Israeli Entertainment Industry Confronts Its Crisis at New Festival

"Strictly Business" co-host Andrew Wallenstein traveled to Israel last month to take part in Jerusalem Sessions, a first-time festival where local TV and film pros discussed how to contend with the dark cloud that has been cast over their industry since Oct. 7, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Welcome Joselyn Sessions today and Ali Great Privilege,
Great honor, twenty old year.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in
which we speak with some of the brightest minds working
in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein, Chief Media
Analysts that Illuminate Intelligence, and a variety contributor. Pack your
passport for this week's episode, I'm taking you on the
road with me to revisit a trip I made in

(00:34):
December to Israel. The destination was Jerusalem Sessions, a new
festival launched to support the country's local entertainment industry. Now
that might seem a concern worlds away from the conflict
that has ravaged this region in recent years, But as
I learned in my week in Israel, there isn't a

(00:54):
lot that escapes the massive shadow that has darkened this
region since October seven three. Which isn't to say, as
I learned at Jerusalem Sessions, that there's any one simple
reason a once thriving film and TV business there is
looking to regain its footing. Think of Jerusalem Sessions in

(01:15):
two different ways. The first is as a festival held
at the capital city's beautiful National Library, where the public
got to see and hear from a mix of industry
luminaries from around the globe. Jerusalem Media Initiative Director Aal
Benbinisti welcomed the crowd and shared his mission statement for
Jerusalem Sessions.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
This is the very very first edition of Jerusalem Sessions
and the beginning of what will become the annual festival
for scripted content here in our city. Standing here this
morning is a powerful moment. Jerusalem has never hosted anything
like this, a full industry level conference dead entirely to

(02:02):
scripted content, placing this city in the same conversation as CONN,
lil London and other creative capitals around the world.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
But the other part of Jerusalem Sessions took place behind
closed doors, away from the festival stage. I was one
of a delegation of Hollywood professionals brought together from the
US and Europe to join another delegation, a mix of producers, writers,
agents who called Israel home think of them as Hollywood. Together,

(02:33):
these delegations networked, exchanged ideas, and took part in panel
discussions on the issues impacting global showbiz. Among the featured
guests who took part in the discussions and the festival
were Matthew Weiner and Joel Fields, creators of two of
the most critically acclaimed American TV series of recent decades
with Madmen and The Americans, respectively. Also in attendance were

(02:57):
veteran studio executives like Uzen Rovner and Nina Leiderman. And yes,
all participants happened to be Jewish, though Jerusalem Sessions did
invite non Jews, including Palestinians, to participate. Now, I'll stop
here to acknowledge what some of you might be thinking
hearing that a cabal of the most powerful Jewish executives

(03:19):
assembling in Israel to discuss the entertainment business. I know,
sounds like one of the worst anti Semitic stereotypes comes
to life. But as someone who is in the room,
I could testify it really was nothing like that. First
of all, while the delegates had impressive credentials all the
way around, this wasn't a mogul level assemblage. And second,

(03:41):
I would say the conversations weren't so much about controlling
the media as they were commiserating about the current state
of the business. It won't surprise you to learn that
topic a at Jerusalem Sessions was the perceived backlash Israel's
actions in Gaza since October seventh have had on the
industry here. That's the result of its tsunami of outrage

(04:02):
pouring out all over the world due to the losses
of tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, many of them women, children,
and non combatants. And some of the most vocal of
the critics are here in Hollywood, which has always championed
the rights of the oppressed, among other liberal causes. Perhaps
the most alarming sign of this criticism came last September,

(04:24):
when thousands of very prominent Hollywood names signed a petition
calling for a boycott on working with members of the
Israeli entertainment industry. It was the most concrete example of
what many in Hollywood were already sensing. Anything remotely Israeli
or even Jewish was becoming taboo, too radioactive to risk

(04:45):
any kind of association with. For instance, just days before
Jerusalem Sessions began, Eurovision was generating headlines as five different
countries pledged to boycott the world famous singing contest if
Israel wasn't bet and from participating. Everyone at the conference
had their own horror stories to share as well, mostly

(05:06):
in the form of projects they couldn't get off the
ground or had stalled mysteriously midway. But the event also
served as a bit of a rally for Jewish industry
professionals feeling like they've been on their back foot for
the past few years. Danny Cohen, a British veteran executive
of the BBC who now oversees the investments the Mogul

(05:27):
len Blovotnik maintains across his many media assets, offered a
stirring pep talk that put the modern day Jewish struggle
in a historical context.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
Why we are sitting here as Jewish people, There's a
number of reasons. There's our courage, there's our resilience. There's
our creativity, there's our hard work. There's our culture of
family and education. There's our determination, there's our intelligence. And
we've got through thousands of years and we've got a

(06:00):
keep showing it. You know, the people who are ancestors,
some of our grandparents, are great comerents. They had it
a lot tougher than we've got it. This situation is
really bad, but they had it a lot lot tougher,
and they got through it and we're all here today,
and I think we have to show the same fight.
I think we have to show the same resilience. I

(06:21):
think we have to accept that this fight is quite nasty.
It's going to be attritional, it's not going to be easy.
We're going to have setbacks. But for me, the way
I see it is, we have to fight like Jewish
people before us have fought, and we'll use those skills
and those characteristics and will fight our way through it
and we'll get to better days. And for me, that's

(06:42):
how we should all think about it, even at the
moments where it fills the darkest.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
The sense of struggle was also shared by the American delegations.
Is rarely counterparts who describe the chilling effect being felt
in the marketplace of an important industry export local TV
shows into other global territories. The Israeli TV industry has
always prided itself for punching far above its weight and
its ability to sell shows beyond its borders. First, there

