Blog 3 - Behind the Scenes #3 - Picking names!

After looking back at that moment — (retting) not running away with the €400,000 from the ABN AMRO vault — the idea for my first book, Financial Exchange, was born. Multiple characters came to mind, but which names would fit?

There’s another reason why I am in name-picking mode. Last week, I got married! Yes — dreams come true. And I’m beyond proud that my wife now officially carries my last name. And before my parents (in-law) start jumping up and down — as they did during the wedding party — no, we’re not picking baby names (yet). When the time comes, I’m pretty sure my wife will agree to name our future son after my favorite athlete of all time: Muhammad Ali. 🥊

The main character in Financial Exchange is Andy Meintjes. I wanted a typical Dutch surname. Why not perfectly align it with a tribute to my beloved grandmother? And the first name, Andy, is inspired by Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. 

For those who haven’t seen it — stop all the tasks for today and stream it. A worldwide classic is an understatement. An innocent banker serving a life sentence. Struggles and struggles — until he finds a way to be himself. With his financial expertise, he assists the guards with tax assessments and later helps the warden with… slightly less legal accounting. Watch out, spoilers! Escaping and retiring with $370,000 — equivalent to over $3.5 million today (Inflation..) #Goosebumps!

Most official rating sites rank The Shawshank Redemption among the greatest movies of all time. Without giving any more spoilers, I came across a remarkable fact about the film that’s hard to understand: In the entire 2 hours and 22 minutes, women appear for less than ten seconds. How is that even possible? Maybe Shawshank Redemption is simply a man’s world. But as a married man, I have to agree with James Brown — “This is a man’s world… but it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman” 🎶

Eventually, that became one of my questions: How would it look in this day and age if someone in the financial world had Andy Dufresne’s skills? Expertise about the system, taxes, offshore accounts, creating a new identity — all to plan one perfect heist and disappear into freedom. And of course, the question: what kind of woman characters would cross his path?