1. January 31, 2012
Weekly Content Updates
Week 5
Issue no. 89
Prepared by: Content Development Research
ISRAELI TV FORMATS’ BIG
U.S. BREAKTHROUGH
Read about it in page 18
January 25 - 31

2. CONTENTS
FICTION/ CME NEWS/ CINEMA ................................................................................................ 4
ROMANIA/The Charade in Preproduction ..........................................................................................4
SLOVAKIA/My Dog Killer Sets Filming Dates ......................................................................................4
CROATIA/Be Quiet in Preproduction .................................................................................................5
ROMANIA/House of Film Acquires Phantom Father ............................................................................5
FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/ CINEMA............................................................................ 6
Steven Spielberg to direct Moses biopic for Warner Bros ....................................................................6
Shooting under way for Romeo and Juliet .........................................................................................6
Russell Brand joins 'The Hauntrepreneur' ..........................................................................................7
Polish WWII Drama in Postproduction ..............................................................................................7
'Death Wish': Joe Carnahan helms remake ........................................................................................7
FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/ TV ..................................................................................... 8
CZECH R./Czech Mini-Series Commissioned for HBO Central Europe ...................................................8
FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/ TV ..................................................................................... 9
Ben Stiller, Jonathan Safran Foer team for Jewish family comedy at HBO ...........................................9
SWAGS': ITV plans military wives drama ...........................................................................................9
ABC Gives Drama Pilot Orders To Soaps From Mark Gordon And Callie Khouri ................................... 10
Nick at Nite to Air English-Language Telenovela .............................................................................. 10
NBC Picks Up ‘New Normal’ Family Comedy Pilot ............................................................................. 10
Julia Davis to write, star in Sky Atlantic comedy 'Hunderby' ............................................................. 11
ABC Greenlights Three More Comedy Pilots ..................................................................................... 11
CBS Greenlights 3 Drama Pilots ...................................................................................................... 12
Glee' Mike O'Malley's comedy pilot 'Prodigy Bully' picked up by Fox .................................................. 12
Conan O’Brien-Produced Comedy Gets Pilot Order At CBS ................................................................ 12
R&E/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/ TV .......................................................................................... 13
January 25 - 31

3. De Mol unveils The Winner ............................................................................................................ 13
USA Network Orders Aspirational Reality Series ‘The Moment’ Starring Kurt Warner .......................... 13
Juma to adapt Israeli format for US ................................................................................................ 14
Rihanna To Make TV Debut With British Fashion Talent Hunt Show .................................................. 14
Bridezillas walk down aisle in Russia ............................................................................................... 15
Cowell, Smith mix DJ talent format ................................................................................................. 15
Ingrid Hoffmann cooking show coming to Univision ......................................................................... 15
BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT ................................................................................................... 16
Sony product placement in “Resident Evil: Retribution” .................................................................... 16
Modern Family is extremely selective of product placements ............................................................ 16
Chevy scores product placements in TV series from Univision .......................................................... 17
Guvera Entertainment launches branded app .................................................................................. 17
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS/ PROFILES ........................................................................................... 18
Israeli TV Formats’ Big U.S. Breakthrough ....................................................................................... 18
NATPE Comes to a Close: Change is Everywhere (Analysis) ............................................................. 19
January 25 - 31

4. FICTION/ CME NEWS/ CINEMA
ROMANIA/The Charade in Preproduction
Romanian
director Serban
Marinescu will
begin shooting
The Charade a
romantic drama
produced by
Giuliano Doman and Family Film in early February.
Based on the script written by Radu F. Alexandru,
Şarada/The Charade tells the story of a man haunted
by his past - his wife mysteriously disappears in 1986
and just as mysteriously re-enters his life 16 years
later.
Shooting will last four weeks and will take place only in Bucharest. From the budget of 650,000 Euro,
250,000 Euro are covered by a production grant from the National Centre for Cinema. Romanian public
television and the Film Studio within the Romanian Ministry of Culture are co-producing. The Charade is
set to be released in Romania in fall 2012.
Source: www.filmneweurope.com
SLOVAKIA/My Dog Killer Sets Filming Dates
Slovak director Mira Fornay will
begin shooting My Dog
Killer/Môj pes killer in
February. The film, a story of
brotherhood and friendship, is
produced by Juraj Buzalka and
the Slovak company Mirafox
together with Viktor Schwarcz
and Cineart TV.
The script was developed
under the auspices of Nipkow
Programme (www.nipkow.de)
in Berlin and won the Tibor
Vichta Award for Best Script in
Slovakia in 2009. Shooting is due to start the end of February. Shooting will take 30-34 days. Fornay
wrote the script and Polish actress Malgorzata Pikus is under consideration for a role in the film.
The Czech release is set for December 2012, and the Slovak release for January 2013.
Source: www.filmneweurope.com
January 25 - 31

