Focus on israel miptv 2014

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A WORLD OF WINNING FORMATS WITH THE TV FORMAT FUND TV Format Fund, the Israeli financial enterprise, was founded to bridge the world of business finance and the television industry.

TV Format Fund is proudly committed to collaborating with industry players across the board, supporting creators, writers, producers, distributors and broadcasters on a shared path to the next Made in Israel TV success.

For collaboration please contact the fund: info@tvformatfund.com, www.tvformatfund.com

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CONTENTS

FOCUS ON ISRAEL

Introduction

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Israel: a ‘creative startup nation’

Formats

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Homeland of the big idea

In the boardroom

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Key players profiled

Broadcasters

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Reasons to be cheerful

Partnerships

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Israel’s got talent

Documentary

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Facing facts

Startups

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The new Israel

FOCUS ON ISRAEL – April 2014 – MIPTV News Special Report. Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communication Mike Williams EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Deputy Editor Debbie Lincoln Technical Editor in Chief Hervé Traisnel Deputy Technical Editor in Chief Frédéric Beauseigneur Graphic Designer Carole Peres Sub Editor Clive Bull, Joanna Stephens Contributors Andy Fry, Gary Smith Editorial Management Boutique Editions PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Manager Amrane Lamiri Publishing Co-ordinators Nour Ezzedeen, Emilie Lambert Production Assistant, Cannes Office Eric Laurent Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France) Reed MIDEM, a joint stock company (SAS), with a capital of €310.000, 662 003 557 R.C.S. NANTERRE, having offices located at 27-33 Quai Alphonse Le Gallo - 92100 BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT (FRANCE), VAT number FR91 662 003 557. Contents © 2014, Reed MIDEM Market Publications. Publication registered 2nd quarter 2014. Printed on 50% recycled paper

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL INTRODUCTION

Israel: a ‘creative, startup nation’ THIS WEEK MIPTV turns its attentions to Israel, a hotbed of creativity in the international multiplatform content market

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SRAEL is the country of the moment where creativity is concerned and MIPTV’s Focus On Israel series of events will serve to underscore that fact.

It is with both scripted and reality formats that Israel has made its mark on the international media landscape in recent years, making it the country the world’s eyes turn to when looking for the next big idea. Recent research from Eurodata TV Worldwide shows a thirst for formats in the domestic market, with reality programmes making up seven out of its top10 programmes for 2013.

The Wit’s Virginia Mouseler, who presents a Focus On Israel session at MIPTV this week, identified scripted formats as the big breakthrough for the country on the international marketplace — and notably Hagai Levi’s drama BeTipul which debuted on the HOT 3 cable in 2005, and in 2008 on HBO as In Treatment.”

“Compare it with Holland, where the big breakthrough was non-scripted formats. In Israel it was on the scripted side and we are now just producing the first-ever research on scripted formats and it turns out that there are some 16 adaptations of In Treatment around the world,” Mouseler said.

“It’s the biggest Israeli success to date. It’s gone from Russia to Serbia to Hungary, Japan, Italy… it’s incredible.”

A later scripted success from Israel is Homeland which started life as Keshet’s

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Prisoners Of War. “That is more famous because of the buzz around it. It started in 2010 in Israel and was adapted [as Homeland] for Showtime and now there are four other versions in Korea, Brazil, Russia and Turkey,” Mouseler said.

So what sets Israel apart, creatively, right now? “They always have complex psychological storylines. There is an extra complexity, psychological layers, that are very interesting.”

For non-scripted formats there is an added layer of intrigue in the ideas too, Mouseler said — but budgets also played a big part in their success. “In the beginning they were producing very low-budget entertainment shows, at a time when in the western countries they were producing spectacular game shows with big cash prizes,” she said. “A lot of them were taking place in the street so not expensive to produce at all. And it was interesting to have an alternative to the big

Film and TV export statistics. Source: IEICI

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

spectacular shows.”

“Israel is a startup nation and its innovation as well as its creativity are expressed in a variety of areas, of very creative and low-cost formats,” says Mira Geshel, manager, content, film & TV, at Focus On Israel sponsor The Israel Export and International Co-operation Institute (IEICI). “There are about 50 Israeli companies that develop a large amount of diverse formats every year.”

Geshel said the IEICI plans to “expand the exposure for the Israeli companies, which are achieving international sales and success around the world” at MIPTV. She added: “The companies that exhibit at the Israeli Pavilion provide diverse solutions to the industry, such as TV channels sales, documentary contact distribution, dubbing and translation. In addition, the Israeli companies will host a large number of independent producers, buyers and TV station managers.”

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL FORMATS Keshet’s Prisoners Of War

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Homeland of the big idea Israel is good at formats. So good, in fact, that it has become one of the world’s go-to markets for big, bold formats capable of redefining a network’s schedule. Andy Fry reports

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HE GROWTH of the TV format business has been good to Israel. For so long over-shadowed by larger territories, this energetic Middle Eastern country of eight million people has used the changing dynamics of the content market to export its ideas around the world.

For many observers, it was the adaptation of Israeli broadcaster Keshet’s drama series Prisoners Of War into Showtime’s awardwinning Homeland that put Israeli content on the radar. But the Israeli success story actually dates back to the start of the last decade, when Keshet’s interactive game-show format The Vault was launched internationally.

Reversioned in 18 territories, including the

UK, Australia and Germany, “it showed us that the world was becoming more receptive to innovative TV whatever its origin”, says Avi Nir, CEO of Keshet Media Group. “The message was that great ideas are great ideas whatever their original language.”

More good news was to follow for Keshet when its mentalist format The Successor was reversioned in around 10 countries, including the US. But it was not the only Israeli company to start making waves on the international market. Around the same time that Keshet was making its name, the likes of Dori Media and Armoza Formats started to have their own successes. For Dori, there were breakthroughs with scripted titles such as Split and

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BeTipul, which was remade by HBO as the critically acclaimed In Treatment. For Armoza, there were landmark deals for non-scripted titles, including The Package, Foreplay and webbased reality show The Frame.

Avi Armoza launched his format business in 2005. “Israeli companies looked to the international market because the opportunities in domestic broadcasting were quite restricted,” he says. “There were only a limited number of channels and they were starting to fill their slots with foreign formats. At Armoza, we took the view that there was a bigger market for us outside of Israel.”

While there is a clear logic to this, there are

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL

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ONE TO WATCH… GIL PRODUCTIONS has 10 scripted and non-scripted formats in development, including Street Jury, Are You For Real? and While You Were Getting Married.

Street Jury, which was co-created with Studio Glam and is being represented by Turkish distributor Global Agency, asks the general public to resolve disputes. The 30-minute daily format sees 25 members of the public watch a short clip outlining a problem between a couple. The ‘street jury’ then reviews the case, questions the participants and reaches a verdict. Ami Glam, CEO of Studio Glam, says Street Jury underlines a key strength of Israeli content: “There is great need today for formats that are not only accessible and easy to produce, but can return great production value at relatively low cost.”

country’s success. Assaf Gil, one of Israel’s top indie producers, says his country’s success has something to do with the national psyche: “Israelis have a lot of hutzpah,” he says. “They have a mentality that is undeterred by obstacles and have no hesitation in speaking their mind. If they have a vision that something can be done better, then they will go ahead and do it.”

