Innovative fashion designer and tireless supporter of our artistic community Eugene Sidney celebrated his star-studded 55th birthday party by also graciously hosted his annual media appreciation awards at Bugatta Restaurant on trendy Melrose Avenue on April 5th. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday weekend of Easter and Passover.
“It’s been my pleasure to thank the media for all their love and support over the years. I see how hard the media works at all my events and I truly want to show my appreciation. The smiles on their faces and gratitude truly makes it all worth it. It’s the icing on the cake,” said Sidney.
This year the honorees were Eric Epperson, Carole Gray, Cerdan Smith, Dan Kennedy, Liza Crilly-Tyner, Jenna Urban, Joss Gomez, Solecito Vazquez, Jessica Surls, Chebra Dorsey, Joyce Chow, Sheri Determan, Panther Scott, H.R. Cole, Jon Scudder,Diana Ligon and yours truly!
I was so honored to receive this award from Eugene, as he is such a kind man and well respected designer. What I admire about him most is his candor and graciousness. This roving reporter has always felt at home covering his events and that usually doesn’t happen in this overwhelmingly vast and oftentimes isolating City of Angels.
Additionally, Elizabeth Manila received the friendship appreciation award. There were live performances by Manou Oeschger, Darling Land, and Marneen Lynne. Alexis Kiley was a special guest performer who serenaded Eugene with a Happy Birthday song. This grand event was hosted by Sueanne Haas, Wendy Lynn Adams, and Nohemi Encerrado. LA Steve & The Crew were the live DJs.
This swanky gala brought together a of host of actors namely Jon Mack (Saw VI, The Effects of Blunt Force Trauma), Christy McGinity Gibel (Little Women: LA) , Kristin West (Seeking Valentina), Marv Blauvelt (Jurassic City) and yours truly, Vida G. (The Mindy Project), who all acted in the short film “Strangers in A Book.” Along with the cast were the crew of this film, writer and producer Pedram Navab, his twin sister Pooneh, who was the wardrobe stylist, lead makeup artist Shirley Sal and the director of this film, Marc Rezvani. West and I also acted alongside each other in Seeking Valentina, which also had Shirley Sal as the lead makeup artist and we had the film’s star, Ali Bavarian in attendance as well, so I was honored to have the support of both casts while I received my award. Also in attendance was prominent entertainment attorney Nadia Davari.
CongratulationVIda, you are the best!!!