5. CROATIA/Be Quiet in
Preproduction
Lukas Nola is preparing his fifth
feature, Be Quiet, a story about a
family abuse produced by Ankica Tilic
and Kinorama.
Suti/Be Quiet is planned to be shot on
location in May 2012. There are no
coproducers attached to the one
million euro project yet, Ankica Tilic
told FNE. The project received a
production grant from the Croatian
Audiovisual Centre.
The central character Beba, who commits suicide to end a long cycle of humiliation, after she finds out
that her husband is abusing their 7 year old daughter. Nola is also the screenwriter on the 90-minute
film. Mirko Pivcevic is the DOP. The premiere is set for January 2013.
Source: www.filmneweurope.com
ROMANIA/House of Film Acquires Phantom Father
Beverly Hills based sales
agent House of Film has
picked up Lucian
Georgescu's first feature
film, Phantom Father
produced by Generic
Audiovizual SRL.
Phantom Father/ Tatal
fantoma is based on a
semi-autobiographical
story of the cult
American screenwriter
Barry Gifford who also
has a small part in the
film. The main characters
are played by the
Romanian actors Marcel
Iureş and Mihaela Sirbu.
Marcel Iures plays an
American professor
starting a trip to Vienna, Transylvania and Bucovina in order to find his roots. The film was finished in
2011 and it will have its Romanian premiere on 2 March 2012. Source: www.filmneweurope.com
January 25 - 31

6. FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL
NEWS/ CINEMA
Steven Spielberg to direct Moses biopic for Warner
Bros
The War Horse director
is expected to sign a
deal for the Biblical film,
currently titled Gods and
Kings, by the end of January.
It's a movie like a Braveheart-ish version of the Moses story -
him coming down the river, being adopted, leaving his home,
forming an army and getting the Ten Commandments. This
would be
a real
warrior
story."
Gods
and Kings has been written by Stuart Hazeldine
(Paradise Lost) and Michael Green (Green
Lantern), and will be produced by Dan Lin and
Matti Lesham. Warner Bros is aiming to start
production on the film in March or April 2012.
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
Shooting under way for Romeo
and Juliet
Shooting has started in Rome for Romeo
and Juliet, a new adaptation of
Shakespeare’s classic, directed by Carlo
Carlei and produced by Amber Ent.,
Gabriele Muccino’s Indiana Production
and co-produced by Oscar-winning
designer Milena Canonero. Romea and
Juliet will be played respectively by
Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld the
sixteen-year-old nominated for an Oscar
in 2011 for the Coen brothers’ True Grit.
Source: www.cineuropa.org
January 25 - 31

