France-Israel writing residency announced

The aim of the project is to promote the creation of joint drama series, which will reflect a variety of viewpoints on between filmmakers and television in Israel and France.

By HANNAH BROWN
People hold Israeli and French flags as they take part in a demonstration supporting Israel on July 27, 2014 in Marseille, southeastern France (photo credit: BORIS HORVAT / AFP)
People hold Israeli and French flags as they take part in a demonstration supporting Israel on July 27, 2014 in Marseille, southeastern France
(photo credit: BORIS HORVAT / AFP)
At the recently concluded, prestigious Series Mania television competition held in France, it was announced that France’s CNC film-TV agency and Israel’s Gesher Multicultural Film Fund will create a French-Israeli writing residency, the first of its kind.
It will feature two workshops – one in Israel in the fall, the other in the spring of 2020 in France. The projects developed will be presented at Series Mania’s The Residency – “a creative incubator,” said CNC’s president, Frédérique Bredin – and will create lasting, creative, long-term partnerships.
The aim of the project is to promote the creation of joint drama series, which will reflect a variety of viewpoints on cultural interactions, encourage collaborations between filmmakers and television in Israel and France and expand new paths of cooperation to create, fund, produce and distribute original and innovative content.
This initiative comes after years of negotiations to try to create such a project with Israel, and the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund was finally able to sign a deal. The Israel Film and Television Producers Association was involved in the initiative, and the Israeli Writers Guild also took part.
Ziv Naveh, the CEO of the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund, said, “We see this as an opportunity to make use of the experience and connections [on both sides].”
At this year’s Series Mania the Special Jury Prize went to Nir Bergman and Ram Nehari’s Just for Today. Produced by Endemol Shine Israel for Yes TV, the jury lauded the show as “suspenseful, touching and full of heart.”
Israeli series took the top prizes at Series Mania in 2017 (Your Honor) and 2018 (On the Spectrum), which are both being remade abroad.