Responsible Storytelling - Lior Raz Full Keynote
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00So, um, look, I hear you've got some interest.
00:05You're still working on some interesting things.
00:07Another season of Fowler is coming a movie about based on October 7th.
00:14And so I'm wondering, given the circumstances of October 7th, I mean,
00:20do you feel a stronger sense of mission than ever given what's going on in the
00:27world right now?
00:28First of all, I do, because as a Jewish and Zionist, um, what I see now is going
00:34on in the, in the whole world, in the States, everywhere.
00:38Um, we have to step up, we have to be proud of who we are.
00:44We have to fight back and not be afraid.
00:47So yes, I have a mission.
00:49I want to bring stories of Jews and Israelis to the world.
00:52Does that, does that, is that challenging?
00:55Does that come with a certain weight?
00:57Because you know, people are wanting to hear what is Lior going to do now?
01:02What is he going to say?
01:04What is he going to, you know, uh, no, okay.
01:08I'm just doing my best and I'm trying to, you know, to be who I am and to bring
01:14stories to the world and make people, um, excited and, and, and, and, and, and,
01:20um, excited and that's it.
01:23This is my job.
01:24This is what I'm doing.
01:25So I'm, I'm not feeling, not feeling any pressure.
01:28Now I had read that you had, you and Avi had already written some about what season
01:36five was going to be, but then had to rethink things in light of October 7th.
01:43Is that true?
01:44Yeah.
01:45Um, listen, nothing is, um, quite the same as we have, as we were before October
01:54seven, so everything that we thought, everything that we planned, everything
01:58that any Israeli in the world thought about the conflict is changed.
02:04So yeah, we've changed and we have to change the stories as well.
02:09Of course, you know, some, you know, I don't know whether it's Netflix or
02:15your Israeli partners, they may say, listen, you know, you, you've got a
02:19microscope on you, people are going to be looking at you now, maybe you need to,
02:23you know, tame this, you know, uh, do you feel a sense that you've got a, you
02:28know, be fairer than usual or, you know, no, no.
02:34Okay.
02:35Israeli, you know, I'm Israeli and this is who I am.
02:38I'm telling the stories.
02:39I don't, I don't feel any obligation to anyone.
02:42Uh, this is who we are.
02:44This is the story.
02:45This is what happened in Israel now.
02:46And this is, uh, what we should tell to the world.
02:49You know, I'm, I'm not, I'm not apologizing or what I'm doing.
02:54Okay.
02:57This movie that you're doing about October 7th, what story are you looking
03:02to tell exactly if you could say, so I cannot talk about it so much, but
03:06the story is about Noam T-Bone.
03:09Noam T-Bone is a, is a ex general in the Israeli army.
03:14He's 65.
03:15I think his son was in Kfar Aza.
03:19He called his father.
03:21That was, I think in Tel Aviv in the beach and told him that he
03:26have terrorists in his house.
03:28Please come to rescue me.
03:30So this guy and his wife went to the South and did crazy things, rescued
03:38people, killing terrorists.
03:40And in the end of the day, they knocked on the door of their son
03:43and said, your grandpa is here.
03:45We came to save you.
03:46So this is the story of Noam T-Bone.
03:49Very nice.
03:51Do you think the world is ready for these stories?
03:55I mean, I think about, you know, the footage that has come out of October
04:017th and how people have received that.
04:06Um, is it, is it going to be too much or do you think it's necessary
04:10that people hear this story?
04:12You know, obviously this room, people are receptive to it, but do you
04:15think those who may not be as sensitive to it, is it important
04:20that they hear this, see this?
04:23I'm a creator and I'm doing shows.
04:26I'm making shows and movies.
04:28And I'm trying to impact people with what I'm doing.
04:33I'm not planning anything.
04:34I'm not thinking about the audience.
04:36I want, first of all, as I, as we did Fauda, when we wrote Fauda, we
04:40just had to puke the story, you know?
04:43We had to do it.
