Scripted

Access Entertainment has today announced its investment in major new Israeli drama series, Red Skies. The deal marks the first foray into Israeli television drama production for Access Entertainment, a division of Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, which is committed to delivering the highest-quality entertainment content and partnering with leading talent to build fast-growing businesses.

Red Skies will premiere at Series Mania Festival on March 18th, where it has been nominated for a Best Series Award at the festival’s International Competition. The show will be broadcast on Reshet 13, one of Israel’s leading broadcast television channels later this year.

Red Skies is an 8x50' series created by Ron Leshem (Euphoria, No Man’s Land), Daniel Shinar (author of the novel Red Skies), Daniel Amsel (Euphoria, HBO+ Valley of Tears) and Amit Cohen (Hulu’s No Man’s Land, Fox and Canal+ False Flag). The director is Alon Zingman (Netflix’s Shtisel). Additional writers include Ali Waked (Bethehem), Ala Daka and Noa Mannheim. The series is produced by Yoav Gross (Carthago, Manayek) along with Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen, of Access Entertainment, who serve as executive producers.

“We’re proud to be involved in bringing Daniel Shinar’s novel Red Skies to television screens around the world. Access Entertainment is passionate about supporting the Israeli entertainment industry and taking its content to a global audience. We’re also delighted to see that Red Skies has been nominated for the Best Series Award at the Series Mania Festival,” said Danny Cohen, President of Access Entertainment.

“For an Israeli series, written by and starring both Israelis and Arabs, to be selected by Series Mania from over 500 series from 62 countries around the world is an absolute thrill for us,” added Ron Leshem. “With the support of Access Entertainment’s Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen, we have no doubt Red Skies is well positioned to become a huge success globally and are looking forward to its appearance on Reshet 13 and further afield later this year”.

Based on the best-selling novel by former Israeli Intelligence Officer Daniel Shinar, Red Skies is a riveting series that takes us to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of two friends who are forced to choose sides. It stars Maor Schweitzer (Valley of Tears), Amir Khoury (Fauda), Annie Shapiro, Lihi Kornowski (Losing Alice), Alona Sa’ar, and Yaakov Zada Daniel (Fauda).

The series brings the period of the Second Intifada (2000-2005) to the screen for the first time, along with Operation Defensive Shield, Israeli’s 2002 military response. This was one of the bloodiest periods in the history of the Middle East. Beyond its breath-taking action and drama, Red Skies is an extraordinary story about friendship, love, and conflicting loyalties.

Sa’ar and Ali are childhood friends, emotionally dependent on each other, like brothers. But when Jerusalem is consumed by war, each of their choices bind them as fated rivals, and they soon become the hunter and the hunted. Jenny, Sa’ar’s American girlfriend, who has been torn between them since the age of 16, tries to hold on to them both. Soon, the region will experience the most difficult months of its history, and Jenny must decide between the two.