was just the starting point. Mamma Mia has since grossed over one bi8llion US dollars and still counting. The project has opened in more than 120 major cities and has been seen by 24 million people world wide.

With available record at my disposal, Judy’s company Littlestar in 2005, in which she has a 50 percent share, had a turnover of over TWENTY TYHREE MILLION POUNDS. More over, all the creative team involved in the show have become millionaires. Then in the year 2008 Mamma Mia was made into film starring MeryI streep and piece Brossman. The stage version of the musical and the film have since together grossed more than $2.5 million US Dollars world wide making Craymer Judy one of the richest women in the country with personal fortune of SEVENTY FIVE MILLION POUNDS. Judy said: ‘I still can’t really quiet believe it. I never knew we had such a hit on our hands. I just wanted to make it.’

Judy said that the secret of her success has been her sheer determination not to give up. ‘ You have to make people believe in what you are doing. I was so passionate about it that when someone at one of the meetings suggested we put the show off I just shouted ‘No you can’t do this, it has to happen.’ Craymer believed and think that although someone might have several ideas for projects, the key to being successful is to choose just one of them and then to focus on it completely. She said: You have to concentrate on something to achieve something. This has taken every fiber of my focus and concentration for a number of years. Mamma Mia is my life. It is a complete obsession.’

Her believe and persistence have rewarded her immensely, and not just in financial terms. She further said: ‘One of my ambitions was never having to work for somebody else again, I wanted the freedom to create projects on my own and not to have to go cap in hand to people. And that is what I have got.’

Her Personal Philosophy: ’Make people believe in what you are doing’