04:45We had to write it.
04:45It was in our soul, in our heart, in our mind.
04:48We had to, we had to write it.
04:49And this is what we did.
04:50And this is what we feel now.
04:51We have to write the story.
04:53If people will watch it, it will be great.
04:55If not, it's so no.
04:57But we're doing our best.
04:58That's it.
04:59We cannot do better than that.
05:02Okay.
05:03Okay.
05:04Well, obviously what's also become a big issue, especially
05:10here in the U S is antisemitism.
05:13Big problem.
05:15I'm curious to get your thoughts on that.
05:19Is that something that as an artist is a concern for you?
05:27Is something that, you know, is something that you'd like to
05:30address in your storytelling?
05:32It's, it's much more concerned as a Jewish, not as an artist.
05:36Okay.
05:37Um, what I see and what I feel and what I understand that
05:40happening now in the world is crazy.
05:43It's crazy.
05:43I don't understand.
05:45And I really, I'm, I'm shocked.
05:50So I'm, as an Israeli, I'm very proud and I'm not afraid to fight back.
05:56So I think that as Jewish people, we are, we are Israeli community in
06:01this, in Israel, we are Jewish community as you are in LA, a Jewish community.
06:05We need to, first, we need to support each other, the Jewish
06:07communities all over the world.
06:08This is first, second of all, I was in New York with my daughter and she
06:16said, daddy, can I go out with my Magan David out?
06:20And I said, yeah, of course.
06:21Sure.
06:22Be proud.
06:23And she said, if someone will curse me, what would I do?
06:26And he said, curse back.
06:27It's okay.
06:28And then she said, if someone will hit me, what should I do?
06:30I said, hit back and call me.
06:32I will hit him back as well.
06:34So I think as Israelis and Jewish people all over the world, we have to
06:39fight back enough of being, you know, uh, trying to hide ourselves.
06:44We need to fight back.
06:45We need to show who we are.
06:46We, we, we shouldn't be afraid of who we are and guys be proud, you know, be proud.
06:53Yeah.
06:55But are you surprised that here in the year 2024 here in the U S that we're
07:02dealing with it at the level that we are?
07:04Of course I'm surprised.
07:06It's crazy.
07:07It's when I see it and every Israeli that sits at home and see the protests and see
07:13the colleges and see the, the, the, what's going on here with the young people who
07:17support Hamas, the terrorist organization.
07:21We're sitting back home and we are shocked.
07:24And of course, and I think, and, and again, you know, it's a, it's all about
07:28education and if someone of you donating to those colleges, so please stop.
07:40I'm sure you saw Netanyahu's remarks in front of Congress.
07:44If you know what I haven't, you haven't.
07:47Why not?
07:48Because I haven't, I was so busy.
07:50I was doing okay.
07:52Well, I'm not going to give you the download on it, but you know, it's
07:58become quite an issue here in the U S.
08:03And do you think that when you, when you hear about what's going on in college
08:09campuses, I mean, are you hopeful that this is going to get better?
08:13Do you think from what you've heard that there's progress that's going to be made
08:19or the worst is over?
08:23I really don't know.
08:24Okay.
08:25It's you're talking about the future.
08:26Nobody knows about anything about the future.
08:29I can, I can hope.
08:31And I assume that people and kids and their parents would understand that they
08:38are talking and saying nonsense and they're not, you know, they have to
08:44understand that who's the good guys and who's the bad guys.
08:47And when you see people, protesters burning the American flag, so I don't
08:53understand where the American people, you know, you should come out and say enough.
08:58That's it.
08:59Well, when people, sure.
09:04And by the way, we're going to have some time at the end.
09:07If you'd like to ask some questions, just raise your hand towards
09:10the end and we'll make some time.
09:12It's not just about me.
09:14You're doing it very well.
09:15Oh, thank you.
09:16Um, in terms of when you're making another season of Fowler, you're making
09:23movies, are you hoping that you are going to help shape public opinion,
09:29whether it's here in the U S or around the world, do you feel that responsibility?
