Emanuel Cahana was a wizard. He was incredibly fast. What he did in one evening took others days to complete. He was meticulous, and had highly developed technical skills. We were a trio: Him, me, and Eli Meir, the owner of the printing house – and we complemented one another. Eli and Emanuel were like two fish in water when it came to all things concerning printing and montage. I would sit with Emanuel, say two sentences to him, and he was already completing the third sentence. The interaction between us was close to perfect. I didn’t have to explain much. He would say “it will work out,” and go to work. For seven–eight years, we covered the entire field of film advertising in Israel.
When I first entered this field, I knew nothing about design or advertising. After completing my military service, I began working as movie-house usher, and later as an box-office assistant. I advanced gradually, working and learning about this world for seven years – especially everything concerning distribution, advertising and management. I understood that it was important to highlight cinema’s visual, aesthetic, attractive and seductive side.
At Peled Advertising, we had complete creative freedom. We were trusted, and did whatever we wanted to do. Before we came along, movie titles printed in large letterpress letters, since there was no color printing. When we started out, there were only two colors, and then things began to develop. We would print posters that were subsequently mounted on large round municipal billboards. During those days, in the late 1950s, there was no television. There was radio, print media, and there was the cinema. There was no real mass advertising. In terms of entertainment, people had nothing better to do than go to the movies.