Arab-Israeli Political Tension Scuttles Panel at Discop Istanbul Market
TEL AVIV – A pitching session at Discop Istanbul was abruptly scuttled Thursday afternoon when a panel of Arab judges refused to hear format pitches from one of Israel’s top production companies.
The afternoon session at television market Discop, which ran from Tuesday through Thursday in Turkey’s largest city, was sponsored by Saudi-based Rotana Holdings and included judges from both Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
As the session kicked off and Ilanit Hirsch, head of distribution for Tel Aviv-based Gil Prods., made her way to the podium, those judges announced they would not hear her pitches and instead would boycott the event entirely.
Assaf Gil, Gil Prods. owner and managing director, said the snub was completely unprecedented.
“We’ve been in this business for almost 25 years and I’ve never encountered any sort of boycott, of any kind,” he told Variety. “In Israel, we are very familiar with situations like this happening in other events, like sports, but it was quite shocking to find out that this sort of thing exists in the television industry as well.”
News of the incident was first reported by the reality TV-focused website C21. Discop general manager Patrick Jucaud-Zuchowicki reportedly tried to see if it was worth continuing the panel without the judges present, but eventually decided to cancel. He called the actions of the judges “unacceptable,” according to C21.
“It broke my heart,” he told C21. “I’m sad for my friends in Israel, my clients in Israel and the other participants.”
Armoza Formats, another successful Israel production house, was also at the conference, but not in a pitching capacity. Amos Neumann, Armoza’s COO, had participated in a panel prior to the session. Armoza declined to comment on the incident.
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