Gil’s own career trajectory has seen him establish one of the country’s top indies — Gil Productions — producing local versions of shows such as Dancing With The Stars, MasterChef, Come Dine With Me, Super Nanny and Undercover Boss. Despite working for all the major broadcasters, he has come to the conclusion — like Armoza — that there is “a glass ceiling in the domestic market”.To break through this, he adds, “we launched a creative department to develop original TV formats in both scripted and non-scripted. With the interest that Israel is now generating, it’s the right time to leverage our experience.”

Gil is not the only producer to have turned his attention to the international market. In January 2012, two former Channel 10 executives, Einat Shamir and Tal Shaked, formed A-Cappella (Media Content Hub), an indie production company that seeks to bring scripted and non-scripted formats to the global market.

“Einat has a strong track record in making

ONE TO WATCH… THE FIRST fruit of the partnership between ITV and Reshet came at MIPCOM 2013, when the partners launched My Dream Wedding. In January 2014, they followed up with Game Of Chefs, a primetime competitive cookery format for the global market. Developed in Israel by production company Constantine, the format follows three chefs as they compete to find the country’s finest cooking talent. However, unlike other mentoring shows, the pressure is on the professionals to ensure that the amateurs are up to scratch. Erez Ben Harosh, executive vice-president of content for Reshet, says: “We are immensely excited to see the launch of Game Of Chefs, the newest reality format to be developed within The Lab. We are proud to bring the next generation of cookery reality programming to viewers in Israel and anticipate introducing the format to territories worldwide.” and commissioning drama, while my career has been about bringing international formats like Survivor, Beauty And The Geek, The Biggest Loser and The Apprentice into Israel,” Shaked says. “Now, our ambition is to create content that audiences around the Local version of Big Brother produced for Keshet

© Photo: Ronen Ackerman

any number of small countries that could pitch a similar case. So why has Israel managed to make its mark on the international format business when many other countries have failed? “I think there are a few factors,” Armoza says. “For a start, storytelling is part of Israeli culture. But also important is that Israeli TV audiences are impatient. They need new things all the time to keep them interested. This leads to a fast turnover of innovative ideas.”

These factors are also cited by other producers. But there are other theories as to why Israel has become so prominent in recent times. One is that Israeli producers are forced to innovate because of the lack of programming budgets available at home. Another is that the country’s lack of raw materials has encouraged Israelis to hone their skills in IP and entrepreneurship — something that also explains why the country is such a high-tech hot bed.

And there are also those who believe that the Israeli personality has a lot to do with the

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL “The message was that great ideas are great ideas whatever their original language” ONE TO WATCH… RESHET has cracked the US with its comedies, first breaking through with Divorce and now Irreversible (Hebrew name Bilti Hafich). Irreversible is currently in production with Sony Studios for ABC, featuring Friends’ star David Schwimmer.

The story centres on an eccentric, selfabsorbed couple that have a tendency to bring problems on themselves. In Israel, Bilti Hafich pulled in top ratings and has been renewed for a second season.

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world can enjoy.”

The company has already had some successes, Shaked adds: “We have a drama called Reaching For Heaven, which is about what happens to a family when the father suddenly becomes strongly religious. That has been sold to eOne for adaptation in the US and the UK. In the US, the idea has been picked up by Sundance. Another of our dramas, Castles In The Sky, has been optioned

by Endemol for use in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.”

A-Cappella has also been working on a series of scripted and non-scripted formats with mentalist Nimrod Harel. “Nimrod’s first scripted series, The Believer, sold to Fox International Channels,” Shaked says. “We are bringing him to MIPTV with reality thriller Hide-o-Mania and a primetime game show called The Big Picture.”

ONE TO WATCH…

Avi Nir

Also heading the Israeli wave is multi-award winning producer Elad Kupermann, who produced a local version of Endemol’s Big Brother for Keshet and was behind the original version of The Successor. Active across all genres, he has also seen international success with sitcom Traffic Light, which sold to Fox in the US and CTC in Russia.

Like Armoza, Kupermann says Israel is a small, competitive market “where the big international programme brands are doing well. So for us to maximise our creative potential, it makes sense to develop innovative formats that can work around the world.”

Where Kupermann differs from his rivals, however, is that he has entered into a partnership with formats giant Endemol, renaming his company Endemol Israel. “For me, it was a great opportunity to become part of the one of the world’s biggest production and distribution companies,” he says. “And for them, it was a way to get closer to the Israeli market at a time when so much is happening here.”

For Kupermann, the dynamism of his home market is partly down to the fact that it is “still very young in TV terms, which means it has a lot of innovative ideas. And I also think we benefit from the fact that people here are so comfortable with mobile and tablet technology. That creates a real reason for us to look at ways to involve audiences in shows using digital technology.”

Endemol’s acquisition of Kupermann is not the only sign of the company’s interest in Is-

ONE TO WATCH… ARMOZA Formats’ I Can Do That! is a primetime entertainment show that challenges eight celebrities to perform breathtaking and unique acts, with viewers choosing who has given the best performance. Among the broadcasters to have picked up the format to date are RAI (Italy), Mediaset (Spain) and Rede Record (Brazil). Armoza reports that further deals have been secured in markets including Russia, Turkey and China.

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A-CAPPELLA’s headline format for MIPTV is The Big Picture, a studio-based primetime game show devised in partnership with on-screen talent Nimrod Harel. In the show, questions are linked to pictures. Audience members are shown an image and win a cash prize if they answer a question about it correctly. The questions get harder and the prizes get bigger as the show progresses.

rael — it has also acquired a stake in broadcaster Reshet. And there are other interesting examples of collaboration between the established TV market and the fast-growing Israeli formats business.

In late 2013, for example, UK indie Zig Zag Productions entered a joint venture with Israeli producer and broadcaster Ananey Communications to promote each other’s formats and create new factual entertainment shows. Prior to that, UK broadcaster ITV teamed up with Reshet to form a new strategic unit called The Lab. Explaining the rationale behind The Lab, Paul Buccieri, managing director of ITV Studios International, and president and CEO of ITV Studios America, says: “Israel has exploded on to the television market as a creative hothouse and has become a major exporter of shows that have entertained and engaged audiences, not only in America but across the world.”

So far, Reshet is not as well known on the international market as Keshet. But the combination of Endemol as a shareholder and ITV Studios as a partner is generating a lot of optimism within the group about the future. Reshet head of international, Sharon Gelbaum-Shpan, who is heading The Lab’s Israeli office, sums it up: “By marrying the creativity of our Reshet development team with the expertise and reach of ITV Studios, we believe we are at the beginning of building a dynamic hub that will generate worldwide success.”

That comment could be used to describe Israel as a whole.

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SUCCESS HAS ALWAYS COME NATURALLY TO US HOT is the top creator of new, fresh and original tv formats in Israel. www.hot.net.il

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Star power Keshet interactive format Rising Star

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Rising Star is currently one of the hottest formats on the planet. Andy Fry looks at Keshet’s interactive talent show that is breaking moulds and smashing records

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ANY of the world’s leading content companies have been trying to find a new talent show to rival The Voice, Idol and The X Factor. But the company that finally succeeded was broadcaster Keshet with its interactive format Rising Star, produced in behalf of Keshet by Tedy Productions.

A breakout hit on Israeli television, the Rising Star format has now been licensed to broadcasters in more than 20 territories. Among these are Rede Globo (Brazil), ITV (UK), ABC (US), Rossiya 1 (Russia), M6 (France) and RTL (Germany).

The twist in the show is that it features real-time viewer voting via an innovative free app that is fully integrated into the show.

