Noyan Tapan, Armenia
Aug 14 2004
ROBERT KOCHARIAN: `THE ARMENIAN-POLISH RELATIONS DEVELOP QUITE
YEREVAN, 14.08.04. The Armenian-Polish relations develop quite
dynamically. RA President Robert Kocharian said about it, receiving
newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia Tomash Knohte on
August 13. The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia
presented his credentials to the RA President. Robert Kocharian
mentioned the importance of the development of mutual relations with
Poland in the context of the European direction of the foreign
policies of Armenia. Stressing that Poland has been a full member of
the European Union since 1 May 2004, the RA President mentioned that
Armenia, which is on the way to the European integration, within the
framework of the European Union found a new partner in the person of
Poland supporting its aspirations. According to the RA presidential
press service, the sides considered the official visit of the RA
President to Poland scheduled for September 5-7 as key in the matter
of the further development of the Armenian-Polish relations.

Noyan Tapan
Aug 14 2004
COOPERATION OF ARMENIA AND OSCE TO STRENGHTEN
YEREVAN
RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian received Ambassador
Steven M. Minikes, Head of the US delegation to the OSCE, on August
12. During the meeting the sides discussed the activities of the OSCE
structures and departments, its Yerevan Office, as well as the wide
circle of problems regarding regional security. The sides also
discussed the Karabakh problem, the processes and prospects of the
settlement of the confrontation.
According to the press service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the sides expressed hope that Armenia-OSCE cooperation will continue
and strenghten in a constructive spirit.
Noyan Tapan

Xinhua Online
2004-08-14 20:12:50
Results of men’s 10m air pistol finals
ATHENS, Aug. 14 (Xinhuanet) — Following are the results of men’s 10m air
pistol finals at the Athens Olympic Games here on Saturday:
1. Wang Yifu, China, 690.0 points
2. Mikhail Nestruev, Russia, 689.8
3. Vladimir Isakov, Russia, 684.3
4. Tanyu Kiriakov, Bulgaria, 683.4
5. Jin Jong Oh, South Korea, 682.9
6. Kim Hyon Ung, DPR Korea, 682.0
7. Norayr Bakhtamyan, Armenia, 681.9
8. Kim Jong Su, DPR Korea, 681.2

U.S. middleweight Dirrell wins first bout
SportsTicker
ATHENS, Greece (Ticker) – American middleweight Andre Dirrell won his
first bout as the Olympic boxing tournament opened Saturday, defeating
Dabateer Ha of China after a slow start.
Dirrell, one of the few true medal hopes for the United States, lost
the first round before using his tremendous hand speed to record a
25-18 four-round decision over the Asian.
“It was not a good start,” he admitted. “I should start faster, but I
always come on strong at the end.”
Making his Olympic debut, Dirrell admitted to some nerves as the
reason for his early tentativeness.
“Getting nervous is a tradition for me, but I think it is good because
I am more aware in the ring when I am nervous,” he said.
United States boxers were shut out of gold medals in Sydney four years
ago and won just one each in 1992 and 1996.
Dirrell was the only American in action Saturday. The Michigan native
owns victories over reigning 165-pound world amateur champion Gennadi
Golovkin of Kazakhstan and Cuban Olympic representative Yordanis
Despaigne Herrera.
Dirrell will have a week off before his next bout against Nabil Kassel
of Algeria, who fought off Gaucelio Abreu of Brazil, 41-36.
Herrera also was in the ring Saturday, advancing with a 36-24 decision
over Jean Pascal of Canada.
Among 12 middleweight bouts, medal contender Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov of
Russia got past Christopher Camat of the Philippines, 35-13.
There also were a dozen light heavyweight bouts, none involving any
serious medal contenders. American Andre Ward could surprise in that
weight class.
American welterweight Vanes Martirosyan faces Benamar Meskine of
Algeria on Sunday. The 18-year-old Martirosyan was born in Armenia
and moved to the U.S. when he was 4.
08-14-04 16:52 ET