09:36As an artist, my responsibility is to make people entertain, to entertain
09:42people, and my responsibility is to make people feel.
09:46And, and get excited, but I am Israeli.
09:51So my stories are, is from, from the eyes of Israeli.
09:55Um, and I hope people would understand what is, what is it to be an Israeli
10:00and how does it feel to be Israeli in those days, uh, in the world.
10:05But have you been surprised then by how your distinctly Israeli
10:11story has resonated globally?
10:15Of course.
10:16Of course.
10:17I, when we wrote Fowler, first of all, nobody wanted it in Israel, you know?
10:21Really?
10:22Yeah.
10:22We went, we went to any channel in Israel and nobody wanted it.
10:27First of all, I'll tell you the story.
10:30Okay.
10:31Okay.
10:31It's a story.
10:33Uh, when we started to write Fowler, I was a creative director in, in, in, in
10:37BBDO, my partner, Avi was a writer.
10:41He was a journalist.
10:41He's still a journalist.
10:43And we met in the reserve.
10:45We both were in the special forces in the unit.
10:48Uh, so we, we met in the reverse, uh, reverse reserves.
10:54It reminds me.
10:55Okay.
10:56So, um, we were in reserves and he asked me a special question.
11:00The most important questions that someone asked me in my life,
11:04he asked me if I have a dream.
11:06And I looked at him and he said, yes, you see those undercover people here.
11:10I have a dream to, to write something about them.
11:12A story, a book, a movie.
11:14I don't know what, but to tell their story, their price that they are paying
11:19for the action, their families, everyone who's surrounding them.
11:23And Avi said that he have the same, uh, the same dream for a long time.
11:26He said, okay, let's, he said, let's go to, let's write together.
11:29And I said, but I have, I have PTSD, but also I have ADHD.
11:32So I cannot write, uh, uh, uh, very well.
11:38He said, come on, let's have some drinks together and let's try it.
11:41Let's start to write.
11:42Then we were drunk for a month and we started to write Fauda.
11:47And then after we had like, uh, uh, the synopsis of the, of what about the
11:52series, we thought it was like easy sell.
11:53Right?
11:54So we went to channel 12 Keshet for the first time and we were presenting there
11:59and it was, and, and after we were, we did the presentation, one of them said,
12:03Hey guys, we don't, we don't need it.
12:05It's a, thank you very much.
12:08And I was shocked because I thought it's a great show.
12:11And, but I understand them two punks from Jerusalem was writing a new, a new show
12:15about Palestinian Israelis fighting.
12:19I can understand those guys who said no.
12:21So they say, no, we went to channel 10 channel 10 said it's a great show, but
12:25they don't have the budget.
12:27And then we went to channel, um, 13 and they said, uh, no, because it's in Arabic
12:34and Hebrew and it's crazy.
12:35People want to listen to this show or watch a kind of this kind of a show.
12:39And then we went to yes.
12:40Yes.
12:40It's a satellite channel in Israel.
12:43And I remember that we were sitting there, I was presenting the show and
12:47there was the head of content and three women who was in charge of the content
12:51as well with him.
12:53And while I was doing the presentation, the three women did the same movement
12:57with the same sound at the same time.
12:59They did something like this.
13:03And I stopped and I say, why are you to, to, to, to me?
13:05What, what, what's going on?
13:07And one of them said, listen, it's a shows that just men will watch.
13:12It's about security.
13:13It's about, uh, fighting.
13:15It's about, we don't understand.
13:17We don't, I don't see any women will watch that show.
13:21So after the show went out, so they did a poll.
13:23First of all, it was the most viewed show in Israel ever.
13:26Second of all, the majority of the viewers were women.
13:31I don't know why.
13:33I can assume something not about, no, no, no.
13:38I was talking about other member of my team.
13:42Okay.
13:43Okay.
