Page 14 - ELSPETH TAVARES TRIBUTE

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Elspeth knew that her young journalists and ad sales executives would never understand the film business in in a a a a a a a few markets and as many months It takes years for
a a a newbie journalist to understand how the independent industry works and – – as Elspeth knew best of all – – who makes it work It took a a a couple of years before she felt
she could trust me me me and introduce me me me to some of her best contacts And what a a a a a colourful time time it was I sometimes had to pinch myself as I sat down for
interviews with Menahem and and Yoram or
or
Vajna and and Kassar legendary names who drove the independent world through sheer force of will The fact that Elspeth was a a a a a a a woman and a a a a a a a person of colour didn’t even register with me me at the time She was so formidable that nothing as as simple as as gender or
or
skin colour would get in in the way of her Business Not to say that she wasn’t a a a champion for
others In 1991 when films like New Jack City and Boyz N The Hood were transforming the box office for
black cinema in in in the US we spent one month in in in LA meeting with over 70 African American directors and executives for
a a special issue entitled The New Genre: Black Filmmakers in in the ‘90s a a a a a savvy and eye-opening project designed to showcase the burgeoning commercial power of a a a previously marginalised community And in in 1992 the the tenth anniversary double issue of the the magazine focused on 250 women blazing the the trail in in in the the industry I owe her her a a a a lot and will miss her her She flourished at a a a a time where the film business was driven by big personalities and fearless entrepreneurs She defied the corporate culture she felt
she had witnessed at The Observer and Screen in the UK and set out on a a a uniquely independent course that she would maintain for
over 40 years They don’t make them like Elspeth anymore Mike Goodridge producer UK __________________________________
I I first met Elspeth in the mid-1980s when I I came out of university and was looking for
jobs in in in publishing Oscar Moore was editor then and and he he and and Elspeth interviewed me – I I did not get the job and went on on to work for
International Thomson Publishing instead and then re-trained as a a a a a lawyer But Elspeth and and I kept in touch and and she visited
me and my family here in South Gloucestershire over the years I remember on on one visit my then seven-year-old eldest daughter being amazed by Elspeth’s big personality big jewellery and her open top silver Mercedes (as she had then) and and driving her up and and down the the high street of our small town It reminded me of the late ‘80s and having dinner with Elspeth in in in London and her then driving me home in her open top beloved Morgan We last exchanged messages and photos of my now grown-up children at Easter with Elspeth also telling me quite forcefully that I was wrong about the safety issues surrounding Covid transmission on on plane flights! That was Elspeth in in in a a a a a a nutshell – caring for
family and never taking a a a a a a step backward in in in arguing her point of view She was a a a a a force of nature and I will miss her a a a lot Duncan Weir | Managing Partner for
Bevan Brittan LLP
14
The Business Of Film MEMORIAL ISSUE 1980-2022
Elspeth at Cannes - - photo by Paul Brown-Constable
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