AZERI MINISTER TO DISCUSS RUSSIA’S KARABAKH EFFORTS IN MOSCOW
Zerkalo, Baku
14 Aug 04
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official
visit to Moscow on 17 August at the invitation of his Russian
counterpart. It is noteworthy that Mammadyarov will go to Moscow
immediately after visits to Azerbaijan by Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. That is why one
can be 100-per-cent sure that the Russian capital is looking forward
to Mammadyarov’s visit because the Kremlin is hardly indifferent to
the results of these visits to Azerbaijan, especially their
confidential aspects. For example, in Baku Rumsfeld did not hide that
he had an interest in the talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Khatami.
In an interview with our Zerkalo correspondent, Mammadyarov said that
this is his first official visit to Moscow after his appointment to
the post (of foreign minister). “I was appointed foreign minister on 2
April this year. But Mr (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey) Lavrov was
appointed several months after that.
“The main issue that will be raised by the Azerbaijani side during
this visit is Russia’s role as a mediator and co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group in settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict. This is a fundamental issue for us. That is why there is no
doubt that we will hold detailed discussions of this issue. The second
package of issues which will definitely be discussed during the visit
are related to economic relations between the two countries.”
(Passage omitted: The intergovernment commission is working actively;
ties between the two ministries and international issues will be
discussed as well)
Although the current world is different from the world of the early
1990s, Mammadyarov believes that “along with the other co-chairmen of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia is playing a major and even a key role in
settling the conflict”. He said Azerbaijan’s position was that it
would be impossible to achieve stability in the region without
resolving this conflict: “That is why we believe that a politically
stable and economically strong Caucasus is of benefit to all the
countries that have their interests in our region.”
Mammadyarov said that Russia has “deeper relations with Armenia” and
strong interests in Azerbaijan, at least from an economical
viewpoint. “As for Russia’s position on this issue, growing numbers of
people believe that if Russia is interested in settling the conflict,
peace will be established in our region very quickly,” Mammadyarov
said.
Generally speaking, there is a strange situation in the talks
process. The declared positions of the sides, at least their official
positions, are absolutely different. In these conditions, frequent
statements are made in society, especially among the military, that
the continuation of the talks has no prospects and it is necessary to
liberate the occupied territories by force. Commenting on the
aforesaid situation, Mammadyarov said: “You and I are talking at the
Foreign Ministry, not at the Defence Ministry. As the foreign
minister, I will back the peaceful option for settling the conflict to
the bitter end. Although, if you are aware of the Foreign Ministry’s
latest statement, you know that Azerbaijan is more and more
disappointed in the destructive position of the Armenian side.
“Armenia’s actions run counter to the purposes and spirit of the talks
held with the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation. Some staff exercises and
illegal local government elections have been held on the occupied
territories. In addition, resettlement is under way on the occupied
territories. Such actions can hardly have a positive impact on the
talks, during which, as the sides maintain, they are reportedly trying
to achieve peace. It is difficult to hold peace talks in these
conditions.”
But Mammadyarov added that the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, at
least the USA, have already reacted to the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry’s statement. “The USA has already voiced its position on
both the military exercises and illegal elections. It said that the
USA recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The OSCE
chairman-in-office issued a similar statement. The Council of Europe
secretary-general expressed his negative attitude to the events that
have occurred in recent weeks. We, however, believe that if our
attitude to the peace talks is serious and Azerbaijan actually wants
to achieve a breakthrough during the talks, we expect the same
attitude from the opposite side as well,” he said.