As a result, audiences at home decide who

TAKING PRISONERS KESHET International’s Prisoners Of War continues to do great business. After being made for the US as Homeland, it is now being adapted for the Korean market by J Entertainment. The format has been sold to around 20 markets, including Russia, Turkey and Brazil. Keshet International CEO Alon Shtruzman says: “It’s a gem in our portfolio, continuously evolving and extending its lifecycle internationally.”

advances throughthe contest, while their individual pictures appear on the large screen facing the contestant. When the performer reaches a designated voting percentage, the screen rises and the new star is revealed to the judges. This is not the end of viewer involvement, however. The audience continues to play an integral role in every decision made on the show throughout the entire season, right up to the finale.

In Israel, Rising Star attracted close on a 50% share — a remarkable achievement. It has also broken all second-screen records, with nine million votes tallied through the app, which has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.

Commenting on these achievements, Keshet Media Group CEO Avi Nir says: “Israelis will always look for ways to improve something, even if it isn’t obvious that there is a need for improvement. It’s in our DNA. We took a lot of time and effort developing our Rising Star format, even though there are lots of good music talent shows in the market. That decision has been rewarded by the number of format sales that our international team under Alon Shtruzman has achieved.”

The appeal of the format has been backed by a slew of leading broadcasters, one of which

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ONE TO WATCH… HIT KESHET drama The A Word focuses on a family’s painful, but often humorous, journey of denial and introspection after their five-year-old son is diagnosed with autism. The concept is attracting a lot of attention internationally as a scripted format and a UK version is already in development. Season one became the 10th most viewed drama series on Israeli television and won five awards at the Israeli Academy of Film and Television Awards. Season two has recently premiered to great ratings, attracting a 40% share — 25% higher than the average for the time slot and 5% higher than the first season average. is ITV in the UK, home to such mega-formats as Got Talent and The X Factor. ITV’s director of entertainment and comedy, Elaine Bedell, sums it up when she says: “It’s rare you find a genuinely innovative new entertainment format, but Keshet has come up with one and I’m pleased that it will be on ITV. The bold, real-time voting element means that viewers’ votes control every twist and turn of the live programme, and that makes for an incredibly dramatic, emotional and exciting show.”

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The Dori formula

Taste Of Love (DMG)

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Not many people know that Dori Media started out in the soap business. Andy Fry tracks the powerful Israeli player from its time as a distributor of Argentine telenovelas to a global content giant

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EGULAR visitors to MIPTV will not fail to have spotted Dori Media Group’s (DMG) banner advertising on the outside walls of the Palais des Festivals. Active in the international market for more than a decade, the company has produced a prodigious amount of content, ranging from teen dramas such as Split to non-scripted formats including Smartface. At the last count, its shows had been sold into more than 100 countries.

But what some people might not know is that the company started out by distributing famous Argentine telenovelas, such as Rebelde Way and Lalola.

“My previous company, Mapal Communications, acquired a majority stake in Dori Media in 2002, at a time when it was focused on Argentine content,” says Nadav Palti, DMG’s CEO and president. “We still produce and distribute a lot of Argentine shows, but the balance has shifted towards Israel as buyers have become more interested in this country.”

With a background in telenovelas, it was logical for DMG to branch out into Israeli drama

at first. One of its breakout successes was BeTipul, a scripted format that was picked up and turned into In Treatment by US network HBO. “Since then,” Palti says, “we have gone on to sell the format to networks around the world.”

These days, DMG’s content portfolio has been rebalanced to include a mix of scripted and non-scripted. Coming into 2014, the company has a catalogue of 6,000 hours of programming, including dramas such as Enigma, Shtisel, Galis and Little Mom, and non-scripted shows including Win The Crowd, A Perfect Vacation, Taste Of Love and Duel Games.

Palti says a major ambition for this year is to crack the US: “We have had shows in the US before, in 2006 and 2009. But this year, we have 15 different wholly or partly owned products on the way to the US, so we see a real opportunity to penetrate the market. We have also just announced a joint venture with producer Charlie Ebersol’s The Company that will see us develop and produce four new pilots per year. Dori Media will produce in Israel,

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Argentina and Asia, while The Company will produce in the US, with Dori distributing formats worldwide.”

In addition to DMG’s production business, the company has also built up a channel business at home and abroad. The big news on the foreign front is that Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks has acquired 50% of Dori’s Indonesian telenovela channel Televiva. “Having SPT as a partner is great for us as we start to expand our channel business into new Asian and Eastern European markets,” Palti adds.

ONE TO WATCH… DORI Media’s Taste Of Love is a primetime studio show that combines a passion for good food and a passion for love. Six single men and six single women take part in a cooking competition. Those who can cook their way to the finals are given a special opportunity to find love. In the event of a mutual match, the winning couple receive a culinary journey as their prize.

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the board room Israeli scripted and nonscripted formats have quite recently become a global phenomenon, but the country’s executives have been in positions of global influence at home and abroad for many years…

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ALEX GILADY PRESIDENT of the Keshet Group Alex Gilady is Israel’s most decorated television executive, a legendary figure who was behind several major productions by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority including the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 and the Visit Of Egyptian President Sadat in 1977.

As senior vice-president of NBC Sports and Olympics he was awarded seven Emmys, and he is the chairman of the International Athletics Federation TV Commission, as well as chairman of the International Basketball Federation TV Commission.

He was the first Israeli ever to be elected to the International Olympic Committee in 1994, and is now vicechairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. “I’ll be going to Tokyo very soon to help in any way I can to make the event the best thing that mankind can create,” he says.

Having founded Keshet, Gilady was also one of the first TV executives to spot the latent TV talent in Israel. “When we started Keshet it was a fairly modest operation, focused on winning part of the local market, but since Avi Nir joined the company, we have managed to make a mark on the international scene which is such a pleasure to see,” he says. “The moment we realised that the clever people here are not just clever in technology, that they have a wealth of good, fresh and often brilliant ideas for TV, was an important one. And perhaps of equal significance is how we can leverage the tastes of the local audience to test ideas for the international market.”

Alex Gilady

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April 7-10 • 2014 • Palais des Festivals • Cannes • France You are cordially invited to visit

The Israel Pavilion | Palais-1, J14

For more information: Israel Export Institute Ms. Mira Geshel, Manager, Film & TV • +972 3 514 2878 • Geshel@export.gov.il Ms. Galit Soudai-Moscovici, Production Manager for Intl. Exhibitions • +972 3 514 2998 • galits@export.gov.il

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL AVI NIR

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NAMED the N º1 Most Influential Person in Israeli Culture by Israel’s top national Newspaper Haaretz in 2013, Avi Nir is the CEO of the Keshet Media Group and it is he who led the company’s charge to maintain its position as the leading broadcaster in Israel averaging a weekly primetime share of 42%.

Under Nir, privately owned Keshet has become a top content supplier to the international market, enjoying global success with its international adaptations of local hits. He serves as an executive producer on Showtime’s award-winning drama Homeland, for which he was awarded an Emmy when the show was named Outstanding Drama Series in 2012. Prisoners Of War, Keshet’s original Israeli show upon which Homeland is based, has sold to more than 20 territories internationally.

“The success of our shows internationally is about choosing the right partners,” he says. “We have a great agent in Rick Rosen at WME and we work with him to find auteurs… creatives who can bring their own unique voice to our shows. A successful format requires a delicate bal-

ance between the essence of the original version and someone’s innovative take on the show. To this end we have formed a company in the US with Dick Clark Productions, a specialist in live shows who will be great partners for us on Rising Star and any new format-based ideas. But we don’t believe in pushing our ideas too aggressively, because if an idea is really ground-breaking the world will hear about it and respond. Broadcasters got Rising Star very quickly and reacted to its fresh approach.”

