High-flying Access Entertainment, a division of Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries and fairness investor in A24 and “His Dark Materials” producer Bad Wolf, is investing in “Red Skies,” one of many greatest titles set to world premiere at this 12 months’s Series Mania, in primary International Competition.  

Blavatnik and Danny Cohen, Access Entertainment president, will function govt producers on “Red Skies,” a place in addition they maintain one upcoming motion pictures akin to Beau is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer’s “Zone of Interest,” “Iron Claw,” starring Zac Efron, and “Conclave,” from Edward Berger, director of “All Quiet on the Western Front.”  

An eight-episode collection, “Red Skies” will likely be broadcast on Reshet 13 later this 12 months. 

“Red Skies” marks Access Entertainment’s first foray into Israeli tv drama manufacturing. It makes its bow on a collection which entails a bevy of the prime movers on Israel’s worldwide TV scene.

Produced by Yoav Gross, Red Skies” is created by “Euphoria’s” Ron Leshem, Daniel Shinar, on whose best-selling novel the collection is predicated, Daniel Amsel (“Euphoria”) and Amit Cohen (“False Flag”). Leshem and Cohen co-created “No Man’s Land,” a standout title at Series Mania in 2020, in addition to Traitor, on which Amsel served as a lead author,  

On “Red Skies,” Alon Zingman, behind Netflix hit “Shtisel,” directs. 

“We’re proud to be involved in bringing Daniel Shinar’s novel ‘Red Skies’ to television screens around the world,” mentioned Cohen, president of Access Entertainment.

He added: “Access Entertainment is passionate about supporting the Israeli entertainment industry and taking its content to a global audience. We’re also delighted to see that ‘Red Skies’ has been nominated for the Best Series Award at the Series Mania festival.”

“There is a reason why I love Danny Cohen: He is the one who commissioned ‘Skins’,” mentioned Leshem, of the previous head of Channel 4’s E4 Youth service.

“Their vision for creating global television and high-end drama is something that truly excites us. If you compare [Israeli] ‘Euphoria’ to its American counterpart, the cost of that entire show would barely cover their morning refreshments. We need to bring in investors from the outside and we want their insight.”

“We knew we needed a bigger budget to make ‘Red Skies’ look good. Combining international partners, like Access, and the exposure that Israeli shows already have, could really help these productions in the future,” agrees Daniel Shinar, additionally behind the bestselling novel it’s based mostly on. 

The collection, set through the Second Intifada (2000-05), introduces two childhood pals, Sa’ar and Ali, who all of the sudden discover themselves on the opposing sides of a bloody battle, with Jenny, Sa’ar’s American girlfriend and a fearless struggle photographer, left within the center. 

The collection stars Maor Schweitzer (“Valley of Tears”), Amir Khoury (“Fauda”), Annie Shapiro, Lihi Kornowski (“Losing Alice”), Alona Sa’ar, and Yaakov Zada Daniel (“Fauda”).

“I know I don’t look it, but I wrote this book 20 years ago,” laughed Shinar. 

“When I was a kid, I took part in this initiative called ‘Seeds of Peace.’ There is a photo of Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasir Arafat on the White House lawn, celebrating the 1993 Oslo Accords, surrounded by children. I was one of them. Later, I had this vision where I knock on someone’s door to arrest them, they open and I see one of my Palestinian friends. When I joined the army, this weird dream almost became a reality.”

The homonymous novel “wrote itself,” mentioned Shinar, a former Israeli intelligence officer. But attempting to get it printed was one other story.    

“I remember when censors summoned me to the meeting and said: ‘We have good news and bad news. The good news is, we loved the book. But it’s not going to see the light of day.’ We negotiated for a year. Every page, every character, every word. Once we were done, it had to be approved by the Mossad, then by a ministerial committee which included Benjamin Netanyahu.” 

He met Leshem shortly after.

“Before he turned to TV, Ron was a writer himself: it was like meeting Michael Jordan. He read the book before it was published. It’s very emotional, making this show with him now,” added Shinar.

“I was the head of the intelligence unit [overseeing] the Palestinian peace talks. We were aware that so many powers, on both sides, were trying to sabotage it,” recalled Leshem.  

“When hope collapsed, I was already a journalist, spending every evening looking at photos of dead bodies. I felt like I was carrying this tragedy on my shoulders, inhaling every casualty and every name of a kid that was killed.”

While coming again to those occasions was laborious for them each, it was additionally mandatory, they state. 

“What happened in 2002 fuelled our society with violence and hate. Right now, it’s on steroids. We all saw bodies and explosions, and every Palestinian kid knew us only as soldiers bursting into their homes. But we wanted to talk about love that tries to survive even when the entire region is up in flames,” mentioned Leshem, underlining that each Israeli and Arab writers – Ali Waqed, Ala Dakka, for instance – have collaborated on the present.  

“Before, I think it was only done on the HBO miniseries ‘Our Boys’,” he added. 

“As a writer in the U.S., you are only allowed to write about yourself. But I don’t want to just be myself – I want to empathize with the other side. It would be a mistake to say: ‘I will be the voice of the Israelis and you will be the voice of the Palestinians.’ Hollywood is so suspicious of that, but we wanted to have a collaborative set.” 

As nicely as protagonists who’re “relatable and lovable,” mentioned Leshem.

“All my life, the only characters I could write were the ones I was attracted to. Even sexually! The only one I was disgusted by was the assassin of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in ‘Incitement.’ After that, I had to get back to the ones I wanted to spend my time with.” 

As famous by Shinar, it was at all times their intention to cowl a number of views within the action-filled present.

“The idea, also in the book, was to give a sneak peek into the lives that most people don’t get to see. The lives of intelligence officers, fighters, terrorists. One of our writers, Ali Waked, used to work as a correspondent in the West Bank. Between the three of us, and our other partners, we were able to deliver a story that’s personal but very much tied to the reality of that time.”

“These characters are trying to hold on to each other, but it’s almost impossible. And yet this boldness of someone who stays, even when the military tells all foreign journalists to leave… I saw that with my own eyes. Writing about journalism is very personal for me,” added Leshem. 

“These are questions I have always been asking myself. If I found myself living in a dictatorship, in a place where women are stoned to death for adultery, like in Iran, would I fight? Or would I be the fearful guy who escapes?” 

John Hopewell contributed to this text.