KARABAKH WAR GAMES DEADLY BLOW TO CONFLICT SETTLEMENT – AZERI ARMY OFFICIAL
Zerkalo, Baku
14 Aug 04
As is known, military exercises were held by the separatist regime on
the occupied territory of Nagornyy Karabakh a couple of days ago and
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan watched the course of the
exercises. We contacted the head of the Defence Ministry’s press
service, Col Ramiz Malikov, for comments.
(Passage omitted: background details)
(Ramiz Malikov) By holding the military “exercises” on the occupied
territory, the Armenian political and military leadership demonstrated
their aggressive stance towards Azerbaijan. These exercises showed
once again the true face of the Armenian separatists.
The Armenian military leadership wanted to demonstrate the existence
and might of the “Karabakh army” to the world. However, who will
believe in their fairy tales? The entire world knows that the Armenian
occupying troops took part in these exercises.
The participation of Armenia’s senior generals clearly showed who
planned this make-believe under the guise of exercises. (Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh) Sarkisyan wanted to demonstrate his muscles to
Azerbaijan. However, it is useless. Azerbaijan is well aware of their
military force.
I think that the exercises held on the occupied territory were a
deadly blow to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. It is the
Armenian side which is fully responsible for this.
(Correspondent) “One of the principles applied to the large-scale
military exercises conducted by the Karabakh defence army was to bring
these exercises as close to military operations as possible,” the NKR
(Nagornyy Karabakh Republic) defence minister, Seyran Oganyan,
said. “I think that the future military operations, if they happen to
take place, will be different from those of 1992-94. The present
exercises were like military operations that could be expected in the
future.” What can you say about this?
(Malikov) Azerbaijan has not heard of and does not know anything about
“the Karabakh army”. It is a gang that is functioning on the occupied
territory of Azerbaijan. This gang includes thugs, drug addicts,
terrorists and separatists. Therefore, I do not want to comment on
statements issued by the ringleader of a bandit formation.
However, I can say that the Azerbaijani army is much stronger than the
Armenian. The strength of our army is based on the logistics and
economy of our state, which makes the army develop continuously.
Armenia, however, is independent only in words. The troops of another
state are guarding its borders today. In fact, Armenia’s entire
industry is in the hands of another country. Armenia is not a
sovereign state, it is a vassal of another country.
(Passage omitted: minor details)

AZERI ENVOY CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY TIES
Trend news agency, Baku
14 Aug 04
BAKU
Trend correspondent E. Huseynov: The OSCE Minsk Group, of which Russia
is a co-chairman, should take a stricter position on a peaceful
settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and clearly and loudly
announce that the territory is under occupation, Trend news agency has
quoted the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia, Ramiz Rizayev, as saying.
(Passage omitted: reported details)
Voicing Baku’s concern about Moscow’s rapprochement with Yerevan in
the military field, Rizayev noted that it was particularly distressing
against the backdrop of the still unresolved conflict in Nagornyy
Karabakh.
“We know that many Armenians served and are continuing to serve in
Russia’s military units. This factor has had an exclusively negative
impact on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict…(ellipses as published)
Suffice it to say that the 366th regiment of the Soviet army, over 70
per cent of whose servicemen were Armenians, was involved in the
bloody events in Xocali (Azeri-populated Karabakh town which was
seized by Armenians in February 1992). The issue of the illegal
handover to Armenia of Russian arms worth over 1bn dollars is also
still unresolved. But we do hope that the current leadership of Russia
will finally show wisdom in this vital issue and these problems, which
we have inherited from the past, will be resolved,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of Azerbaijan’s admission to NATO, the
diplomat said: “We do not see any need to join any military bloc or
organization.”

Assa-Irada
Aug 13 2004
Parliament to discuss Garabagh conflict in fall
BAKU

A group of Azerbaijani parliament members has proposed to discuss the
Upper Garabagh conflict in the fall session of the Milli Majlis
(parliament).
Leader of the Party of Civil Solidarity, MP Sabir Rustamkhanli
supported the proposal despite the fact the Milli Majlis leadership
said this was not appropriate amidst ongoing peace talks.
Rustamkhanli told `525′ newspaper that the Garabagh problem, with
`its acute nature’, will be put on the parliament agenda in the fall
as an `all-national problem’ that requires joining effort by all the
layers of the Azerbaijani public.*

