Nickelodeon partners with Israeli team to create ‘Spyders’
Spyders is a "dramedy," intended to appeal to children from 9-12.
By HANNAH BROWNFrom left to right: Osnat Saraga, CEO, Nutz Productions; Shirley Oren, VP content Viacom channels Israel at Ananey Communications; Orly Atlas Katz, CEO, Ananey Communications; Nina Hahn, SVP, International Production and Development. (photo credit: Courtesy)
People may think that a making a television show is glamorous, but the set of Spyders – the first original co-production between Viacom’s Nickelodeon International and Israeli Nutz Productions, the subsidiary production arm of Ananey Communications Group, together with Israeli cable network HOT – is anything but.It’s a hot dusty day in early October and filming is taking place in and around an empty barn in a moshav, but that doesn’t bother Nina Hahn, Nickelodeon senior vice president in charge of international production and development, who has flown in from England to meet with the show’s creators.“Nickelodeon is everywhere kids are, and we have been so excited about partnering with this amazing team in Israel to create ‘glocal' content – content that is both local and global, and to find something that will work in Israel and will resonate with audiences outside of Israel,” she said.Spyders focuses on Anna and Noah Fisher, highly skilled undercover agents who work for ECCO, Environmental Counter Crime Organization, and are tasked with fighting criminals who endanger nature or the environment. Little do they know that their three kids – Daniel, Nikki and Tommy – have discovered their secret occupation and have formed a task force of their own, named Spyders.Nickelodeon has ordered 40 episodes, each 22 minutes long, which will be distributed to Nickelodeon's international audiences in more than 170 countries and territories via the brand’s more than 100 channels and branded blocks in 2020.Spyders was created and written by Michal Cooper Keren, the creator of Nickelodeon Israel's Spell Keepers. It was based on an idea by Tom Riles, David Guest and Patrick Quinn. It stars Nati Kluger, Kobi Maymon, Kim Or Azulay, Jonathan Gotlieb and Amit Hechter.“The series is grounded in reality and authenticity,” said Hahn. “We describe families as tribes. This is about sharing family pride. The kids are heroes who save the family. Children can do things that grown-ups can’t. This is about kids who want to be agents like their parents, and then end up being even better than they are.”One key element of Nickelodeon programs, said Hahn, is that, “We don’t talk down to kids. Our DNA is equal parts: Heart Fart Smart. We can be funny and broad, but we also know how to do drama and suspense.”Spyders, she said, would be a “dramedy,” intended to appeal to children from 9-12. “Our sweet spot is about 10,” said Hahn. But like all Nickelodeon series, “It’s something that a family can watch together.”The series will air with five episodes a week, the kind of “appointment television” – TV that is watched when it airs rather than streamed – that ends on cliffhangers and keeps audiences in suspense until the next episode. Although once it has aired, Hahn said, “It can be consumed in any number of ways.”
In terms of partnering with an Israeli team and production companies, Hahn said, “Everything that felt good for them, was good for us. The series will work for Israel, for the United States, for countries all over the world.“Spyders really fits in with trends from around the world, of this decade’s kids trying to save the earth,” Hahn said. “And it’s very appropriate that the series reflects two very different teams from different parts of the globe coming together to birth one baby.”