7. Russell Brand joins 'The Hauntrepreneur'
The Arthur and Hop
actor will lead the cast
of Paramount Pictures'
supernatural children's
tale.
The film centers on a
family who hire a
'hauntrepreneur' to
build a haunted house
for them in their new
neighborhood. Con Air
and High Fidelity
screenwriter Scott
Rosenberg sold his
original script for the
movie to Paramount last year. The studio has not yet commented on the casting. Transformers: Dark of
the Moon producer Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller (Vigilandia) will produce through their
company Platinum Dunes.
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
Polish WWII Drama in Postproduction
Polish director Marcin Krzyształowicz has completed shooting his new film Manhunt, a dynamic thriller
reliving the reality of war occupation. Manhunt follows the story of corporal Wydra (Marcin Dorociński),
a soldier in the partisan army, who has to face not only the German troops and Polish war traitors, but
also his own dark past. The cast includes Maciej Stuhr, Sonia Bohosiewicz and Weronika Rosati. The
distributor of Manhunt is Kino Świat. The film will open
in Polish cinemas in the fall of 2012.
Source: www.filmneweurope.com
'Death Wish': Joe Carnahan helms remake
Paramount and MGM has hired the Grey director to
both write and direct the new take on the Charles
Bronson franchise. Bronson starred in the 1974 movie,
in addition to five sequels which followed over the
space of two decades.
Sylvester Stallone was previously attached to star in
and direct the project, which has been in the works for
several years. An early example of the modern action film, Death Wish starred Bronson as Paul Kersey, a
liberal architect who becomes a vigilante after a brutal attack on his wife and daughter.
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
January 25 - 31

8. FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/
TV
CZECH R. /Czech Mini-Series Commissioned for HBO
Central Europe
Writer and
director
Agnieszka
Holland,
whose In
Darkness is a contender for best foreign-
language film at this year's Academy Awards, is
working on a three-part drama for HBO Central
Europe about Czech student activist Jan Palach.
The drama will tell the story of Palach, the
student who burned himself to death in
Wenceslas Square in Prague in 1968 in the
aftermath of the Prague Spring and became a symbol of the anti-Communist movement. Holland will
direct the mini-series from a script by Stepán Hulík. The three-parter, slated for a 2013 broadcast, will be
produced by the Nutprodukce company in Prague. Source: www.worldscreen.com
January 25 - 31

9. FICTION/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/
TV
Ben Stiller, Jonathan Safran Foer team for Jewish
family comedy at HBO
The actor, who got his big break on a short-lived, eponymous sketch
show on MTV/Fox, has signed on to star, direct and executive
produce All Talk, a new HBO comedy pilot from novelist Jonathan
Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close, Everything is
Illuminated).
The project, which is being billed as
“politically, religiously, culturally,
intellectually and sexually irreverent,”
revolves around the daily and life-
altering dramas of a Jewish family in
Washington, DC. Emmy winner Alan
Alda is currently in negotiations to join
Stiller in front of the camera, marking
what would be his first series regular role since M*A*S*H. The pilot is tentatively scheduled to shoot this
fall. Stiller and Foer, along with Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, will serve as executive producers; Foer has
penned the pilot script.
Source: www.e-nota.com
SWAGS': ITV plans military
wives drama
The six-part series, which is currently
called SWAGS, will focus on the lives of
four women living in Army quarters in
Leysham while their partners serve in
Afghanistan.
Debbie's husband Howard has left the
army but she is worried about her two
sons in Helmand, while her daughter-in-
law Gemma is feeling positive about the
future. Army nurse Louise met her husband in Afghanistan but did not return to the frontline after
maternity leave, while Claire met her partner after signing up to a dating website. The show is expected
to focus on the women's everyday struggles and problems, but is also said to be "upbeat" and have an
"ever present streetwise sense of humour".
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
January 25 - 31