ORLY ADELSON AS PRESIDENT, ITV Studios America, Orly Adelson oversees all aspects of ITV Studios America, one of the fastest-growing and largest production companies in the US and the creative engine driving some of the biggest and most successful brands on American television. Adelson leads teams located on both the West and East coasts that produce an extensive slate of scripted and non-scripted series for both broadcast and cable networks, and syndicators. Most recently, Adelson secured a 10-episode commitment from Hallmark Channel for the scripted project The Good Witch starring Catherine Bell.

Adelson previously held the position of president at Dick Clark Productions, overseeing all of the company’s

Avi Nir

high-profile properties, including So You Think You Can Dance, the American Music Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, and the Academy of Country Music Awards.

“As one of the fastest growing and largest production companies in the US, our strategy over the next months is for ITV Studios America to remain an agile and competitive player in the marketplace; from creative deal-making and business models, to the variety of genres we produce in,” she says.

“We are one of the few truly bi-coastal production companies and this allows us to be able to create and produce in many genres; from cooking to talk shows, competition to game shows, crime to character driven docu-series, and many others. We want to keep expanding our repertoire while putting emphasis on growing our scripted business in the US. Two other important pillars of our strategy are that IP is always key, particularly as we can tap into the rich portfolio of formats owned by ITV, and our desire to continue building the right partnerships, whether they be domestic or international.”

Orly Adelson

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MIPTV2014 Love at first frame

April 7-10 • 2014 • Palais des Festivals • Cannes • France You are cordially invited to visit

The Israel Pavilion | Palais-1, J14

The Israel Export Institute acts to advance the film and television industry in Israel by establishing national pavilions at international exhibitions around the world and by bringing internationally renowned independent producers, station managers and program managers together with leading Israeli producers.

For more information: Israel Export Institute Ms. Mira Geshel, Manager, Film & TV • +972 3 514 2878 • Geshel@export.gov.il Ms. Galit Soudai-Moscovici, Production Manager for Intl.

Exhibitions • +972 3 514 2998 • galits@export.gov.il

www.export.gov.il

FOCUS ON ISRAEL BROADCASTERS Keshet Media Group’s weekly comedy show What A Wonderful Country

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Reasons to be cheerful These are challenging times for Israeli broadcasters, with regulatory upheavals and tight budgets combining to make life difficult for many players. But as Andy Fry reports, there are signs of improvement

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HILE some parts of the Israeli broadcast system compare well with those in other parts of the world, regulatory restrictions and financial problems have made the market more unstable than it might otherwise be. But things are set to improve. A series of changes to the system mean that, by late 2015, this media-savvy country could finally emerge with the world-class TV system that its audience deserves.

Israel’s public broadcaster, the IBA, launched as a TV service in 1968 and had the market to itself until 1986. Since then, however, the licence fee-funded service has struggled to keep up with competition from leading

commercial rivals such as Channel 2, Channel 10, cable platform HOT and satellite platform Yes. The IBA was initially launched with the UK’s BBC as its model and it continues to air a broad range of shows, including imports such as CSI and Downton Abbey. But there is a widespread view within Israel that it is no longer fit for purpose in its current form.

In March 2014, communications minister Gilad Erdan and finance minister Yair Lapid said they would be cancelling the IBA’s license fee and replacing it with a mixed-funding model made up of ad revenue and state funding.

Describing the IBA as a neglected backyard, Erdan said: “We are not willing for [the fees]

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to be collected in dubious ways to finance spending and waste of a failed organisation.

The money disappeared in a black hole of overtime, unrealistic labour agreements and a disintegrating archive.”

But it is not all bad news. In the same speech, Erdan expressed his intention to “close the IBA and open a new high-quality body”. In other words, there is a genuine will from the top down to create an effective public broadcaster.

The failure of the IBA has been bad for Israel’s content creators and audiences, but it has allowed commercial broadcaster Channel 2 to flourish. The dominant market leader, Channel 2 regularly achieves audience shares of

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CreaTiVity Reshet-Where Israel's Channel 2 is No.1 When it comes to next-generation TV, Reshet is Israel's creative authority. We're a powerhouse of diverse programming, original content and innovative formats, with a range of hit series like:

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Belgian preschool show Uki airs on Zebra TV Channels’ preschool feed Luli

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b e t we e n 30%-40% with a mix of original shows, local versions of international formats, and programme imports (mainly drama series from the US).

In an unusual set-up, Channel 2’s airtime is shared by two franchise-holders, Keshet and Reshet. Each is granted 50% of the schedule, switching their allocation every two years. Keshet Media Group’s CEO, Avi Nir, says this unconventional set up forces the companies to perform to their maximum capabilities. “To make the system work, we have to be achieving 35% market share, though sometimes we get nearer 40%50%. Our ability to come up with shows like [interactive talent format] Rising Star is

because we are constantly pushing the limits of our creativity and raising our standards.”

Other shows that underline Keshet’s creativity include The ‘A’ Word, Arab Labor and What A Wonderful Country, all of which tackle tough, controversial subjects through insightful humour. Nir says controversy is critical to the success of Keshet: “The Israeli audience is very impatient. They decode the mechanics of shows quickly, so as a broadcaster you need to keep them on their toes.

We do that by avoiding the predictable and being irreverent. Our comedy show What A Wonderful Country is harsh in its criticism of the government, but it is able to do that because we are diligent in development and focus on the quality of the writing.”

Keshet has also worked hard to keep up with the changing nature of media usage in its technologically sophisticated market. For example, it runs web portal Mako. Launched in 2008, it is now visited by 35% of Israel’s five million internet users each month. Mako has also successfully launched an app for use on Apple’s iPad platform.

Keshet counterpart Reshet runs along broadly similar lines, mixing originals, formats and imports. So while Keshet airs a local version of MasterChef, Reshet has produced and is airing local versions of The Voice, The X Factor, and Undercover Boss. Like Keshet, Reshet also has some strong drama series.

A case in point is Life Isn’t Everything, the comedy series from Armoza Formats remade by ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television in the US as Divorce: A Love Story.

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

The big story involving Reshet right now is that global formats giant Endemol has just acquired a 33% stake in the channel. Commenting on the deal, Reshet CEO Avi Zvi says: “Endemol choosing to invest in our company is a strong vote of confidence and recognition, not only in Reshet but also in the creativity and innovation of the Israeli TV market. Their vast experience in the international arena will allow Israel’s creative industry to bring premium programming to the global market efficiently and successfully. Strengthening Reshet’s ownership structure with one of the largest television and format companies in the world will accelerate Reshet’s growth in local and international markets.”

Reference to growth in the local market is particularly timely, because both Keshet and Reshet will be given the chance to run their own seven-day-a-week services from 2015 when the rules governing the Israeli media market change. This will be a fascinating moment for both channels. On the one hand, it means they can use the extra airtime to grow their position in the market. On the other, they will be in direct competition for the first time.

In theory, lack of competition from the IBA should have been good news for Channel 10, a commercial service that launched in 2002.

But in fact, the channel has been mired in a

Armoza Formats’ Life Isn’t Everything, remade by ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television in the US as Divorce: A Love Story

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL HIPER ACTIVITY HIPER Vision managing director Joe Levin says Israel is an interesting market for foreign companies to launch in — but cautions that it comes with regulatory complexities.