13:44Um, so yeah, nobody wanted it.
13:46So, and, and we just wanted to, to, to write the show about our experience in
13:50life, and this is my obligation to write stories that people will love and will
13:57want to see, and I, I'm, I'm not feeling that I'm doing propaganda.
14:00I don't want to do propaganda.
14:02I want people to understand who we are and what our needs and who, what, what
14:07makes us laugh, what makes us, uh, fall in love, you know, as, as real people.
14:14Wow.
14:16I mean, uh, to get a little personal with you when you say though, that you've
14:20had, you know, you were channeling your PTSD.
14:24I mean, like many Israelis, like the people that were on this stage,
14:28terrorism impacted you on a personal level.
14:31Was that what you were drawing on when you created this show?
14:37Um, first of all, I was in Dov Devan.
14:40It's a very, it's not easy place to be as a warrior, as a fighter.
14:45It's a very, and we were in the first Intifada.
14:48It was, it wasn't so easy.
14:51And while I was in the army and I know where you're pointing and it's very
14:55connected to what you're doing.
14:56Uh, the amazing job and, and, and work that you're doing with people, with PTSD.
15:01Um, I had a girlfriend when I was 16, since I was 16.
15:07Uh, she was the, my sweetheart, you know, we was, we worked together for three years
15:13and she was the first woman who really loved me except of my mom, of course.
15:19And, um, through her eyes, I understood who I am and how I was, how I felt.
15:26And how good I am.
15:28And one day she was in the army.
15:30She went out from her house in Baca in Jerusalem and a terrorist called
15:34Omar Abu Sirhan, um, stabbed her to death.
15:39And her name is Iris, Iris Azulai.
15:42And he stabbed her and another two, uh, people, uh, Charlie Stush
15:46and Elie Altaratz in Baca.
15:48And for me, it was the hardest thing ever.
15:51You know, I couldn't speak.
15:52I couldn't talk.
15:53I actually, I didn't talk about Iris for 20 years.
15:56Until we started to write Fauda.
15:58And when we started to write Fauda, um, Avi asked me because he knew her.
16:04Let's talk, let's write something about Iris.
16:06And, and in the first season, if you know, if you remember, there is a woman
16:10who's dying in a, an explosion in a bar.
16:14She's the girlfriend of someone from the team, Boaz.
16:18And, um, so the same sentences, the same dialogue, it was our dialogue.
16:25And just imagine to audition an actress that should be that acting your dead
16:30girlfriend.
16:32So it was very, very hard.
16:33And this is why, when I'm saying that Fauda was written in blood, so Fauda was
16:38written in blood and those people, those stories, those, um, and we were talking
16:46this morning about PTSD and how I got healed from my PTSD through creation,
16:52through writing, uh, because when I started to write Fauda, I had a blackout.
16:57I didn't know, I didn't remember anything of, of anyone and any, any
17:02operations that I did in my, in the army.
17:05I just blackout.
17:06And when I was sitting with Avi, we started to, to remember it.
17:11And, and, and team and my team members came and started to take, talk about it.
17:16And because of the writing and because of the creation, we started, I got healed
17:20from my PTSD and I feel, uh, and I think what you do guys is amazing, uh, and
17:26helping so many Israelis now.
17:28So thank you for what you're doing.
17:31It's remarkable.
17:34Do you feel whether it's Fauda or entertainment in general, in Israel
17:39abroad, that it's important that they, that it depicts the toll that terrorism
17:47takes?
17:48Because, you know, I feel like in the news media, it's easy to get numb, all
17:52the headlines and the, the, the, the numbers, but it's hard to convey the
17:57emotional toll.
17:59Is it hard to convey that in drama in TV?
18:03I think good story is a good story and you have to tell a good story.
18:08You have to understand also the other side in order to make people feel for
18:14both sides, you know, even though now it's much more harder for us to, uh, try
18:20to understand the, how, you know, the, the, the, how, how vicious they were.
