David Klein made a business decision in 1980 that has haunted him his entire life.
In an intense 24-hour period he was convinced to sell his company to his manufacturer. He didn’t want to; he was told people’s livelihoods were at stake, his partners needed the money to retire, it was necessary for the brand to reach its full potential, and the amount seemed like a lot at the time.
So he sold all rights to what would become one of the most successful candies of all time: Jelly Belly jelly beans. In return he received what amounted to $5,680 per month, after taxes, for 20 years a paltry sum compared to the company’s profits today.
It’s been nearly a decade since his last check arrived and the company refuses to even mention his name in histories of the product. Klein isn’t shy about saying he wished he’d never come up with the idea. He said the product has inspired greed and vice.
“Partners broke up over this, friendships broke up. Best men at each other’s weddings broke up It should not have brought that much tragedy,” he said in an interview Monday.
Klein’s rise to fame and fall to obscurity as Mr. Jelly Belly is documented in the Slamdance Film Festival pic “Candyman,” playing Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. in the Treasure Mountain Inn.
Klein is a stocky man with a truly jiggly belly and a nasal voice who doesn’t mind being self-deprecating to get a laugh or draw attention to his creations. His wife describes the entire family as “unusual,” and the last several years Klein has earned his living peddling novelty treats like Snot gooey candy and Spanks sour gummies.
Film director Costa Botes said the laughs make the film “bittersweet.”
“They’re funny guys; they use humor quite consciously,” he said Monday of Klein and his son. “There’s pain in (the film) for sure, that’s what drives it David is losing something that meant so much to him.”
Even though Klein has never been able to duplicate the success of his 1976 invention, the film paints him as a marketing genius. It has interviews with several successful people saying Klein’s help made all the difference in their achievement.
“He’s a very smart cookie in terms of business,” Botes said. “In the film we portray him as a sad clown, but he’s a very smart man.”
Why would such a smart man make such a stupid business decision? Botes uses the film to argue it was a character flaw: Klein is too nice. Before selling, he signed away half the company to a friend in exchange for giving his father-in-law a job. He sold an extension of his business for $1 to help out a young upstart. His idea of a perfect birthday: renting an ice cream truck and giving the contents away for free.
Klein has a law degree from UCLA. Why not use it? He says he’d be tempted to do too much pro-bono work.
“What is it about us that what makes us wonderful also makes us weak?” Botes mused. “The question I’m asking between the lines is, ‘Is there a place for the heart in business?’ Apparently the answer is no, at least not in the corporate environment.”
The film portrays Klein going through a period of frustration and depression and still today it’s a touchy subject; he isn’t afraid to pull off the gloves when talking about old business partners. In fact, Botes said it was several years after he first heard the story that he asked if he could make the film because it was a sore subject in the family
But it’s also a story about the triumph of the soul. Despite the regrets and dark periods, Klein is still instantly likeable and quick to make a joke or give a compliment. And he loves to have fun. Botes captures him taking notes in his office on paper plates instead of sticky notes because they’re aerodynamic.
Klein said Monday having this film done has made up for a lot of the suffering.
His advice to upstarts in today’s economy:
“Don’t quit your regular job,” he said. “It’s always great to have an idea and try to do something with it, but minimize your risk.”
Start out small, grow slowly, never leverage the house and never sign a lease until you have to, he said.
Next showing:
Slamdance Film Festival
Treasure Mountain Inn
255 Main Street
Jan. 28 at 11 a.m.