“I set up Hiper Vision to act as a bridge between international companies and the local market,” he says. “We have helped Fox News, Fox Sport and Playboy enter the market and are poised to sign a couple more big deals.”

The appeal, Levin says, is that “pay TV has high penetration and Israel is a nation of early adopters. So Israel can act as a kind of laboratory for companies to test out innovations. It’s interesting, for example, that Fox Sport launched its HD service in Israel first.”

The challenge, however, is that there are “lots of rules that foreign companies might not be familiar with — for example, the fact that you can’t air ads on basic Pay TV in Israel, even if it’s an international feed beamed from outside. At Hiper Vision, we advise companies on the best way to enter the market, whether that’s via pay TV, VOD or online. If they get the launch right, they can then make revenues and take advantage of Israel’s unique attributes.”

financial crisis since 2008. Exacerbated by a spat between shareholders, Channel 10 has been on the brink of extinction for years.

At press time, the situation remains unclear.

With the departure of major financial backer

Ron Lauder in 2013, the station needs a new investor if it is to continue. One name connected with a possible investment is Alexander Levin, who heads up Stockholmbased TeleAlliance Media Holding and Tel-

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eAlliance Media Group. If Levin does come on board, he will be joining a network that takes around a 10% share of the market.

Its current line-up includes a mix of homegrown drama and locally adapted formats.

Shows that have appeared on Channel 10 include Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Deal Or No Deal, Survivor, America’s Next Top Model and The Biggest Loser.

Israel’s pay-TV market is controlled by two companies: cable platform HOT (60% of the market; 900,000 subscribers) and satellite platform Yes (40% of the market; 600,000 subs). HOT currently offers around 150 channels and is less regulated than its rival. In practical terms, this means it is able to offer its customers a triple-play package, while Yes is restricted to TV services only.

HOT’s channel line-up contains some ownbranded channels and some international brands. But there is also room for independent Israeli businesses to flourish.

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Keshet Media Group’s Arab Labor, tackling tough, controversial subjects through insightful humour Dori Media, for example, has a successful channel bouquet on HOT. So does HSCC (Haim Slutzky Communication Channels), which runs Israeli Entertainment Channel (IEC) and documentary-based Channel 8. IEC ranks as one of the most-watched channels on the HOT platform.

Danna Stern, Yes’ head of programming and acquisitions, says her company offers around 200 channels, of which 10 are branded Yes channels airing movies, drama, documentary and comedy. The platform is also on the verge of launching Yes Go, a new video-ondemand (VOD) service that Stern says is an exciting development for the business.

There are two interesting dimensions to Yes

that are worth commenting on. Firstly, it gains access to quality US content incredibly quickly, translating top shows like The Walking Dead and True Detective into Hebrew so that they are available for broadcast within hours of their US debut. “It has to be that way in Israel,” Stern says, “because this is such a tech-savvy, demanding market. If audiences don’t get what they want, they will find it somewhere else [for example, through piracy]. This is particularly true for US content, which Israelis feel a strong affinity towards.”

Secondly — and this is also true for HOT — Yes is required by regulation to spend money on original production. “Eight per cent of our income goes on original content every year,

“We launched i24news because the Israeli perspective was missing.

There was CNN, the BBC, France 24, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya but nothing from Israel’s point of view”

Frank Melloul

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

across drama, documentary and children’s,” Stern says. “It makes us an important player in the market.” One drama in which Yes invested is Dori-produced Shtisel, a comedy about an ultra-religious family living in a Jerusalem neighbourhood.

If there is a criticism aimed at both HOT and Yes, it is that their prices are perceived to be high. The government has attempted to counter this by beefing up the country’s DTT platform Idan Plus.

Echoing the situation with programming, Israel’s entrepreneurial streak is evident in the channel business. Nadav Palti’s Dori Media has a channel business in Indonesia, which it hopes to expand into other markets. Israel is also the country that gave us DogTV, which offers our canine friends “friendly programming scientifically developed to provide the right company for dogs when left alone”.

As for the kids’ market, Zebra TV Channels is a leading children’s channel operator. Based in Israel, its pre-school feeds Luli and Hop! have been launched abroad on platforms including D-Smart in Turkey and the Mio TV platform in Singapore. Zebra is also active as an acquisitions company.

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One of the most interesting Israeli channel launches of recent times is i24news, a Tel Aviv-based feed that broadcasts live news, interviews and analysis throughout the day. CEO of the privately owned channel, Frank Melloul, says: “We launched i24news because the Israeli perspective on news was missing from the market. There was CNN, the BBC, France 24, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya but nothing from Israel’s point of view.”

Broadcasting in English, French and Arabic, i24news is now being rolled out internationally. “We have started with Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, but the eventual goal will be to distribute worldwide,” Melloul says. “It’s early days but we are very happy with the feedback that we have received. We know, for example, that it has had a strong start in Africa and is being watched in the Gulf.” i24news’ technical distribution partner is SatLink Communications, an Israeli firm that has established itself as a global leader in its field. “We are committed to offering the channel the highest quality global news delivery via our global satellite and fibre network,” says David Hochner, CEO of SatLink.

SatLink’s other partners include the likes

of Fashion TV, Thomson Reuters, MTV Networks, euronews and CNN. And Hochner says his company is well placed for further growth: “Geographically, we are well positioned because we are at the point of overlap between major continents. But we are also technically prepared for the changes in the market. For us, the arrival of OTT

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

True Detective, translated into Hebrew so it is available for broadcast on Yes within hours of its US debut

and 4K is an opportunity to work with new players like Google and to offer new services to existing customers.”

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL PARTNERSHIPS

Israel’s got talent It is not for nothing that tech powerhouses including Google and Intel have R&D labs in Israel.

And for the same reasons, writes Gary Smith, many top TV producers now either have offices there, or are regular co-producers with the country’s broadcasters and producers. A selection of creatives and companies from around the world explain why…

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Japan’s Nippon TV is co-producing a game-show format titled AHA! with Israeli company Dori Media

Martha Brass COO, Endemol Group “WE ARE currently launching Fundastic, the world’s first live, multiplatform crowd-funding format, which was produced by Endemol Israel and developed with Reshet. It’s the first series to be commissioned following our investments there in both Endemol Israel and, more recently, the broadcaster Reshet.

While many producers are co-producing with Israeli companies, we wanted to go further because it’s our way of doing business. We have offices in over 30 countries, most of which are run by local creatives who have a great network in place, and that’s exactly the

case with Endemol Israel, previously known as Kupermann. We already had a very good relationship with Elad Kupermann who runs our Israeli office, thanks to his work on Big Brother, and behind our investment was the importance we place on having global distribution rights, because we believe that shows like Deal Or No Deal and Big Brother would not have been the global hits that they are if we hadn’t had global rights. And Fundastic is just the start. We have a number of shows being pitched to Reshet, and in addition to that we have several collaborations that started in Israel and then have been jointly developed with Endemol UK and Endemol Germany.”

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

FOCUS ON ISRAEL Mikiko Nishiyama Director, international business development, Nippon TV “NIPPON TV is co-producing a game-show format titled AHA! with Israeli company Dori Media. It’s a format based on a segment of a popular weekly Nippon TV programme, which has been on air for more than 10 years on Saturdays. It’s a new type of game show that tests not what you know, but what you are supposed to be seeing right in front of your eyes. For example, the contestants are shown before-and-after images and have to guess what has changed. Dori Media brought its experience in the international market to the project, which was essential in internationalising the original Japanese idea. It has been a year since this co-production started, and along the way, key creators from both countries got together for various rounds of discussion and simulation, trying to truly maximise potential from both sides, which is now reflected in the way Dori’s version of AHA! is structured. The creative teams communicated regularly and also went to oversee each others’ productions in both countries. Nippon TV has also adapted and aired In Treatment, a scripted format from Dori Media.”