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Aug 12 2004
Plenty of fight
Young Glendale boxer a surprise Olympian
By Paul Oberjuerge , Staff Writer
ATHENS, Greece — Vanes Martirosyan’s enthusiasm is endearing. And
sometimes endangering.
The 18-year-old welterweight from Glendale revels in the chance to
box for his adopted country in the Athens Olympics.
“It’s so exciting,” he said Tuesday, a heavyweight smile erupting on
his boyish face. “When I sit and think about it, sometimes I get
tears in my eyes. Like, where am I? Is this really true? It’s like a
big dream. Then you wake up, and the coaches are there saying, ‘Let’s
go run,’ then you go, ‘Yeah, this is true. I am here.’ ”
“Here” is the Summer Olympics, the apex of the amateur boxing world.
No wonder Martirosyan is fired up.
But that youthful exuberance can be a detriment in the ring.
Martirosyan is most effective, U.S. assistant coach Joe Zanders said,
when he sticks with the technical, “Russian style” long-distance
boxing he learned from his father and personal coach, Norik, who
moved his family to Glendale from Armenia in 1990.
“What we want him to do is box,” Zanders said of the 152-pounder. “We
don’t want him to get into a fight. He gets excited, and he will
fight; he’s got that kind of heart.
“We have to keep him doing the things he’s done so far to get himself
here.”
That Martirosyan is here at all, preparing to walk in Opening
Ceremonies on Friday, is a significant upset. He wasn’t one of the
country’s well-regarded welterweights when the selection process
began this year, and his progress through the U.S. Trials surprised
even him. If not his father or his uncle, Serge, who repeatedly told
him, “You’re the best. You don’t know how good you are.”
He began to think maybe his father and uncle were right after he
defeated fifth-ranked Timothy Bradley in the Western Trials. Then he
clinched a berth in the Athens Games by defeating second-ranked Andre
Berto of Haiti in the continental qualifier in Tijuana, Mexico.
“My confidence kept going up and up,” he said. “I was getting better
and better.”
Martirosyan believes he is “a puzzle” to opponents because he can
change styles at the drop of a glove.
He grew up with the Russian style his father learned while boxing in
the former Soviet Union. “But I can fight American style, and I had a
Mexican coach (Joe Lopez), so I can fight Mexican style, too,” he
said. “Guys don’t know what they’re going to get from me.”
Lopez said he was not surprised when Martirosyan qualified for the
Olympics.
“He has been training very hard,” said Lopez, who until three years
ago trained Martirosyan out of Glendale. When Lopez was offered a job
at the Baldwin Park Boxing Club, he accepted, and Martirosyan
followed.
“He worked really hard in the gym and I think it is his
determination,” Lopez said. “No matter how much anybody tries to
discourage him, he believes in himself and he goes for it.”
Louie Escobar is head trainer at the Baldwin Park Boxing Club. He
said that when Martirosyan first set foot in his gym at age 15, he
knew he was something special. And not just as a boxer.
“I could see that he was very, very respectful, a good role model for
the younger kids,” Escobar said. “And I could see that he was very
talented. Raw, but talented.”
Zanders suggest Martirosyan is best served by the heady,
at-a-distance Russian style that can help him rack up jab points in
the electronically-scored Olympic tournament.
“He fights more like a Russian than anybody who’s not a Russian,”
Zanders said. “Guys who move and punch at the same time. He does that
extremely well.”
Zanders said Martirosyan was holding his own with 2003 world champion
Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba after two rounds in a tournament bout here in
May. Then the excitement factor bushwhacked the Glendale Kid,
something even Martirosyan concedes.
“The first two rounds, I was doing good, and the coaches tried to
calm me down because I get so excited, I’m having so much fun,” he
said. “I just started throwing raw punches. In the third round,
(Aragon) was running from me, and I was chasing him, but he was
scoring punches, while he was running.”
Martirosyan lost a decision, but perhaps gained some perspective.
“He didn’t stick with his game,” Zanders said. “If he listens to the
coaches, things will be a lot different. Losing to the Cuban is maybe
his greatest motivator, to this point. Now he has a better idea of
what this is about.”
Martirosyan’s father tried for 10 years to emigrate to the U.S., and
the family is so thankful to have joined relatives in Glendale that
Vanes sees the Olympics as a chance “to thank this country because it
made room for me and my family. Just to wear these (red, white and
blue) colors is a thrill for me.”
Martirosyan has become something of a celebrity in Glendale’s large
Armenian community. “They support me a lot,” he said. “When I walk
out of the house they come up and hug me and kiss me and say, ‘Go do
it.’ They show me a lot of love.”
According to USA Boxing spokeswoman Julie Goldsticker,
Armenian-American grocers sometimes refuse to take Norik
Martirosyan’s money, telling him to “go feed his son.”
Vanes Martirosyan will be joined here this week by his father and
uncle, as well as little brother Vatche and cousin Ilousha. His first
bout is Sunday.
A strong Olympics showing often has been a springboard into a
lucrative professional career. American welterweights who fought in
the Olympics include Sugar Ray Leonard, Donald Curry, Mark Breland,
Pernell Whitaker, Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya. The Golden
Boy happens to be a favorite of Martirosyan’s.
“The way Oscar won the gold and dedicated it to his mother, that was
great,” Martirosyan said.
The home-schooled boxer said he will not decide about turning pro
until after the Olympics. Hr added that his father and uncle will be
prime movers in that choice.
“I box; they handle everything else,”he said.
Martirosyan is not a medal favorite. The top welterweights figure to
be two-time gold medalist Oleg Saitev of Russia and Cuba’s Aragon.
Then again, Berto was a bronze medalist at the 2003 World
Championships, and Martirosyan defeated him during his breakthrough
year.
Said Zanders: “I think he has a chance to be a real problem for some
of the better boxers. I would not be surprised at any level he
achieves.”
Said Martirosyan: “Every day I sit in my room and dream what it would
be like to win a gold medal,” and another monster smile lights up the
room.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

