October 7: First of the shows scripted in the middle of the negative reactions of Hollywood

Two years after Hamas’ attack against Israel on October 7, the war in Gaza continues, but two scripted stories of the Incident in the War were broadcast in preview on the main Hollywood streamers in time to honor its second birthday on Tuesday.

These dramatic representations of the day when Hamas killed around 1,200 people, for most civilians, and brought about around 250 captives to Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive today, are fresh for many people around the world. At a time when a game of Hollywood is firmly opposed to Israel and where cease-fire negotiations are underway between Israel and Hamas, Paramount+ and HBO Max have tried their luck with these Israeli filmmakers by launching their series “Red Alert” and “One day in October”.

Unlike the documentary images of this deadly day, the series used a scripted narration to describe the tragedies of October 7. The two productions relied on survivors as consultants and research guides for their respective projects, healing alongside the subjects themselves.

The fact that the two programs were able to make their debut on the anniversary date testifies to the agility of the production teams, which both started a few months after the attack. The goal of the two programs was to tell human stories rather than making political statements, the creators told Thewrap. While the war in Israel and Palestine continues to polarize political affinities, they declared that their dramatic representations sought to unite people under the umbrella of humanity.

“We entered parts where the word Israel alone could instantly change the temperature. But what ultimately pierced HBO Max is the humanity of history,” said the creator of “One Day in October”, Daniel Finkelman, in Thewrap. “” One day in October “has never been presented as a political play. It has always been a question of human history and human mind. It is pain, survival, love and moral courage – things that transcend borders and politics.”

“We wanted to show the truth to understand why we are here today,” Lawrence Bender, executive producer of “Red Alert”, told Thewrap. “Something happened and people must understand what is the truth. I had the impression that my mission was to tell their stories.”

A tight delay

For Bender, launching your mini-series scripted at the national level in time for the second birthday seemed outside the field of possibilities. While tensions around Israeli filmmakers remain exacerbated in Hollywood, the Oscar -winning producer does not think that is the right time. From a practical point of view, the film was not about to be ready.

Bender thanks the new CEO of Paramount, David Ellison, for pushing the film to the end.

“I would never have imagined that it could be ready for October 7,” Bender said in Thewrap. “I didn’t introduce it to him at all because I didn’t even think we could do it, and my team in Israel either.”

After Paramount acquired “Red Alert” at the end of September, Bender and his Israeli production team had 10 days to lock the project before Yom Kippour and the deadline for the chain.

Bender was attached to the project from the start. He collaborated with the writer-creator Lior CHEFETZ, who had the idea of ​​interwoven several Israeli collective experiences on October 7. The series focuses on the participants in the Nova Music Festival; An anti -terrorist team leader and his wife; a Gazaoui living in Israel; A family with young children living at Kibbutz Nir Oz and a single mother protecting her adult children.

“We did not have a 50 -year perspective on events when we started our research,” CHEFETZ in Thewrap. “It was three months after October 7, so when we met the survivors, everything was very fresh.”

Due to the gross content of the project, CHEFETZ and his production team interviewed countless survivors and befriends them in order to gain their confidence and tell their stories with precision. The survivors also joined the Israeli production team on site, often near the place where the tragedy took place. CHEFETZ said that the shooting where the action took place was essential to tell the most truthful story as possible.

“The reality is much more interesting than what the writers can imagine. So all these small elements are in fact based on real people, and it was really useful to write this captivating story,” said CHEFETZ.

“We did a lot of research – every detail. Until they were carrying, which was on the bedside table,” added Bender. “Being precise was a very important thing for us. And at the same time, we do a television program, so we had to adjust things for television, but whenever we adjust something and change something, we called people and said to them:” Here is what we are doing “.

Although real and not filtered images of October 7 events are easily available on social networks and security cameras, “Red Alert” has made the conscious choice to use these images sparingly, saying that they can be a “double -edged gun”. The series has minimized the real gore of the day at least, just enough for the public to understand tragedy, but far from the scale of reality and what the documentaries represented.

“On the one hand, it is very strong and it shows that the story that we are racing is correct,” said CHEFETZ about raw images. “On the other hand, we break the language of scripted television, so we keep the audience from our program a little when you go from a documentary to a reconstruction.”

The survivors were essential

Finkelman and his Israeli production team began the development of the seven episodes “one day in October” only two months after the attack on October 7. The integration of survivors into the narration was essential. They approved the scenarios, examined the details and many said that telling their stories was a healing.

Unlike “Red Alert”, HBO Max’s drama – a co -production of Fox Entertainment and the Israeli channel Yes TV – is a series of anthology illustrating seven different perspectives from this heartbreaking day. For the “One Day in October” team, the anthological format has given them greater capacity to diversify the voices they amplify.

An episode followed two young women who took refuge in Port-a-Pots while the terrain of the Nova Music Festival were searched. Another follows a mother whose world is upset when Hamas murdered her husband and eldest son.

The production included survivors whom they consulted for each episode in the credits of the project, showing them hugging the actors who represented them on the screen and looking at the monitors behind the scenes.

“Seeing them at the end of the credits recalls that what the public has just looked at is not fiction. These are their stories,” said Finkelman. “At the beginning, many survivors naturally hesitated to return to their trauma, but over time, these families opened their house and their hearts so that we can tell their truth in a responsible manner. »»

Producer Chaya Amor told Thewrap that it was important for the team to recognize how diversified Israel is and the wide range of people affected by the “Bedouin to LGBTQ” attacks. The producer described his series as “” Black Mirror “meets” Schindler’s list “.

“I thought it might be difficult to relive your story. But in reality, the survivors, almost unanimously, said that it was really a healing for them to relive history,” said Amor. “It comforted us to know that we do not explore their stories.”

For Finkelman, the creation of a scripted series was essential to cement the stories of these survivors in history and to remind the public that the conflict in the Middle East is not just a matter of statistics but real people who have been affected.

“As a filmmaker born in Israel, I felt responsible for preserving voices before time and politics destroy them,” said Finkelman. “I wanted to create something that makes the public feel what history sometimes makes us forget: chaos, intimacy, the impossible choices of this day. »»

“Red Alert” and “One Day in October” are now broadcast respectively on Paramount+ and HBO Max.