Comments by "serafina costa" (@serafinacosta7118) on "Why Fujifilm Survived (& Kodak Didn't)" video.

  1. Fuji in Brazil , early to mid eighties , had a photo and film processing lab in São Paulo. Specifically the city’s south side by the river , around Santo Amaro. I did a quick temp there. But as an observant I was , I took notice to a few subtetlies … 1. Management , all strictly Japanese , or Nissei at the lowest , wore green lab overcoats. Everyone else, including gang supervisors , who were mostly Brazilians , wore different uniform colors. 2. At lunch break , management assembled in a see through meeting room. We , the peons , could only speculate what they talked about. They seemed to go extensively on passing samples around, shop talk , and shooting breeze. 3. I was tasked on maintenance with some Italian kid. They had these huge machines where negatives were washed into baths. We processed negatives and print. 4. Those days , motion video was super 8, 8mm. So honeymooners , in print and in motion , sent their recordings through independent mom pop retail outlets , scattered throughout the country. From remote regions in the Amazon , to large urban centers , no one processed film at the store. Most of these stores were run by Japanese and their descendants , mostly Nissei. They would sell film, process print orders , wristwatches , Knick knacks. 5. Our lowly rank, most of them were kids , age 18-25 , all non Japanese. . As soon as something spicy came out of the parcel envelopes and got processed everyone in our group got a wind of , and congregated by the “ screening room” , a small room where lights were turned off and all kinds of color comments would fly. All X Rated stuff, no less. 6. One young Nissei who was closer to us , Akira , was about to leave the company, impatient with the poor outlook on any promotion. As soon as management got a wind of it, they called him in, and gave him the promotion. 7. One of the many prints we got a wind of , a group of Japanese managers had hired a stripper to perform at their shindig. Everyone of them got a turn at hauling the saucy dancer at their arms, smiling , as if he was holding a big reeled in fish.
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  2. Émerson Fittipaldi, the former Formula One racecar driver , in his winning years, was known for running behind the lead racers. He certainly did not always have the best car setup to lead a race wire to wire. So he waited in the wings , at the top pack , gambling that others would end up with car trouble as they did. He then would close out winning the race. Not the fastest, but the savvy .
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