My Telus
Aug 12 2004
Coffee With …
You might say that like some of the talent Arthur Evrensel
represents, he was discovered in an unlikely place.
A young man of Armenian descent who moved to Montreal from Istanbul,
Turkey as a six-year-old, Evrensel was in his second year with the
law firm of Heenan Blaikie, working on mainly commercial law and
securities, when he was asked to work with experienced entertainment
lawyer Michael Prupas, a new addition to the firm.
Other than enjoying movies or television shows, Evrensel didn’t
really have a background in the entertainment industry. In fact, when
he completed his bachelors degree in economics at McGill University,
his thoughts were to either obtain his chartered accountant
designation or pursue real estate law.
At the encouragement of a friend, Evrensel applied to law school at
McGill and completed a degree covering both common and civil law.
Along the way he landed a summer job with Heenan Blaikie.
Save HUGE with packages.

While happy to get the work, he didn’t quite see himself with the
firm long term. Heenan Blaikie had just 26 lawyers and did mainly
labour, litigation and commercial law.
“I was looking for a bigger firm and thought, ‘Hey it’s a summer
job,’ ” Evrensel explains as we sit this Thursday morning at one end
of a boardroom table that would make a giraffe’s neck look short.
But as he would note later on in our conversation at Heenan Blaikie’s
downtown office, you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be
good.
Evrensel would stick with Heenan Blaikie and a year before he
graduated the firm announced it was welcoming former Canadian Prime
Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau into the fold.
And when Evrensel began working in the firm’s entertainment practice,
the media world was a dramatically changing place with the
500-channel universe coming into play.
“All of these new channels were needing product and we were in the
middle of it,” Evrensel notes, adding that the growth meant new
opportunities for Heenan Blaikie.
In 1989, Norman Bacal went to Toronto to open a new office for the
firm. Two years later, Evrensel, an almost lifelong Montrealer to
that point, made the unlikely move to Vancouver. At the time that he
was instrumental in launching the Vancouver office, B.C. boasted just
$88 million in film and television production.
But the industry grew and with it so did Evrensel’s profile. Last
year, buoyed by big budget films The Chronicles of Riddick, Catwoman
and I Robot, B.C.’s film and TV industry was worth $1.4 billion.
And a glance at Evrensel’s resume indicates that he has been a real
player in that growth. Just the sample of his clients on his resume
is far too long to list. But some of them include MGM Television
Group, The David Suzuki Foundation, The Jim Pattison Group, Royal
Bank of Canada, Columbia/TriStar Television, Sony Pictures, New City
Pictures, Da Vinci Productions (Chris Haddock), Troika Films (Walter
Daroshin), Shavick Entertainment, The Characters Talent Agency,
Morgan Creek Productions and Lions Gate Entertainment.
Evrensel actually sits on the board of directors for Lions Gate,
which is proving to have made a brilliant business move when it
released Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 after Disney
decided not to. Fahrenheit 9/11, which cost $6 million US to make,
has earned about $133 million worldwide.
Evrensel says he wasn’t worried about the repercussions from
releasing Moore’s documentary. The Edgemont Village resident notes
that the film is factually based and is in no way libelous or
slanderous. Further, the board of Lions Gate Entertainment has an
obligation to the shareholders to pursue what is in their best
interests. To not release Fahrenheit 9/11 would be showing political
partisanship and not prudent business sense.
But the 46-year-old Evrensel has many other projects he has
participated in as head of Heenan Blaikie’s entertainment law group
in Vancouver that he appears more gung ho to talk about.
He mentions Bell Making The Cut, a reality show airing on CBC Sept.
21st in which wannabe NHL hockey players, with coaches Scottie Bowman
and Mike Keenan as their guides, get a crack at their dream of an NHL
tryout.
Earlier on in our conversation, Evrensel pulled out a hardcover
coffee table book full of colourful aerial pictures of Canada’s
unique geography and cities called “Over Canada: An Aerial
Adventure,” which was produced by Jim Pattison Industries. He is
obviously pleased to have been involved with its production and notes
working with Pattison is a pleasure because he always learns
something.
Right now, Evrensel is working with B.C. company Brightlight, which
is producing an $8 million movie in Romania called Blood Rayne. It is
based on a video game and features Sir Ben Kingsley.

