Keshet, 66 Media link up to adapt Leonard Cohen tour book as drama

Israeli producer and distributor Keshet International (KI) is partnering prodco 66 Media to coproduce a limited TV drama based on Matti Friedman’s bestselling book Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai.

Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai follows the songwriter to the Yom Kippur War

Described as “an expedition into the troubled soul of one of the world’s greatest songwriters,” Friedman’s book tells the story of Leonard Cohen’s 1973 concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War.

With plans to shoot in Israel in 2024, Who by Fire will be written by Yehonatan Indursky (Shtisel, Autonomies) and executive produced by Offman, who took the project to Keshet, alongside KI’s Atar Dekel and Keshet Broadcasting’s Yuval Horowitz.

Keshet 12 is already on board as the local broadcast partner in Israel, while coproducers KI and 66 Media are now seeking to bring international broadcast partners on board.

Friedman’s work is represented by the Deborah Harris Agency, while Indursky is with Kneller Artist Agency.

Jill Offman, MD of 66 Media, said: “As a life-long Leonard Cohen fan, I loved Matti Friedman’s brilliant book from the moment I read it. With Yehonatan at the helm and with my partners at Keshet, I am very much looking to bringing this his extraordinary story to the screen. I set up 66 Media looking for undiscovered international stories with universal resonance and it’s an honour to have this as our first project.”