Bert Salke President, Fox 21 “KESHET is a creative partner on the show Tyrant with a producing credit. Tyrant is however, solely a Fox 21/FX production. We have no co-production with Israel right now, but based on how much we’ve done in Israel, we’ve had a number of Israeli producers and networks approach us and we’re interested in working with all of them. Because we’ve found that Israel is the perfect laboratory for developing projects, and the chances are if a concept works there it will work just as well outside the country and around the world. The Israeli population has very similar tastes to the US — and for that matter the international community. What interests them interests us. It’s just a great testing ground. Israelis are a passionate, articulate and dramatic people; they’re emotional, and interested in deep emotional stories. Perhaps it’s the years of conflict they’ve lived through that informs their tastes and sensibilities, but we’ve had a fantastic experience developing and working with creators and producers from that country.”

Mike Beale ITV Studios’ director of international formats “ISRAEL is such a small and highly competitive market that you have to take risks, which makes the country very creative. And in terms of the second screen, they are a long way ahead of most of us. Two years ago we started working with Reshet, which is a good fit for us as the people in charge have a similar mission to ours, and they were looking for a partner to take their ideas to the international market. At MIPTV we have the second project to come out of our co-operation called Game Of Chefs, where three expert chefs put a group of 100 wannabe cooks through a boot camp, and after 22 episodes we end up with a winner. It’s about taking people who are already good cooks and turning them into great chefs. And the judges were deliberately chosen because they previously were not TV chefs, because they have different priorities to celebrity chefs. We are also currently working on a dating show called Secret Matchmaker. The twist is that the person at the centre of the show doesn’t know that his or her family have got together to make a date happen for them.”

“We’ve found that Israel is the perfect laboratory for developing projects” FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Bert Salke

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL “This is my first experience of working with an Israeli broadcaster and I’m loving it”

Tim Kring Writer, Heroes, Touch

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“I’M CURRENTLY developing a series called Dig with Keshet and Universal Cable Productions. It’s based on an idea which came out of a conversation between Keshet’s Avi Nir and my co-writer on Dig, Gideon Roth, about the fact that there hasn’t been anything on TV which takes advantage of Jerusalem’s amazing historical sites. So Dig is a murdermystery based around a US legal attache, in other words a member of the FBI, who investigates crimes by and against US citizens. Thanks to the mayor of the city, we are being offered access to some amazing sites, hidden places where there are ongoing archaeological digs and ancient tunnels.

Really, just the idea of filming in this amazing place is exciting to us all. This is my first experience of working with an Israeli broadcaster and I’m loving it. The communication is very direct, whereas the attitude is lowkey, laid-back even, but there is a powerful determination to do a great job. And in terms of the acting talent, I have been so impressed by the variety, and for every role we’re casting I found four or five people who would be perfect.”

John Morayniss CEO, television group, Entertainment One “I WAS IN Israel last year and saw the local version of Reaching For Heaven which I liked a lot, both for its universal elements and its significant domestic success. The show, which is about a family dealing with a father who has become an ultra-orthodox Jew, combines controversy and polarisation with a compelling plot. We decided to set our version, co-developed with the Sundance Channel, in Las Vegas, because it’s such a complex city, with the gambling strip on the one hand, and huge and fast-growing suburbs on the other. It’s a very paradoxical place, which provides the perfect backdrop for a story about the clash between secular and highly religious people. We’re also just finishing Klondike for Discovery Channel starring Tim Roth, but TV doesn’t always have to be about marquee names, and for Reaching For Heaven, we’ll be casting our net very wide when we choose the talent.

We’ll also be looking at Israel more regularly as a potential source of programmes, because the quality of the storytelling is really very interesting.”

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Tim Kring

Jan Frouman CEO Red Arrow Entertainment “WE HAVE been working with Israeli companies since Red Arrow was founded, and in 2012 we took a majority stake in scripted and unscripted specialist July August. We also work regularly with Omri Marcus on the creative development of formats, because our goal at Red Arrow is always to partner with the best in class. We wanted to work with July August because their ideas have a strong international appeal, and given how creative and fiercely competitive the Israeli market is, it makes sense to partner with a leading producer from there. We also believe that the creative has to come from those local companies and although we don’t force it, we need a regular flow of content to feed the 200-plus countries that we sell programming to. We’re currently screening Harry Bosch on Amazon TV, producing The Hundred Code with HBO Nordic, Sky Germany and Canal 5 Sweden, as well as Esiotrot starring Judy Dench and Dustin Hoffman. On the format side we’re doing well globally with The Taste and Married At First Sight, plus we have several formats from July August — Walk The Line, The Lie and She’s Out Of My League — that are starting to pick up interest and sales internationally.”

FOCUS ON ISRAEL FACTUAL

Facing facts The Settlers, a film from Shimon Dotan and Estelle Fialon that provides a comprehensive view of the Jewish settlers in the occupied territories of the West Bank

Israel is known around the world for the creativity of its scripted and non-scripted formats. But less well known is the fact that the country has a rich and vibrant documentary-making tradition. Andy Fry reports

T

HE NAMES Dror Moreh, Emad Burnat, Guy David, Zippi Brand Frank and Nadav Schirman may not be recognised by the mainstream, but they have all made their mark with documentaries at prestigious events such as the Oscars, EMMYs, Sundance, Berlinale and IDFA. Orna Yarmut is a filmmaker who founded and runs CoPro, an organisation dedicated to helping Israeli factual filmmakers raise finance and promote their work to the world.

She says there are three main reasons why Israelis produce such great work. “The first

is that there are so many conflicts affecting Israeli society — and conflicts create the potential for great stories. It’s not just the political conflict, it’s the conflict between different sub-cultures, between right wing and left wing, secular and religious, immigrants, refugees and people already living here.”

The second reason is that “Israeli filmmakers are so brave. Take Dror Moreh’s Academy Award-nominated film The Gatekeepers, in which six former heads of Israel’s secret service (the Shin Bet) agreed to be interviewed.

I don’t think there are many countries where you see that kind of film, where filmmakers

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

are so willing to criticise civil society or tackle controversial subjects.”

The third reason is that the industry’s craft skills are also so strong. “Israel has 17 film schools, which is a lot for a country of eight million. With 100 new people joining the industry every year there’s a lot of competition between people pitching ideas.”

But Israel’s documentary community faces the same challenge as factual filmmakers the world over, which is how to raise finance.

Unlike the UK, Canada and France, there is limited support from the country’s public broadcaster, which is currently undergoing

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FOCUS ON ISRAEL FIVE ISRAELI FILMS TO WATCH BEFORE YOU DIE The Gatekeepers was a 2012 documentary film by director Dror Moreh that tells the story of the Israeli internal security service, Shin Bet, from the perspective of six of its former heads. The film combines in-depth interviews, archival footage, and computer animation to recount the role that the group played in Israel’s security. The film was nominated at the 85th Academy Awards.

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Google Baby from Tele Aviv filmmaker Zippi Brand Frank, is a journey across three continents, telling the story of the baby production industry in the age of globalisation. It follows Doron, an Israeli entrepreneur with a high-tech background who proposes a new service — baby production. The baby producer, as he introduces himself, provides customers with a cost-effective service, outsourcing the surrogacy element to India. Picked up by HBO in the US, the film went on to win an Emmy Award.