18:27Now I cannot even understand the Hamas.
18:30I cannot even imagine myself writing a character that I will sympathize with.
18:37But when we started to write Fauda, there was, there is a sentence in writing
18:41saying the better the villain, the better the movie.
18:43So you have to understand and you have to feel for the villain.
18:47And now in the fifth season, it probably is going to be much more harder for us to
18:50do that.
18:52Well, there is the challenge though.
18:55I mean, so what do you do?
18:57Because, uh, a villain with no trace of humanity, is that a villain at all?
19:04Yeah, this is why we sitting hours and hours of writing.
19:08Yeah.
19:08To find out how to make it interesting and how to make it, how to make it
19:12compelling.
19:14And, uh, you and Avi, are you looking at, uh, other stories to tell?
19:18Obviously I know, you know, now that you've got private equity money and, you
19:23know, are, are you trying to look at the Jewish event?
19:26I understand.
19:27Well, he may take other investors about equity and money.
19:33No, but are there other kinds of stories you're looking to tell these days?
19:37We do, but it doesn't have to be with the October 7th and the, and, and it's
19:42it's about, it's our stories of our stories about, we have stories about the
19:47Mossad and about the CIA, about Jewish people all over the world, love stories.
19:51We are now in a production and creation of like, I think 12 different, um, um,
19:59projects.
20:00Oh, wow.
20:01And of course, Gladiator 2 coming out soon.
20:06I was, I was hoping you were going to come out like in a toga and sandals, but
20:10you know,
20:11I have my skirt over there.
20:12If you want to, yeah.
20:14Um, yeah, it was amazing experience, um, for me, uh, to be in, in Gladiator with
20:22Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington and, and to be part of this project and, um,
20:28yeah, but it's humbling.
20:30You know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I used to be number one on the call sheet, but now I
20:34was eight, so it's now I was there when I was eight.
20:38So a little bit humbling.
20:40And, but it was, uh, it was fun, a lot of fighting, a lot of action.
20:44And, uh, it's, it will be, I assume one of the biggest movies ever.
20:52And so going forward in your career, is it always going to be about that balance
20:56of acting and creating and writing?
21:01Do you consider yourself one or the other first and foremost?
21:05I think first of all, I'm an actor.
21:07Oh yeah.
21:08But then, you know, I remember that my grandma told me, you cannot do both
21:13things, you know, you cannot do this thing and that thing and that thing together.
21:18You have to concentrate on one thing.
21:21And she asked me to be a firefighter that, that was her wish.
21:25You go to be a firefighter, you can buy a house, you have a mortgage,
21:29everything will be okay.
21:31And I told her that, that I, I have a problem because I want to do everything.
21:37So I want to be an actor.
21:38I want to be a writer.
21:39I want to be a businessman.
21:40I want to do, I love marketing.
21:43I love to be to sales.
21:44I love sales.
21:45So I think now, uh, I'm combining all my skills and this is what I'm doing.
21:52I don't have something that I really, just one thing that I really want to do.
21:55I'm doing, I want to do everything.
21:57I'm hungry.
21:58I want to do everything all the time.
21:59Yeah.
22:00Very nice.
22:02Well, I'm going to turn it over to the audience.
22:04If you've got a question you'd like to ask Lior, raise your hand, stand up, speak
22:11loud.
22:12Okay.
22:13Speaking of victims of terror, um, how's, uh, Amedy doing and will he be in season
22:18five?
22:19Amedy is doing fine.
22:21Now he's recovered.
22:24Uh, he's a, he's a true hero.
22:27Um, we in Fauda, we suffered from some, uh, our, one of our producers died in the
22:33combat in Gaza.
22:35And so everyone in Israel know someone and, and, and, and, or kidnapped or dying
22:42or died or injured in, in the war.
22:45So he done is, is very well now.
22:47And he will be in season five.
22:50The problem is that I cannot kill him now because it's such a big hero, you know,
22:59anyone else?
23:02Yes.