10. ABC Gives Drama Pilot Orders To Soaps From
Mark Gordon And Callie Khouri
ABC gave the green light to 2 drama pilots, Americana
and Nashville, both primetime soaps. The latter pickup is
contingent on the project becoming a co-production
between Lionsgate TV, which developed it, and ABC
Studios.
Americana, from ABC Studios and studio-based Mark
Gordon Co., is a soap set around a legendary fashion
designer and his family and business. It was written by
Michael Seitzman (North Country) who will executive
produce with Mark Gordon and Mark Gordon Co.’s
Nicholas Pepper.
Nashville hails from Oscar-winning writer Callie Khouri and
TV producer/documentary filmmaker RJ Cutler. Thelma &
Louise scribe Khouri wrote the project, a family soap set
against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene that
follows one star at her peak and one on the rise. Cutler
(The September Issue) is set to direct.
Source: www.deadline.com
Nick at Nite to Air English -Language
Telenovela
Nickelodeon is working with Televisa on an original
one-hour U.S. adaptation of the hit Mexican telenovela
Reach for a Star (Alcanzar una Estrella) for Nick at Nite.
The 80-episode daily series will be the first telenovela
ever adapted for the U.S. audience. The single-camera
show follows a teenage girl who becomes a star and
wins the love of her teen idol. Sony Pictures Television
will assist in the production. The adaptation will air later
this year on Nickelodeon’s family-focused nighttime
block, Nick at Nite.
Source: www.worldscreen.com
NBC Picks Up ‘New Normal’ Family Comedy Pilot
The network has given a pilot order to The New Normal, a single-camera project co-written by Glee co-
creator Murphy and Adler and to be directed by Murphy, which might be the last half-hour to snag a
pickup at NBC this season. The Book Of Mormon star Andrew Rannells is set for one of 3 leads in the
project, a heartwarming comedy about a blended family of a gay couple and the woman who becomes a
surrogate to help them start a family. Source: www.deadline.com
January 25 - 31

11. Julia Davis to write, star in Sky Atlantic comedy 'Hunderby'
Sky Atlantic has commissioned a new
show from writer and actress Julia
Davis.
Hunderby - an 1800s-set black comedy
- will tell the story of Helene, a
shipwreck survivor who is washed
ashore near a small English village.
After marrying widowed pastor
Edmund, Helene falls under the
watchful eye of his housekeeper, the
obsessive and interfering Dorothy
(Davis).
The seven-part series is expected to
enter production soon and will air on Sky Atlantic HD in summer 2012.
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
ABC Greenlights Three More Comedy Pilots
ABC has given out 3 more pilot orders to comedy projects,
How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life ,
from Accidentally on Purpose creator Claudia Lonow;
untitled buddy comedy from feature writer Adam Sztykiel
(Due Date, Made of Honor); and And Only Fools And
Horses, from Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley.
How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, a
multi-camera/hybrid comedy produced by 20th Century Fox
TV and studio-based Imagine Television, is in the mold of
another 20th TV comedy, How I Met Your Mother had a
put pilot commitment. Based on Lonow’s own life, How to
Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, is
described as an outrageous comedy with lots of heart. It
centers on Polly, a recently divorced, single mom, who
moves in with her eccentric parents, Elaine and Max, a
couple who’s full of life but knows no boundaries.
The untitled Adam Sztykiel project, also from 20th TV, has
received a showrunner-contingent order. Based on Sztykiel’s own experiences in a long-distance
relationship, the show follows a group of 24-year-old guys who move to a new city, one of them choosing
to stay in relationship even though his girlfriend is now 2,000 miles away.
Cragg and Bradley’s multi-camera And Only Fools And Horses, from ABC Studios, is based on the British
format. It follows the misadventures of two streetwise brothers who scrape by selling unreliable goods
believing that at any moment they could become millionaires. Source: www.deadline.com
January 25 - 31

12. CBS Greenlights 3 Drama Pilots
CBS picked up 3 more drama pilots. The untitled Ralph Lamb project, from Goodfellas writer Nicholas
Pileggi and CBS TV Studios, is set in the 1960s and is based on the true story of Ralph Lamb – rodeo
cowboy turned longtime Sheriff of Las Vegas. Pileggi co-wrote the script with TV writer Greg Walker
(Without a Trace), with James
Mangold (Walk the Line) on board to
direct.
Based on Ayelet Waldman’s Mommy
Track Mysteries series of books,
Applebaum, also from CBS Studios,
centers on a former public defender
who becomes a private investigator to
keep from being bored to death as a
stay-at-home mom. Ayelet
collaborated on the script with Jennifer
Levin and Sherri Cooper. The 3 will
executive produce with Chris Columbus, who will direct, and Michael Barnathan.
Quean, written by Chaiken, centers on an edgy and independent Millennial hacker girl who teams up with
an Oakland police detective to solve crimes. Chaiken and Silver executive produce for Warner Bros.
Source: www.deadline.com
Glee' Mike O'Malley's comedy pilot 'Prodigy Bully' picked up by Fox
O'Malley, who plays Burt Hummel on the network's musical drama, will write and executive produce
Prodigy Bully. The project, based on a series of short films by Hank Perlman, focuses on a young boy
genius who uses his brains and brawn to manipulate others.
Southland's John Wells will work on the pilot, having previously worked with O'Malley on Showtime's
Shameless. O'Malley and Wells will be joined as executive producers by Glee director Paris Barclay and
Andrew Stearn.
Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
Conan O’Brien-Produced Comedy Gets
Pilot Order At CBS
CBS has given a pilot green light to Super Fun
Night, a multi-camera comedy pilot written by and
starring Australian actress-comedian Rebel Wilson
(Bridesmaids). The project, from Warner Bros TV
and Conan O’Brien’s studio-based Conaco banner,
follows three nerdy female friends on their
”funcomfortable” quest to have super fun every
Friday night. Source: www.deadline.com
January 25 - 31