The Green Prince tells the story of one of Israel’s prized intelligence sources, recruited to spy on his own people for over a decade. Focusing on the complex relationship with his handler, it is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, unthinkable choices — and friendship that defies all boundaries. It was winner of the World Documentary Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival 2014.

5 Broken Cameras is a 94-minute documentary film co-directed by Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi. It was shown at film festivals in 2011 and placed in general release by Kino Lorber in 2012. It is a first-hand account of protests in Bil’in, a West Bank village affected by the Israeli West Bank barrier.

The documentary was shot almost entirely

by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat.

Sound Of Torture from producer Osnat Trabelsi, tells the tragic story of Eritrean refugees being kidnapped by Bedouins as they try and make their way overland to Israel. The film competed during IDFA and had its market premiere at MIPDoc. Broadcasters that became involved included SRC from Canada, SVT Sweden, VRT Belgium and ZDF/ARTE.

a massive reorganisation. Instead, the starting point for many is to pitch their idea to one of Israel’s two dedicated documentary channels: Yes Docu, which is run by satellite platform Yes, and Channel 8, which is run by Haim Slutzky Communication Channels on behalf of cable platform HOT. Explaining how it works is Danna Stern, head of programming and acquisitions for Yes. “We are required by regulation to invest a certain percentage of our income in original programming. For documentary, that works out as 10 million Shekels a year (approximately $3m). Twice a year we have open calls in which anyone from first-time producers through to seasoned creatives can pitch for financing. Out of 160-200 proposals that are put to us, we usually select around 20 to support. Typically these have a long gestation period, taking around two-and-a-half years to get from the commissioning stage to going out on air on the channel.”

The process (which is similar at Channel 8) has led to some world-class films, according to Stern: “We’ve been to the Oscars three times in the last six years. And there has also been success at Sundance and Berlin. Recent films to achieve acclaim include Nadav Schirman’s The Green Prince, which won an Audience Award at Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary category.”

The Green Prince tells the story of a Hamas activist who switches sides and starts spying for the Israelis.

Another Yes Docu-supported film, Vanessa Lapa’s The Decent One, was based around the discovery of Heinrich Himmler’s diaries in Tel Aviv.

These are subjects where Israelis excel, though Stern says “not everything is based around the regional conflict

or the Holocaust. One of the most interesting films to come through in recent years was Tele Aviv filmmaker Zippi Brand Frank’s Google Baby, which is about the global trade in surrogacy. That was picked up by HBO and went on to win an Emmy Award. Another of our films is Web Junkies, an official selection at Sundance which looks at treatment facilities created by the Chinese government to detox and cure teenagers of their addictions to online life.”

Stern says there is a real ambition at Yes Docu to unearth more projects that are “light-hearted and accessible. Coming up we have a hospital fly-on-the-wall and an interesting look at match-making among ultra orthodox Jews. That’s the kind of subject that we know will be interesting to Israel’s more secular audience.”

Aside from Yes Docu and Channel 8, there are three film foundations that can provide filmmakers with money towards their budget.

But even when this is combined, it is rarely enough to 100% fund films with international ambition. This is where CoPro comes in, says Orna Yarmut. “Sixteen years ago I went to MIP with a film about the assassination of

Silicon Wadi, about Israeli high-tech startups

“There are so many conflicts affecting Israeli society – and conflicts create the potential for great stories” FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Orna Yarmut

FOCUS ON ISRAEL “It is interesting for me how Israelis could be fascinated by Arab culture at the same time they were at war with their neighbours” Yitzhak Rabin. It sold to so many territories that I realised there was an opportunity to link up Israeli talent with broadcasters in the international market.”

In the first year, Yarmut only persuaded a handful of potential co-producers to visit Israel. But these days she gets 50-60 top decision-makers attending her annual CoPro market. In addition, she runs events throughout the year and helps fund delegations of producers to attend events in other countries: “To date, CoPro activities have resulted in 218 co-productions,” she says.

“Around $20m has been invested in Israeli films through CoPro.” The beauty of CoPro is that projects don’t have to come with money already attached. “We have had projects which received their first piece of funding from the international community. They then come back each year with a bit more of their budget in place until they are finally able to go ahead with production.”

The Israeli documentary community has built up strong relationships with broadcasters in the US, UK and Europe. And it also has loyal friends in the distribution sector. One of these is Israel-based Cinephil, set up in 1997

by Philippa Kowarsky, Cinephil, which has focused entirely on documentaries since around 2006/07, specialises in executive production, co-production and sales for both Israeli and non-Israeli content. “I’m very proud of the work that comes out of Israel,” Kowarsky says, “but we’re also very passionate about the partners and projects we represent from other parts of the world. Titles like Cathedrals Of Culture, The Ukraine Is Not A Brothel and Academy Award-nominated The Act Of Killing are all wonderful productions that we have been delighted to have been involved with.”

In terms of films with an Israeli connection, Cinephil played a key role in the global success of The Gatekeepers, a project that was licensed across Europe and picked up by Sony Pictures Classics in the US. The company is also involved The Decent

Osnat Trabelsi

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One, Night Will Fall and The Settlers, a film from Shimon Dotan and Estelle Fialon that provides a comprehensive view of the Jewish settlers in the occupied territories of

SPOTLIGHT ON CHANNEL 8 FACTUAL channel Channel 8 is cable platform HOT’s equivalent of Yes Docu. Head of programming and acquisitions Edit Pinkas says: “The programmes that work best for us tend to have strong human-interest stories. We can broadcast anything from one-hour feature-length documentaries to series across areas like science, history, music and popular culture.”

According to Pinkas, the schedule is split approximately 70% acquisition, 30% original — so markets like MIPTV play a key role in terms of finding content. “Historically we have acquired a lot from markets like France and Sweden, but we are looking a bit more in the direction of the British and US markets at present.”

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers, in which six former heads of the Israel’s secret service agreed to be interviewed

As for originals, Pinkas says: “Producers and directors send ideas throughout the year. We take a look and if we are interested will provide the first sum of money for production. Currently we have a slot at 22.00 everyday for original productions and that has worked very well. Israeli audiences really like to see Israeli films.”

Channel 8 backs around 30 original productions — movies and series — a year. Among titles to have aired on the channel are Families, The Law In These Parts, 5 Broken Cameras and Waltz With Bashir. Acquisitions have included Makers: Women Who Make America (PBS), The Last Of The Unjust (Claude Lanzmann), Plot For Peace, Battle Of The Sexes, Sound City and The Manor.

FOCUS ON ISRAEL the West Bank. Destined to air on Yes Docu in Israel, the project has ARTE France on board as a co-production partner.

Kowarsky, like Yarmut, sees her role as facilitative. “Some films can be made with the money provided by the documentary channels and the film funds. But for films that have a bigger international ambition, we can help raise the additional finance. This might involve us coming in as an executive producer at an early stage or a sales agent later on. Either way, my team and I attend around a dozen international events a year to make sure we are in contact with the key decisionmakers in the industry.”

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Another key contact for documentary-makers is First Hand Films’ Esther Van Messel, a Vienna-based producer/distributor who studied at Tel Aviv University alongside Ari Folman (Waltz With Bashir, The Congress), Osnat Trabelsi (Sound Of Torture), Hagai Levi (In Treatment) and Arnon Goldfinger (The Comedians).

