Discop judges boycott Israeli pitches

A Discop Istanbul format pitching session was cancelled yesterday after judges refused to hear presentations from Israeli companies.

Patrick Jucaud-Zuchowicki

Discop’s general manager Patrick Jucaud-Zuchowicki said it “broke his heart” when the afternoon session of the Discop Formats Day, sponsored by Saudi Arabian company Rotana Holdings, was called off after judges refused to show up and accept pitches from Israel’s Gil Productions.

The panel consisted of members from Rotana and independent companies in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, as well as a judge from Turkish distributor Global Agency, who was not part of the boycott.

The incident happened when Ilanit Hirsch, head of distribution for Tel Aviv-based Gil Productions, arrived at the 14.30 session ready to pitch the pilots Are You For Real? and Capturing the Moment.  

But she soon noticed organisers were “talking among themselves,” before being told by a Discop representative there was a problem.

Hirsch told C21: “The Discop organiser was very embarrassed about it. I asked what the problem was and they told me that the judges on the panel had decided not to participate due to the fact that I was from Israel.

“I was embarrassed as well. She told me this was not personal, it’s political. She asked if I wanted to cancel. I said I did not but told her that it bothered me that politics were coming into television.”

A representative from Israel’s Armoza Formats was also present.

A consultation then took place over whether to hold the panel without judges, but it was decided to give up completely.

“I didn’t take it personally, but this is not the way showbiz should work,” Hirsch added. “From what I understand, Patrick was trying to convince them to make the panel work but it didn’t happen. The other participants were very upset as well.”

Rotana is the Arab World’s largest entertainment company with film, television, magazine and music label divisions. News Corp and 21st Century Fox hold an 18.97% stake in the firm, which is primarily owned by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Jucaud-Zuchowicki, who is Jewish himself, told C21 he would “never have let Rotana sponsor the event” if he had known about their objections in advance, and said their actions were “unacceptable.”

Assaf Gil

“I’m saddened; it broke my heart. I’m sad for my friends in Israel, my clients in Israel and the other participants,” he said.

“This was obviously an event we had not anticipated at all. I have been doing trade shows for 30 years in political parts of the world, but such a thing has never happened before. Television is not a war zone.”

Jucaud-Zuchowick said he would not cancel Discop Istanbul next year in light of the events. However, he said he didn’t want the news to go unnoticed. “We will hold formats day again next year, on Thursday March 1,” he said.

Assaf Gil, chairman of Gil Productions, told C21 Media he had “never seen anything like it” during his 25-year career.

“It was incredible to think that a pitching session was cancelled because the judges didn’t want to listen to Israeli pitches,” he said. “Politics doesn’t come into the television industry.

“It wasn’t a wasted trip for Ilanit, she had other meetings, but the pitching session was meant to be the highlight of Discop Istanbul.”

C21 contacted Rotana Holdings for comment on Thursday afternoon but had not heard back at press time.

Last month, tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalated after Miss Lebanon took part in a selfie photograph with Miss Israel at a Miss Universe contest in Miami.

Lebanon and Israel technically remain at war following Israel’s 1982 invasion and it is illegal in Lebanon to have any contact with an Israeli.