(07:09):
was successful success in formats adapted to other languages in
other countries, like the HBO series In Treatment or Showtime's
Homeland and Your Honor. More recently, Israel demonstrated its ability
to capitalize on the increasingly global market for content opened
up by the explosion of streaming services. TV shows like

(07:30):
Fauda and Stissel that were never intended to play outside
of a Hebrew speaking market found second and third lives
in other countries in subtitled versions. But the Israeli say
this business is not as strong as it used to be.
Productions with an Israeli providence are feeling the pain, regardless
of whether the content is remotely controversial or even pertinent

(07:53):
to the war. Plus there are other challenges. The Israeli
industry may not have any bigger problem than the one
its own government poses. In a dynamic not unlike the
hostility between the current White House and American public media
orgs like PBS and NPR, the Israeli broadcaster Khan faces

(08:14):
an existential thread of its own under fire from the
Netanyahu administration, and the Israeli film world is no less belieagued,
with the government threatening to withdraw crucial funding sources when
movies that dare to stray from the party line are recognized,
and festivals that once embraced israel films are closing their ranks.

(08:36):
While making a concerted effort to court Palestinian voices, all
of which makes for this cruel irony. What stings the
most about the boycott is that it's essentially lumping together
Israeli filmmakers with the Israeli government, when those two factions
are hardly bedfellows. Most of the most pointed criticism the

(08:58):
government has faced comes from local programming, and yet that
apparently doesn't provide enough daylight between Hollywood and the Natanyahu
administration to avoid being targeted as if they're one and
the same. Towards the end of the year, Israeli Culture
Minister Miki Zohar went as far as to threaten to
cancel any in all public funding for films because he

(09:20):
perceived that the local entertainment industry was boycotting his effort
to create a new award show to serve as an
alternative to Israel's established equivalent for the Oscars, the OFI Awards,
and what was wrong with the Firs in the government eyes.
They awarded their top prize this year to a film
that dared to dramatize the oppression confronting a fictional Palestinian

(09:44):
protagonist child. It's worth noting how utterly dependent the Israeli
filmed industry is on the country's government in the first place.
As in Europe, just about every entertainment venture depends on
taxpayer dollars, to the point where it's pretty different to
sustain Hebrew language content without it. Even the Jerusalem Sessions

(10:05):
event in and of itself receives government allocated funds. But
another recurring theme of Jerusalem Sessions was that there was
something else weighing down the local industry's ability to export
TV shows that had nothing to do with the actions
of its government. What became clear from multiple expert industry

(10:25):
observers on hand was that the streaming market has undergone
a shift in recent years, a purely economical shift that
just happens to not be in Israel's best interests. The
biggest jackpot a show like Fauda could see is its
global rights sold to a Netflix that would pay handsomely
to put the series in many multiple markets. But the

(10:48):
biggest streamers have become more strategic in their international purchases,
increasingly willing to take a smaller bet like buying up
the second window rights for an Israeli show after it's
already played on an Israeli broadcaster. But that yields a
much smaller windfall for the producer. It's a lot harder
to finance shows as a result. And now with the

(11:10):
local production capabilities of their own in place and more
territories than ever, and Netflix is more willing to generate
a local show just for that market on its own.
At Jerusalem Sessions, the veteran Israeli TV executive Donna Stern
put this market shift in greater context.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
Ten years ago, when Netflix launched their global service, it
seemed like everything was open to everyone. A show from
any corner of the world could go on the air
and one hundred and ninety territories, localized, dubbed, subtitled, and
you know, people far far away would discover these little
shows from countries they've never been to. Over the years

(11:49):
and a lot of data and a lot of investment,
I think there's a realization that those are more the
outliers than you know, the actual bulk of what was
getting acquired and transmitted globally, And with more data available,
it's that more data about what has been working. I

(12:10):
think Netflix, and I can't speak for them, but you know,
somebody who works with them still or continuously, I think
they've come to the realization that there's certain shows that
will travel. So things like Korean shows or Spanish speaking
shows will you know, find them audience no matter where.

(12:30):
But some of the more local language shows are more
suited for a local market. And I think that's what
we've seen. And it's not an Israel thing. It's not
a specific it has nothing to do with the situation
or the politics or anything. It's just a programming strategy.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
So if you're a streaming service looking for your next
globe trotting smash like K Pop, Demon Hunters or Squid Game,
what market are you going to make a bet on
having the most crossover appeal? Yes, Israel produces great shows,
but are they a more niche than the kind of
crowd pleasers derived from the sources of more marketable content,

(13:05):
say from South Korea or Latin America. But we will
see how big the market is for Israeli content soon enough,
though israelis at Jerusalem Session. See the deal flow slowing.
The pipeline isn't empty. After a three year delay, the
Israeli made Apple TV series Tehran is coming back to

(13:26):
the US on January ninth, A critically acclaimed drama depicting
the dueling espionage efforts between Israel and Iran. Tehran was
shelved amid real life battles between these two countries earlier
this year. An Apple TV has shown before it can
be skittish about shows that veer too close to the headlines,

(13:46):
having recently pressed pause on The Savant, another show that
dramatizes a band of operatives working to infiltrate online hate groups.
But Tehran is back and a fourth season is in development.
And then there's Nephauda, which is Netflix's own too close
to the Middle East headline series, which will also be

(14:06):
back on Netflix later this year after its latest season
comes out in Israel first. Both of these shows will
probably get more attention than usual, precisely because there'll be
an interest in what these shows have to say in
a post October seventh world. That is all for me
on this week's episode of Strictly Business. Thanks for tuning in.

(14:30):
We'll see you next week.