13. R&E/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS/ TV
De Mol unveils The Winner
The Dutch firm,
whose current
hit The Voice
took the singing
talent
competition
genre and added
the twist that the judges couldn’t see the contestants,
is going a stage further with The Winner Is…
The new format will be a weekly 90-minute show
giving aspiring singers the chance to win cash prizes. Each will have to face off against each other in a
series of singing ‘duels.’
The contestants will be grouped into eight talent categories: male soloists, female soloists, duos, groups,
seniors (over 40), youth (under 17), families and professionals (comeback acts). Over an eight-episode
arc – including a live final – the contestants will be judged by a panel of 100 people plus one well-known
expert. The winner of each ‘duel’ gets an instant cash prize and a guarantee to go to the next round, with
the money doubling in every round till it hits US$1m.
Source: www.c21media.net
USA Network Orders Aspirational Reality Series ‘The Moment’ Starring Kurt
Warner
The top-rated cable network has
ordered its first original unscripted
series, aspirational reality series
The Moment starring former NFL
star Kurt Warner, which is very
much in the vein of Undercover
Boss as well as other second-
chance reality series like ABC’s
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
and You Deserve It.
USA has given a nine-episode
order to The Moment for a
premiere in the third quarter. On the show, Warner, gives men and women a second chance at
reclaiming the career dreams they put on hold when their lives took an unexpected turn. Each week,
someone secretly nominated by a loved one will be given the opportunity to pursue the career they’ve
always wanted under the guidance of a mentor. The Moment is executive produced by Justin Hochberg
and Charlie Ebersol through their Hochberg Ebersol Co. Source: www.deadline.com
January 25 - 31

14. Juma to adapt
Israeli format for US
Another Israeli format is
heading stateside, after a
deal between LA-based
reality shop Juma
Entertainment (The
Singing Bee) and Tel Aviv-
based Armoza Formats.
Juma has picked up US
format rights to reality
series With This Ring, a
show that Buzz
Communications produces
for Channel 10 in Israel.
The show explores issues
most likely to lead couples to divorce: from infidelity and in-laws to career and children.
The format follows couples attempting to overcome their problems but features one twist – the host is
the only point of contact between the couples and their therapist.
Source: www.c21media.net
Rihanna To Make TV Debut With British
Fashion Talent Hunt Show
Rihanna is making her TV debut producing and
appearing in a new fashion project for Sky Living later
this year. The singer and style queen will take the role
of executive producer, working mostly behind the
scenes, but will appear occasionally in the 10-part
series that will be hosted by Girls Aloud singer Nicola
Roberts.
The multiple Grammy award winner will help shape the
show that will search Britain for the next generation of
raw fashion talent who will be challenged with creating
outfits for a string of musicians and celebrities during
the course of the series.
The winner will design an outfit for Rihanna to wear
when she performs at the Wireless Festival in London in
July.
The show is being developed for Sky by Warner Bros.-
owned Twenty Twenty Productions, which is part of
the Shed Media group the studio acquired last year. Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
January 25 - 31