23:04Hi.
23:05Um, I have a weird question.
23:09Okay.
23:09I'm married.
23:13It's not that weird.
23:14Okay.
23:14Okay.
23:15Yeah, it is.
23:16It is LA, but it's not that weird.
23:19Um, how do you feel that being in Dove Devon prepared you for an acting career?
23:25Wow.
23:26It's a, it's, it's not weird.
23:27It's good.
23:27It's great question.
23:29First of all, it's crazy because when you are undercover, you have to be the
23:33best actor in the world, you know, because when I'm acting now in gladiator,
23:38for example, if, if I'm not doing well, so there isn't another take and another
23:43take and another take, but when you're undercover, you have just one take,
23:47because if you're doing something wrong or acting bad, you can die or someone or
23:54terrorists can run away because of your bad acting.
23:57So they making you, when you are 18 years old, the best actor in the world,
24:02because you're acting for your life.
24:05So people don't understand it, but just imagine that you're going with, uh,
24:10different clothes, different smell, because you have to do some stuff in order
24:15to get in those places and different smell, different body language, different
24:19language, and you have to be the best actor in the world, right?
24:24And you have to have, you have to be Iceman because just imagine that you are
24:29going to a place and they telling you the terrorists just should come out from
24:34a mask, from the mask, but you don't, we don't know when, uh, so burn some time.
24:41When you're burning time, this is the time that you got burned.
24:45And so you go to drink coffee and you buy coffee and you say to the guy who's
24:49selling coffee,
24:52can I get some coffee, please?
24:54And he say, of course.
24:56And then they telling you in the radio, yeah, he's just behind you.
24:58You have three seconds, three.
25:01And then he asking you, do you want with sugar or no?
25:04Say, yeah, yeah.
25:05With sugar.
25:05Say two, one.
25:07And then you're doing the switch.
25:08We call it the switch that you turning from, uh, and, uh, Palestinian to a
25:16fighter, to a hunter.
25:18Yeah.
25:18You have to be a great actor in order to be in this, those kinds of units.
25:24Actually, for those who don't know, could you explain what Duv Duvan is?
25:28Duv Duvan, who didn't watch Fowda here?
25:31Raise his hand.
25:32You, you can go out, man.
25:34Don't, don't, uh, so just one person here.
25:38I will explain to you later.
25:39What's Duv Duvan doing?
25:41It's the same thing that you've seen in Fowda in a way.
25:45Okay.
25:46I think we've got time for one more question.
25:50Miss.
25:52Hi, um, Lior, thank you so much for being here.
25:54My name is Danielle.
25:55I work for Netflix.
25:56We're big fans of yours.
25:58I big fan of Netflix as well.
26:00My, my first cousin is also Omri Givon.
26:03So we're very, we're all big, big fans.
26:06Um, just want to know what we in this audience can do to support the
26:09creative community in Israel.
26:11That's really hurting right now.
26:13All the production is shut down because of the war.
26:15So what, what can we do in this community to help?
26:19Thank you for your question.
26:21Really?
26:22Um, first of all, don't be afraid as executives to hear and to, and to take
26:31and get movies and TV shows from Israel, because this we're feeling now that
26:35people are a little bit afraid, you know, executives here in, in, in Hollywood,
26:40a little bit afraid of, of taking new shows, uh, the dealing with the Israeli
26:45conflict, or just with Israelis.
26:48As it was like few years ago with the Korea, uh, Russians and Ukrainians.
26:54So just don't be afraid.
26:56Just come with us.
26:57Let's develop together some stuff.
26:59And anyway, it's going to be out in two years.
27:01So in two years from now, you know, we are going to have so many
27:05other problems in the world.
27:07No, nobody will, will, will remember this conflict.
27:11So just, just support us.
27:12Just don't be afraid to support the creative, um, people in Israel.
27:20I can't think of a more hopeful note to end on.
27:24Thank you so much, Lior.
27:25Thank you very much.