The Irish love for Israeli reality TV
‘Connected,’ a popular, director-less show, wins big in Ireland’s annual TV awards
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Israel’s latest popular reality format to hit the global screen, “Connected,” in which six participants film themselves without a director, won in the reality format in Ireland’s IFTA Gala Television Awards.
The only Israeli format in the Irish competition, “Connected” proves over and over again that it offers a new and creative way to tell a story, said Avi Armoza, whose company, Armoza Formats, distributed the show, while Koda Communications created the concept. “It’s a trendy concept and it takes the ‘selfie’ to the highest technological level,” he said.
In the Israeli version, which has been on the HOT cable channel for six seasons, the six participants come from different backgrounds and become their own directors in telling their stories.
Ditto for the Irish version produced by RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, which created its own version for Irish station RTÉ Two.
Local adaptations of the program have also found success on the small screens of Finland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine and Estonia.
The show, which has been adapted by 22 different countries, was also purchased in the US by AOL On, and executive produced by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, of “Super Size Me” fame.
Spurlock’s first season, released last March, included actress Susan Sarandon, the then-girlfriend of show writer Jonathan Bricklin, which was “a lucky break,” said Spurlock in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Produced in Israel by Koda Communications for HOT, “Connected” is a classic success story for Israeli TV, and proof of how a shoestring budget can yield global success.
Budgets for Israeli programs are notoriously tight, forcing producers and writers to make drastic creative moves, such as, in this case, cutting the cameramen out altogether. “B’Tipul,” another hallmark of Israeli television adaptations which was remade on American screens as “In Treatment,” saw its trademark episode format — one patient per episode, with the action restricted to the therapist’s office — born out of a limited budget for set-building.