Romania, Evrensel notes, is cheap to produce in and the movie could
have never been made here for that price.
Competition, explains the man who is listed in the Canadian Who’s Who
and has been recognized by his peers the last few years as one of the
top entertainment lawyers in Canada, is getting fiercer all of the
time.
Not only are some American film industry types crying the blues about
runaway productions and California and Washington states considering
introducing tax credits to keep the industry at home, other countries
around the world are trying to duplicate the incentives Canada
offers.
The debate over federal support for the film industry hit home during
the federal election in June. North Vancouver Conservative MP Ted
White had indicated that he would not support tax credits or
incentives for the industry, characterizing it as corporate welfare.
Evrensel says that the Motion Picture Production Industry
Association, for which he sits on the board of directors, contacted
White in an attempt to clarify any misconceptions he may have had but
White responded that it was too close to the election for him to meet
with them and he didn’t think his constituents wanted him supporting
corporate welfare.
In the end District of North Vancouver Mayor Don Bell, the Liberal
candidate, upset White and it was widely believed that the votes from
local film industry workers proved the difference.
“The North Vancouver federal election was a very satisfying election
for us,” Evrensel admits.
He cites reports conducted by accounting firms PriceWaterhouseCoopers
and Ernst and Young that indicate the federal government actually
reaps a net positive return for tax credits provided to the film
industry.
Evrensel explains that U.S. film producers can, due to the size of
their consumer market with a population of 300 million, make a movie
and fund it entirely within. Canada, on the other hand, doesn’t have
that critical mass and needs to develop partnerships and sell its
product in foreign markets to succeed. Thus the need for government
incentives, or public-private partnerships as he describes them, to
ensure Canadians can compete with giants like the U.S.
Evrensel adds that B.C. has to be proactive and meet any challenges
that arise. The industry can’t be taken for granted and always has to
be treated well.
“You always have to service it. This is a mobile industry and anybody
who doesn’t understand that will regret it,” he explains.
Further, Evrensel notes the industry is always changing, and the
local industry needs to recognize that change and be on top of it.
He points out that reality programs now make up a major portion of TV
schedules, so if the industry is still only producing drama shows, it
should be asking itself why. Further, just five or six years ago DVDs
were not a known commodity.
“Last year sales of DVDs surpassed theatrical release in North
America. If you don’t understand the change, you’ll be left behind.”
The industry keeps him on his toes, Evrensel shares. Things happen
quickly and he says that unlike with a real estate development deal
where you can spend a longer amount of time to ensure all risks are
removed, an entertainment deal may have to be turned around in a
couple of weeks.
“If there’s one thing I learned about this business is you have to be
able to work with a certain modicum of risk. You have to accept a
certain level of risk in any deal. The key is to understand it and to
be able to evaluate that risk and whether or not it’s a realistic
risk you and the client can assume and live with.”
He notes, for instance, that if movie producers have decided upon Ben
Kingsley as a lead and Kingsley is only available for two weeks, the
determination has to be made as to whether or not the production can
adjust to his schedule. If not, then another actor has to be hired.
As for Evrensel, there can be no replacement. Nor is he likely to
make room for one. For while Evrensel might have been discovered in
an unlikely place, he finds himself in a position and an environment
he wants to stay in.
Evrensel says the people in B.C. are much friendlier than in
Montreal. He chalks it up to the fact so many have come from other
parts of the country that they are willing to interact with new
people and aren’t locked into cliques.
And as for that little firm Heenan Blaikie that Evrensel wasn’t sure
he wanted to stay with back when he was a law student in the mid
1980’s, it is likely now larger than any big firm he imagined himself
working for. Heenan Blaikie boasts over 350 lawyers, including
another former PM, Jean Chretien, and is the 10th largest firm in the
country.
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