15. Bridezillas walk down aisle in Russia
UK distributor DCD Rights is
sending Bridezillas into Russia,
while three other broadcasters
have picked up new episodes of
the reality series. MTV Russia has
picked up the show, which pits
competing brides against each
other in a battle to have the
wedding of their dreams. It is
produced by the US arm of DCD-
owned indie September Films.
Meanwhile, RTL in the
Netherlands, VMMA in Belgium
and Antenna TV in Romania have all renewed the series, which will go into its ninth season this year on
US cablenet WE TV.
Source: www.c21media.net
Cowell, Smith mix DJ talent format
X Factor creator Simon Cowell, actor Will Smith and Sony Pictures Television (SPT) have unveiled a new
live format that will find “the world’s greatest DJ.” The currently untitled format has been in
development for more than a year, a coproduction from Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and Cowell and
Sony joint venture Syco Entertainment. The format will “capture the incredible rise of the DJ
phenomena,” according to the partners. UK and US broadcast partners are onboard and would be
announced shortly, they added. Source: www.e-nota.com
Ingrid Hoffmann cooking show coming to
Univision
Delicioso, a one-hour culinary series featuring celebrity chef
Ingrid Hoffmann, is joining the Univision Network lineup starting
February 4, complemented by a cooking site and mobile app.
Hoffmann is joined by co-host Maggie Jiménez to bring viewers
an all-access guide to food, with everything from recipes to
reports on the latest culinary destinations.
Univision is re-launching its cooking site at Univision.com and its
Univision Delicioso mobile app. The app features the latest
recipes from the show, as well as cooking tools such as a unit
converter and timer and other features. Univision Consumer
Products is teaming up with companies for Delicioso-branded
kitchen and home products. T-fal is already on board as a
licensee.
Source: www.e-nota.com
January 25 - 31

16. BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT
Sony product placement in “Resident Evil:
Retribution”
Resident Evil is back
again for another
zombie-killing
adventure. And the
movie will be
bringing back some familiar friends, including Sony—the
popular electronics manufacturer.
The
trailer
for “Resident Evil: Retribution,” which was launched on
Attack of the Show, gave a glimpse of the movie’s
various product placements.
At the forefront of the product integrations is Sony and
its many electrical accessories, including a PlayStation
Vita.
Source: www.productplacement.biz
Modern Family is extremely selective of
product placements
Modern family, the popular comedy TV show, does not bite all its product placement opportunities. In
fact, majority of the sitcom’s product
placement opportunities are turned
down by its producers.
In a recent interview with
Advertising Age, Steven Levitan—
Modern Family’s executive
producer—said that the show turns
down more than 90% of its product
placement offers. Levitan said that
they constantly receive product
placement opportunities. However,
the show’s creative team is
extremely selective.
Only a select few brands have
managed to score product placements in the renowned television series, including Toyota, Audi, and
Target. Levitan says that the main criterion for the show’s product placements is relevance. The product
integration needs to be naturally tied to the plot and the characters. Source: www.productplacement.biz
January 25 - 31

17. Chevy scores product placeme nts in TV series from Univision
“El Talisman” is taking
television product
placement to a whole new
level, giving Chevrolet
vehicles a co-starring role
in the new series. The
latest telenovela from
Univision signed Chevy as a
lead sponsor. The marquee
will be represented by its
different vehicles, which
will drive the plot forward
through various product
integrations. Some of the
featured Chevy vehicles
include: Cheyenne,
Silverado, Volt, Equinox,
and Cruze.
All throughout the series, the Chevrolet-branded cars will carry relevant roles. For instance, characters
will listen to love messages and songs for one another through car radios. The integrations will be
supported online, as well.
Source: www.productplacement.biz
Guvera Entertainment launches branded
app
Guvera Entertainment has unveiled My Soundtrack, a
Facebook app that lets brands personalize their
playlists on their home page.
My Soundtrack is a branded entertainment project that
attempts to engage consumers through music. With
the app, Facebook users can share, stream, and
download music.
Users of the app will be given access to Guvera
Entertainment’s music catalogs, which contain millions
of songs. This will help brands engage consumers
through music. Brands can also regularly change their
playlists, which gets consumers to come back for more. Scotty Moore, Chief Revenue Officer of Guvera,
believes that music engages a person’s heart and mind, allowing it to strengthen the connection between
the brands and the consumers.
Source: www.productplacement.biz
January 25 - 31

