His somber surfing series is about to replace "The Sopranos."
He didn't come to Israel on a talent hunt and he's sure that if we'll be creative enough, Hollywood will come to us. It's worth listening to Peter Spears, currently the hottest name in the American television industry.
Without too much fanfare, last week three people from Hollywood visited here under the auspices of the Tel Aviv - Los Angeles Partnership of the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.
The purpose: to deliver some workshops for Israeli creators, in order to equip them with some of the keys to the heaviest doors in the most important film and television industry in the world.
Some of those who participated in the workshops will fly to Los Angeles for a reciprocal visit, and it appears that the success of "In Treatment" has rekindled the age-old hope of "conquering America" once again.
One the masters who came here was Peter Spears, the head producer of one of the new and most intriguing series in the U.S. - "John From Cincinnati" - which is scheduled to assume the time slot currently occupied by "The Sopranos," on the day that it concludes its final season.
Due to this changing of the guard, some people are talking about "John from Cincinnati" as the new "The Sopranos", even though there's nothing in common between it and the Mafia.
The official press releases describe it as "surf noir", a mixture of surfing and the film noir genre. The annals of a multigenerational family of surfers who reside in Imperial Beach in southern California - near the Mexican border - are the centerpiece of this drama. "It's quite far from New Jersey where "The Sopranos" is set and from the life that it describes," says Spears.
Ed O'Neill ("Married with Children"), Rebecca DeMornay ("The Hand that Rocks the Cradle"), Luke Perry ("Beverly Hills, 90210") and Jim Beaver ("Deadwood") will star in the series consisting of 11 one-hour weekly episodes.
The script was written by David Milch, the man behind "Hill Street Blues," "NYPD", and "Deadwood," together with Kem Nunn, the acclaimed surfing fiction novelist.
"We hope that the series will justify the investment and trust that it has received," he says.
"It describes a different world, very interesting and unconventional, of an all-American surfing family.
The plot will hit the soft spot of this world while also addressing spiritual and metaphysical questions. This is something very complex.
It's actually a story about a family whose lives fall apart after a stranger enters them and brings about a change."
15 Minutes to Fame
Spears, originally from Kansas, has worked as a director, actor ("The "Opposite of Sex"), producer and screenwriter for 14 years.
The first film that he wrote and produced was "Ernest and Bertram" which is about a gay relationship between Ernie and Bert - based on the Sesame Street characters.
It's not surprising that the creators of the children's show did not like his interpretation.
"I'm no longer allowed to show it at festivals," he says with a smile.
But, since then, he's been involved in several projects, and his standing in Movie City is growing stronger.
And here's the proof:when HBO recruits the best surfing champions to give your series a credible look, and lures one of the best television writers to breathe a plot into the concept.
That means that someone thinks your idea is promising.
HBO trusts Spears and Milch, and Spears apparently does not shy away from challenges.
Otherwise he would not have come to the Tel Aviv Cinematheque to teach Israeli creators the theory of pitching - how to present your idea to the industry's gatekeepers in such a way that will enable you to present it to its heavyweights as well.
How do you pitch a series like this to HBO?
"As a producer of this series, I pitched the idea to the network.
You stand in front of the executives and you have 7-15 minutes to describe the plot and the characters.
If they show interest, they can ask you to write the series.
And if you're not the writer, they can hire a writer.
After I received the OK to proceed, I brought the idea to David Milch and he wrote the script."
How did you arrive at the idea of a surfing town? Are you familiar with this world?
"I'm not familiar with it, but I and the others who pitched the idea with me thought that this is an interesting world: surfing families and the stories they've gathered over the years, and we thought that there's a TV series here. As you can see, I'm not writing the project."
Without Censorship
He explains why he chose to approach HBO:"Because HBO is preoccupied with the model of the American family and observes it through different lenses.
Surfing is a very American sport and this is a very American family, so it all comes together."
"I pitched another one of my series to the "Showtime" network, which I'm both producing and writing myself.
It's about a family of Evangelists which has a TV show.
In it, I describe this world of shows moderated by Christian preachers in the U.S. and why people are drawn to it."
And why did you approach just the cable networks?
"Because they are based on subscriptions that people pay for, so they don't have advertisers who restrict the content.
They have much more artistic freedom and high standards, and they're not inclined to censor materials."
An Aperture Has Been Opened to Hollywood
HBO is also the first network which has dared to broadcast a show based on an Israeli series.
But Spears doesn't think that the Israeli success abroad will be limited to "In Treatment" and identifies a trend of growing attention focused on our region in recent years. It actually began with products designed for the big screen.
Spears: "We are in the midst of a very special moment, where the eyes of Hollywood are looking at Israel as one of the places that may generate the next voice.
After the war, in the 1960s, London was the center of style, and new wave films came out of France. Right now, the movers and shakers in America are looking to the Middle East for getting stories. Israeli films are very successful now in Berlin, Cannes and Treibeca."
"This boom should be put to use to strike while the iron's still hot.
This is your moment.
An aperture has been opened to Hollywood. The success of films such as "Walk on Water" and "The Bubble", which have caught Hollywood's eye, has made it easier than ever for Israeli creators to pick up the phone and call an American actor and offer him a part in their film, or suggest collaboration to people from the film industry."
Then a film can be shown in Hebrew with subtitles and a series can be converted into a local format.
"This is a global society that is connected via the Internet.
Using computers, we can all see the same thing, and before long we'll be consuming television only through the computer.
Everything is global.
Therefore, a format that works on your TV is influenced by what happens here and can be adapted here without many modifications.
We all share the same way of addressing popular culture.
However, a different, individual thought can emerge in a certain place, and there is still a local culture that impacts the thinking and the doing."
Beware of What You Wish Yourself
He hasn't yet seen "In Treatment" but knows that "at HBO they're talking about it a lot and very positively.
The timing of its arrival was right because this is the golden age of hour-long dramas.
Before that, it was the comedies, after that came the reality shows - it's a cycle."
From what you've said, it sounds like the American market is hungry, thirsty and yearning for ideas. Is there interest in additional Israeli series as well?
"I know that the mini-series "The Ten Commandments" was sold to "Showtime" and I think that one of the writers for "In Treatment" is currently working on a series about a fertility treatment clinic for an American network. There's a lot of creativity here."
Did you get the phone numbers of local people whom you intend to stay in professional contact with?
"No. We did some networking, but we came here because the Jewish Federation called us, and not for a talent search.
The workshops had a purpose: to give rather than to take."
And what's your advice to Israeli creators who want to succeed abroad?
"Continue working in the Israeli industry, promote what they've created here at festivals, and allow Hollywood to discover you. To jump off a plane and knock on doors is not the way to do it.
If the creators will know how to exploit the positive focus that presently exists on products from Israel - Hollywood will come to Israel rather than Israel coming to Hollywood.
So the better thing that needs to be done is to develop your most unique voice as an artist.
And if you'll be good at it and take advantage of the rapid globalization, someone from Hollywood will notice you and your phone will ring."
"And, by the way, I don't at all think that the aim of a creator should be Hollywood or the U.S. in general.
There's nothing bad about a local career.
People have enjoyed long and fruitful careers in other places as well.
They make films in their own countries and they're doing things that they love.
Hollywood does not always facilitate creativity due to the studio system, because this is a business of huge corporations.
Occasionally someone who comes to Hollywood finds that he has chained his creativity to a fixed mold.
So my particular advice to a creator who's dreaming about Hollywood is: beware of what you wish yourself."