Lior Raz Shares His Struggle to Bring ‘Fauda’ to TV at Variety’s Responsible Storytelling Event Presented by OneFamily

variety.com:

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter After four critically acclaimed seasons of TV that have resonated with viewers worldwide via Netflix, “Fauda” might seem to have the kind of success that would be preordained.

But as Lior Raz, the star and one of the series’ creators, recounted Thursday evening at Variety’s Responsible Storytelling Event Presented by OneFamily, the reality could be anything further from the truth.

Raz recalled that when he and co-creator Avi Issacharoff began shopping their account of the Middle East conflict to TV networks in the region, they were met with plenty of rejection before finally finding a home at the Yes network. “Nobody wanted it and we just wanted to write the show about our experience in life,” he said in an interview with Andrew Wallenstein, president and chief media analyst of Variety VIP+. “And this is my obligation to write stories that people will love and will want to see.” Raz also spoke about capturing on screen the toll that terrorism takes on humanity, which was the prevailing theme of the evening.

For the past 23 years, OneFamily has raised more than $80 million to help thousands of Israel’s victims of terror with a multifaceted program of financial, legal, medical and therapeutic assistance from the immediate aftermath of tragedy through their long-term rehabilitation.