Van Messel has had a lot of success with Israeli producers down the years. She cites the example of Slaves Of The Sword from Noemi Schory and Liran Atzmor of Belfilms. “That film had 10 co-producers from five continents, among them the BBC, ZDF/ARTE and SBS. In total we worked on a dozen films with Belfilms, all selling well around the world. Similarly Yoav Shamir’s first big success Checkpoint was sold by us to dozens of territories.”

Among her slate of Israeli films is Trabelsi Productions’ harrowing Sound Of Torture (see panel). But like Yarmut, Van Messel

Osnat Trabelsi’s Sound Of Torture

stresses that the work coming out of Israel deals with a variety of subjects: “One title is Silicon Wadi, which tells the story of an Israeli phenomenon that is unique, funny, and spreading worldwide: the high-tech startups. We call it a soap opera as the stories trail various techies on their way to doom or stardom.” She adds: “We’ve also just picked up Match Made In Heaven, a fascinating film about dating and match-making among ultraorthodox Jews.”

Osnat Trabelsi, producer of Sound Of Torture, was recently named as chair of the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers’ Forum, a body that represents the interests of producers,

Match Made In Heaven, about dating and match-making among ultra-orthodox Jews

FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

directors, photographers and editors. For her, the likes of Van Messel and Kowarsky are vital to the health of the Israeli system: “It’s expensive for producers to travel to events around the world and pitch. So having companies like First Hand and Cinephil, with their range of international contacts is extremely valuable,” she says.

Having said this, Trabelsi says there is also a key role for the Forum in terms of keeping the domestic landscape on its toes. “Public broadcaster the IBA has been involved in projects like The Gatekeepers, but it’s probably not doing as much as it could. And the commercial broadcasters are moving away from documentary towards reality TV, because of their need for ratings. So the Forum has a role to play making sure our voice is heard.”

Trabelsi is also keen to make sure all sectors of society are represented.

Her latest film is based around a period during the Sixties and Seventies when Israelis would be glued to their TV screens watching Arab films: “It is interesting for me how Israelis could be fascinated by Arab culture at the same time they were at war with their neighbours.” Linking this theme to the current situation in Israel, she says she would like to use the Forum to “engage more with Arab/Palestinian filmmakers and bring them into the decision-making process. A lot of them go to film school and then move into fiction, but I see a role for them in the Forum.”

FOCUS ON ISRAEL STARTUPS

Scenes from Interlude’s multi-channel video of Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone

The new Israel

41

The Israeli tech sector is globally respected for both its innovation and the breadth of ground-breaking software that it produces. Underlying that is a sense of urgency and a deep-rooted need to make a difference. Gary Smith reports

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LIST of some of the more recent Israeli startups that have touched the lives of millions around the world includes Viber, Waze, ICQ, GetTaxi, Primesense, the latter company having been acquired by Apple for its 3D sensing technology, and virtual wallet BillGuard.

But lists of names do not do justice to the fierce and unrelenting wave of products and services that are produced by a comparatively tiny group of highly inspired people.

The much talked-about fringe benefits of military service — which sees all of Israel’s 18-year-olds obliged to do three years in the armed forces — have a lot to do with this: “I was the first person to be put in charge of the Air Force website in the late 90s,” Red Arrow creative director Omri Marcus, says.

“And my job was simply to make it interesting. We crowd-sourced a name for an F-16 fighter, and worked with artists designing the airplane of the future, and it became

one of the country’s most popular sites. But the reason why I’m recounting this is that it illustrates that the country is united by a common purpose, which in turn makes us all driven to solve problems. But the most important truth about this country is that Israel itself is a startup, and we love to prove that the seemingly impossible is possible.”

It was a video of folk/rock legend Bob Dylan singing Like A Rolling Stone, seemingly helped by a considerable number of extras

“The most important truth about this country is that Israel itself is a startup” FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Omri Marcus

FOCUS ON ISRAEL

42

including a BBC newsreader, that showed what Interlude’s interactive technology can do. Featuring 16 channels of people miming the words, the video was watched over five million times and was shared by more than 5% of that audience. “The video created a massive buzz, but then again it did feature a major artist,” Interlude’s Natan Schottenfels, the video’s writer and associate producer, says. “And now our plan moving forward is to introduce interactive videos into ever more places. Obviously music videos are a perfect fit for what we do, because the technology doesn’t interfere with the music, but we believe that this can go much further. There are 800 individuals entered into an interactive video competition at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, we’re currently developing several e-learning projects, and building a video-sharing community called Treehouse.”

One of the most talked-about shows of the moment is Rising Star, which has brought real-time interactivity to the living room.

The platform which makes the show possible was built by Screenz, part of a larger company called The Box. “The software powering Rising Star did not exist two years ago, but it is now a reality, and what comes with it is something the TV industry has not seen before, the idea of launching a show online, then tweaking it according to user feedback,” Eli Uzan, CEO and co-founder, The Box/Screenz, says. “The traditional way to develop a show has always been to work on it for nine months and then launch it. But I believe that model is over, and it’s merely a matter of time before TV changes profoundly with a chief technical officer and a creative director working together to integrate the technology, because increasingly we’ll see formats seeking to differentiate themselves through technology.”

According to Yaffa Finkelstein, marketing manager at Tvinci, the company’s technology allows operators and media companies to create personal experiences for viewers. “Since Tvinci was founded in 2007 we have strongly believed that OTT services would disrupt the TV industry, and so we positioned ourselves

The Tvinci interface at the point where TV and the internet collide, and our system is device-agnostic,” Finkelstein says. “So, for example, what we provide is a multiple user profile per household, where you can restrict access for the kids. And for the adults, if both are watching different series of the same show, Tvinci can cope with that as well. It’s a good way to future-proof your TV service.” Current clients include Eutelsat in Germany, and Media Corp in Singapore.

Another company with Media Corp Singapore as a client is Applicaster which is, says company CEO Jonathan Laor, a broadcast tool rather than a new media service. “What we’re most concerned with is how a broadcaster looks to people watching on the go, how to operate across extra screens without cannibalising your TV income, and how to transmit messages via the TV to get people to watch their mobile device at a certain time, and then the TV at a different time,” Laor says.

Applicaster is opening a UK office this month,

to be headed up by ex-FremantleMedia UK digital executive Peter Cassidy: “Previously at FremantleMedia, Peter managed their international participation TV business. He is one of the few executives in the industry with the unique blend of expertise in content production, creative, and digital, and has led cross-disciplinary projects for leading global TV brands, such as FremantleMedia and RTL,” Laor adds.

Imagine a world where advertising no longer stops the show, which is exactly what BrandMagic offers customers in 13 countries including The Philippines, Canada, US and Singapore. By generating virtual advertising which can be placed anywhere in both live and pre-recorded shows, BrandMagic’s technology is seamless. “In 2013 it was used at over 1,000 TV events,” company co-founder Oren Steinfeld, says. “We provide the technology and the team to run it, plus creative and sales teams, and we’re growing very quickly. When it comes to how the technology is applied, that is entirely down to the broadcaster, it’s their internal culture that decides. For instance in India, an advert would be shiny and relatively in-your-face, but in the UK and US, insertions would tend to be much more true-to-life. Overall though, we believe that viewers know that adverts mean that they pay less for their TV services, and the fact of not interrupting their viewing to get the brand message across is a major advantage.”

Real-time interactivity was brought to Rising Star by Screenz

“The traditional way to develop a show has always been to work on it for nine months and then launch it. But I believe that model is over” FOCUS ON ISRAEL • APRIL 2014

Eli Uzan

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