Problem: Background: Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (nee Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon was raised in a Jewish family with roots that originated in Eastern Europe and Hungary (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
Context: The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.  Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.  Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).  Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
Question: What else can you tell me about Simon?
Answer: Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined,

Background: Nina Tucker is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Delta Goodrem. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 11 June 2002. Goodrem was approached by producers after they saw her video for her debut single. Goodrem, who had just signed a record deal, almost turned down the role of Nina as she felt the character did not suit her style of music.
Context: Nina was initially meant to be a "bad girl", but the writers rewrote the part for Goodrem, and the character became a "painfully shy schoolgirl" who gets a job in the Coffee Shop. The Age described Nina as the "quintessential girl next door". Goodrem described her character as "a quiet, unassuming type of girl", who did not think anything of her amazing gift. When Goodrem was asked if she was similar to Nina, she replied "I think I am in some ways and in some ways I'm not. Nina's very shy, I really like the character Nina but I think she'd probably walk out of a room and I'd probably chat all day I think that's probably the difference, she'd sneak out of a room and I'd stay!" The BBC agreed with Goodrem and said that Nina would not say "boo to a goose" and would flee if anyone looked her way.  In 2003, Nina's mother, Trixie (Wendy Stapleton), arrived in Erinsborough after Nina's father, Nick, ended their relationship. Nina was upset to learn about her parents split and went into denial. She believed that they would get back together. Trixie was a professional singer and, during a set at Lou's Place, started to lose confidence, so Nina helped her out and saved the night. Stapleton stated that Nina and Trixie's relationship was complicated, and there were issues between them. Nina saw Trixie as an embarrassment, but she helped her out because she saw how sad her mother was. Stapleton explained more about Nina's early life saying, "Nina's life has been almost a gypsy one - living out of a suitcase while her parents toured. She's learned to be independent from an early age, though Trixie idolises her." Nina retreated into books and her imagination instead of being worldly from the travelling she has done. Stapleton and Goodrem did not get a chance to explore their respective character's relationship much further, as Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma three weeks into the storyline. Scripts were changed so Nina was not directly involved and she was only mentioned by other characters.  When she returned in 2004, Nina was no longer shy and vulnerable. She had taken control of her life and became more assured. Goodrem welcomed her character's development and said Nina came back strong and confident. She also said: "I think she had to grow up. If she didn't come back a little bit older and wiser, then she wouldn't have learnt and grown from what's gone on in the year that she's been missing."
Question: What displayed her denial?
Answer:
She believed that they would get back together.