It is now over three and a half years since Roger Watkins and I launched Simesite on Dec. 16 2002. Little did we think at that time that after such a relatively short period the site would have to continue with one of its founders permanently absent, not because the Site had not been a success nor due to any internal dispute, but because of his premature death.
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Recently passing through Madrid on his way to the MIPCOM was former Rio correspondent, Nelson Hoineff. He was in town long enuf to have a coffee in town and tell us of his latest activities in TV and film in Rio, where the crime rate is soaring… Huddling in New York’s Oyster Bar restaurant recently, located in the bowels of Grand Central Station, were former ad manager Mort Bryer, ex-bureau chief in Munich, Jack Kindred, and Peter Besas, who was in Gotham on a short private jaunt. Many oysters, clams and fish were cheerfully downed, along with some alcohol. Jack was on his way to his home town, Sioux Falls, and Bryer schlepped in from his mansion in Connecticut.
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Joan Silverman has sent out the news that Syd will be celebrating his Big 75. He said, “a celebration, no way!” but Joanie talked it over with him and convinced him to have one anyway. They’ll be celebrating with a few friends and old-timers at Sardi’s on January 13th. We’ll give a full report of the “do” after it’s held and may even have some pics to post.
by PETER BESAS
Former Variety bureau chief in Sydney, Don Groves, has been appointed Editor of the monthly mag “Television Asia”, which is based in Singapore. The mag was launched in 1993 and is published by the Reed Business Group, the same that also publishes Variety.
By MORT BRYER
Sid Adilman is dead and that hurts. I liked our old Canuck bureau chief, a kindly, helpful fellow. He was a great trencherman, but oddly enough, built like a pipe cleaner. I’ll miss him. He was “a good old boy”, Canadian style.
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by SUSAN DEVINS
I moved from the Melbourne, Australia office of Variety to Toronto (via my home town of New York) in 1983. After talking to Don Groves, Sid asked me to become a Toronto stringer, and I planned to meet him at the “Canadian Bureau of Variety” on a summer’s day before the beginning of the Toronto International Film Festival. Dressed in my finest suit, I drove to the address he gave me and entered the bureau at 74 Albany Avenue. It was on a residential street, which I thought was quaint (having come from New York as managing editor of the National Lampoon on Madison Avenue). The Canadian Bureau was reached through the living room, kitchen, down the back stairs, through the playroom, and into a teeny office strewn to the rafters with books on everything from history of film to Brillat-Savarin. There was the original Macintosh personal computer sitting on Sid’s desk alongside a noisy fax-modem. But in this space Sid cranked out the most dynamic stories and scoops on Canadian show business both for Variety and the Toronto Star, giving me generous journalistic tips and encouraging and sometimes demanding me to embrace all things Canadian.
I wound up reviewing scores of Canadian TV shows, local theater, and the occasional Canadian film, in addition to my yearly assignment of obscure festival films from Burkino-Faso. I also worked at the Star as a children’s entertainment columnist for a couple of years on Sid’s recommendation. But the best part of working with Sid was having the privilege of entering his private personal world of Toshiko and the boys, spending New Year’s Day partaking in Toshiko’s sumptuous Japanese feasts, and sharing many meals with the family. They are an extraordinary bunch. Sid was particular about who he let into his circle, but when you were there you had a lifetime connection. I miss his vast intelligence, brilliant and naughty humor, and underneath it all, delicate compassion.