Arnout Hauben is a guest in ‘Het huis’ and looks back on being dismissed from Woestijnvis: “Very stormy period in my life”

Handing over control is not easy for Hauben, but in Eric Goens’ program he has to do it anyway. One TV maker to another: “You’re not going to talk to my cameraman and soundman, they’re mine this time.” Hauben is best known in Flanders for programs such as Straight through the Low Countries and the recent Interview with history. But for a long time it didn’t look like he would become a successful TV maker. In The house Hauben tells how he was sent to boarding school, with fathers who would teach him discipline. A kind of emergency brake from his parents, but the hoped-for results did not materialize. “I performed with great distinction,” says Hauben. It becomes more serious when Goens asks about the behavior of the fathers. One of the fathers who taught him at the time has been accused of inappropriate behavior by dozens of people.

The topic ‘Desert Fish’ also comes with candid anecdotes. In 2011, after a twelve-year career at the production house, Hauben decided to close the door behind him because he wanted to continue working for the public broadcaster. “Woestijnvis was going to launch the commercial channel VIER, but I didn’t feel good about that and resigned.” The founding of his own production company, The Chinese, and the reactions to it, have given him many sleepless nights. “I disappointed a lot of people then and didn’t even sleep at home for a week,” he said. “That was a very stormy period in my life.”

Powerful figure

His departure also caused a rift with Woestijnvis founder Wouter Vandenhaute. A breach that seemed irreparable. The two had no contact for more than ten years, until Hauben mistakenly called Vandenhaute. “I had parked my car poorly in our parking lot and I’m not good at that, so I asked for help from a colleague called Wouter,” he tells Goens. Hauben was in a hurry and frustratedly called the wrong Wouter. “I said: ‘Wouter, come and move my van’. But I suddenly heard Wouter Vandenhaute’s voice.” It was shocking, but the contact between the two was surprisingly cordial. “He also congratulated me. But still, after all these years, I immediately felt the stress about my body again. Wouter is and remains a powerful figure.”

The house with Arnout Hauben: Tuesday, November 26 at 8:40 PM on VRT 1 and VRT MAX.