It’s the Most Important Time to Create Diverse and Socially Aware Shows, Say Creators of Israeli Teen Drama ‘Three’

variety.com:

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Three,” a socially relevant, teen musical drama that celebrates diversity is the latest production from Paramount’s Israeli shingle Ananey Studios.

Making its debut at Mipcom and sold internationally by Beta Film, the show follows three 16-year-olds in Tel Aviv from very different cultural backgrounds: Yasmin, an Arab Muslim girl; Ella, a Jewish girl and daughter of a notorious criminal; and Dalina, the daughter of asylum seekers from Eritrea.

Together, they form the band Talatha (Three in Arabic), pooling their diverse talents and backgrounds to create original music.

Series creators Michal Cooper Keren and Lior Yaron came up with the series after they were invited to conduct a writing workshop in Jaffa, in a mixed residential neighborhood that is home to Arabs, Jews, and asylum seekers from Africa. “While there, we met a group of talented teenage girls who were studying singing and songwriting for free at a local youth club,” they explain. “The girls all dreamed of breaking out of their difficult surroundings through singing and writing songs but were facing immense hurdles due to race, legal status, ethnic backgrounds, and socio-economic difficulties.” Cooper Keren and Yaron found this “to be a great basis from which to create a story about talent, ambition and female friendship as agents of personal growth and social change.” Diversity and social change are challenging issues in Israel, where cultural diversity in particular is under threat. “This is the most challenging time to create such a diverse and socially aware show,” Cooper Keren and Yaron add. “And therefore — it’s the most important time to do that. “These are troubling times for teens in Israel and all over the world.