18. INDUSTRY INSIGHTS/ PROFILES
Israeli TV Formats’ Big U.S. Breakthrough
A drama based on the Israeli series Pillars Of Smoke became the
first in-cycle drama pilot picked up by NBC. Showtime’s Homeland,
became the the biggest TV winner at the Golden Globe Awards
with two
statuettes, for
best drama series
and best actress
Claire Danes.
That caps several years of a building momentum for
formats from the Middle East country with strong ties to
the U.S. and deep connections in Hollywood.
Exactly 3 years ago, the first of the current wave of
U.S. adaptations of Israeli series, HBO’s In Treatment,
landed 5 Golden Globe nominations, including best
drama series, and won one, for best actor Gabriel
Byrne. This year, Homeland converted 2 of its 3 nominations. Israeli formats got to the coveted top
award after a four-year presence in Hollywood and a handful of series, In Treatment, CBS’ The Ex List
and Fox’s Traffic Light leading to
Homeland. For comparison, U.S.
adaptations of British series have a long-
standing tradition, spanning dozens of
series over four decades.
Israel’s opening to the U.S. TV market
started several years ago when groups of
local producers and representative came
to Los Angeles to meet with leading
Hollywood TV executives and agents.
CBS Entertainment president Nina
Tassler, then Chair of the Jewish
Federation’s Entertainment Division, was
among those spearheading the initiative, which included master classes held both in Los Angeles and Tel
Aviv. Top U.S. TV agents began shopping Israeli formats to the U.S. networks. Homeland executive
producer Howard Gordon began his acceptance speech by thanking “Rick Rosen at WME for bringing us
this project.” Rosen is one of the leading agents handling Israeli formats, with CAA’s Adam Berkowitz also
active in the arena.
As a result of the rising interest, the broadcast networks this season bought as many pitches based on
Israeli formats as they did formats coming out of the U.K. In addition to Pillars Of Smoke, awaiting word
on a pickup are comedy Life Isn’t Everything at CBS and drama Danny Hollywood at the CW. Additionally,
one of the projects based on a British format, NBC comedy Friday Night Dinner shepherded by The Office
January 25 - 31

19. chief Greg Daniels, revolves around a Jewish family and
their regular Friday dinner experience. Because of the far
smaller size of the Israeli TV market and thus series
budgets that are a fraction of what U.S. shows have at
their disposal, Israeli producers put stronger emphasis on
storytelling and search for formats that would help them
overcome the financial shortcomings, including setting up
most of the action in one (In Treatment) or 2 rooms
(drama The Naked Truth, an U.S. version of which was
once set up at HBO with Clyde Phillips.)
Israel’s U.S. TV influence is not limited to scripted
formats. NBC’s reality series Who’s Still Standing?, which
aired as a strip last month, was based on a hit Israeli
series, with other reality projects also in the works.
Source: www.deadline.com
NATPE Comes to a Close: Change is Everywhere (Analysis)
For many of its 49 years, the National
Association of Television Program
Executives (NATPE) market, convention
and conference was primarily an after-
market where American-made TV shows
that already had played in the domestic
market were resold to foreign
broadcasters.
There were some first-run shows sold to
U.S. TV stations that would play in fringe
time slots outside primetime, but for the
most part the point was to wring the last
drop of revenue out of existing and older
shows, making NATPE a kind of flea
market for used TV programming.
The lesson of this year’s NATPE, which wrapped after a vibrant three-day run, is that the event has
changed because the business and the world have changed. More than 5,000 buyers, sellers, advertisers,
financiers and media from around the globe (an increase of about 10 percent from last year) converged
to not only buy for broadcast but also for the expanding digital realm. And in many cases the buying and
selling was secondary to the networking, meeting, conferencing and exchange of information and ideas.
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Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
January 25 - 31