The ‘industry’

August 16, 2009 - 2:04 PM by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, General, Israeliness, Movies 

Photo credit: David Rodwin

Photo credit: David Rodwin

The feature writing life brings you in contact with all sorts of folks, some famous, some not as much, but interesting, more often than not. One of the hats I wear is as a writer for the Los Angeles Federation in Israel, covering the projects and missions they arrange here, primarily in Tel Aviv, as L.A. and Tel Aviv are partnership cities.

One of their continuing projects is a series of master classes, bringing together students and teachers of different disciplines, from television and film to dance, social work and opera. July and August are the months for film and choreography, with the masters — L.A. ‘industry’ folks and American choreographers coming to teach their skills to Israeli and American students in Tel Aviv.

This summer brought “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler and independent producer Gail Berman (who brought “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to the viewing world during her time as head of Fox Studios) to the master program, which is held at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. The classes were focused and dynamic, honing in on television more than film, given recent Israeli successes on the American small screen. “In Treatment,” known in Hebrew as “B’Tipul,” is the most significant of those, as it was purchased and translated by HBO and recently won an Emmy. But there are others coming up the pike, and what the ‘masters’ like about them is that they use small budgets and lots of ingenuity, something that Israelis have in spades.

The more recent class was in choreography, held at the Suzanne Dellal Center with several American choreographers teaching their skills to studios full of young Israeli hopefuls. Two of the choreographers, Sheetal Gandhi and Jackie Lopez, were fabulous talented, and very different. Gandhi was raised in California but with Indian parents and a very strong Indian heritage, hence teaching the rudiments of classic Indian dance. Lopez was raised in central L.A., and came to her more formal dance education in a roundabout manner, although she’s now one of the go-to hiphop dancers in the region. The workshop also including a unique class with renowned choreographer Shen Wei, and a repertoire workshop with choreographer Barak Marshall.
Image0039

All the masters — and students — of the two summer classes, shared an innate enthusiasm and energy for their subjects. The film students were mostly young professionals with some productions and/or scripts under their belts, while the dancers were younger, post-army and all Israeli. And because of the entire days talking about their professions, or dancing, as it were, a certain kind of intimacy arises between students and teachers, one that wouldn’t happen if they were hanging out somewhere else. The Tel Aviv air may be sticky and steamy in the summer, but it lends a certain magic.

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TV’s The Office to open a Petach Tikva branch

April 13, 2009 - 4:20 PM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Movies, Pop Culture 

The OfficeExciting Israeli pop culture news has reached us with the recent announcement that the local satellite TV provider, Yes, will soon be running its own version of the landmark satirical half-hour comedy series The Office. A full 15 episodes have already been contracted, set to air in about a year from now, with the Israeli firm July August, which was behind the recent success of The Band’s Visit, handling production.

Co-creator Ricky Gervais was quoted in The Guardian’s piece announcing the project saying,

“I am thrilled and amazed that Israel are making The Office with local writers, directors and actors. I mean, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?”

Ha’aretz reported shortly thereafter that screenwriting will be handled by B’tipul’s Uzi Weill and the director will be Eitan Tzur, who also had a hand in that Israeli television export’s success.

When Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant developed The Office as what would become a two-season sitcom for the BBC, they had no idea what levels of universal appeal their odd sense of humor had the potential of reaching. Sure, Gervais’ portrayal of oblivious, over-the-top, tasteless paper company branch boss David Brent was arguably grounded primarily in esoteric British dry humor stylings and in specifically British office culture-inspired mishaps. But the show also managed to tap into the universal phenomenon of “cubicle angst,” and its mockumentary-inspired packaging, complete with uncomfortable silences, helped rocket it into global cult favorite status.

Soon the BBC was licensing local versions of the show to markets outside England, with France, Russia, Chile, Canada and the United States (pictured) creating their own takes. While the US version got off to a rocky start (its short first season was more or less a remake of the original British one, just with some local flavor and accents added), it hit its stride towards the beginning of season two and is now enjoying its fifth successful season on NBC.

It can be argued that one of the reasons that the American Office has been as much of a creative success as it has been is that the writers have allowed for the characters to take on lives of their own in ways that are distinctively American. The action all takes place against the backdrops of corporate booze cruises, office outings to Chili’s (where family members’ drinks might or might not be comped), ridicule of those who count Legally Blonde as an all-time favorite movie, peeking at one another’s high school yearbooks – you know, American office culture type stuff.

Having watched both the British and American versions of The Office for several years, I have wondered many times how an Israeli version might manifest itself. Israeli office culture has its own cultural mores and archetypes.

Also according to The Guardian:

….Giyora Yahalom, head of production at the Israeli satellite broadcaster Yes, added: “We are sure that the universal experience of contemporary office life will speak to Israeli viewers. There is no doubt that our viewers will enjoy the same jokes as their contemporaries in the UK.”

And the Ha’aretz piece makes a good argument that the creators are taking the proper approach, reporting that the show

…will take place at the dreary workplace of “Super Office,” a fictional office-supply firm in Petah Tikva.

….The cast will include a variety of Israeli types – an Arab warehouse manager, an ultra-Orthodox saleswoman and a bitter Russian accountant. The Israeli answer to David Brent, the obnoxious boss of the U.K. program, will be named Avi Meshulam, though an actor has yet to be pegged for the role.

Exciting stuff. Hopefully the creative team will have enough self-depreciating perspective to do it right.

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Israeli Emmys

September 23, 2008 - 5:25 PM by Jessica · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Pop Culture 

intreatment.jpgNow Israel can boast about a new kind of successful export after “In Treatment,” based on the Israeli series “B’tipul,” took home two Emmy awards on Sunday.

The popular psychodrama series scored Emmys for actress Dianne Wiest, who won the award for best supporting actress in a drama series, and Glynn Turman received the Emmy for guest actor in a drama series.
“B’tipul,” which follows a psychoanalyst through his week, was created by Hagai Levi, who is now one of the executive producers of “In Treatment.”

btipul.jpgThe role of the therapist in “In Treatment” is played by Gabriel Byrne, while Israeli actor Assi Dayan (yes, the son of general and the black eye patch-wearing Moshe Dayan) played the role in the Israeli series. Wiest’s role was played by Israeli grande dame Gila Almagor in “B’tipul.”

The two Emmys are definitely a coup for Israeli television, and, as Israeli producer Zafrir Kohonofsky commented to me recently, perhaps a new version of Zionism, as this kind of exported culture allows Israel to show what life is really like over here.

I’m not sure “In Treatment” can do that, as the American version is an Americanized take on an Israeli concept. But one of Kohonofsky’s shows, “A Touch Away,” also recently purchased for American development by HBO, is a Romeo and Juliet story dealing with the relationships between a Russian immigrant family and an ultra-Orthodox one living in the same apartment building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak.

Kohonofsky told Ynet “certain changes” in the show’s original format “will naturally be made… but ultimately the American version will be very similar to its original counterpart.”

Those changes will remain to be seen, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with Bnei Brak.

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