Shared Society on the Small Screen
Shared Society on the Small Screen is a 10-month program amplifying the voices of
Palestinian and Jewish writers and producers with original scripted series.
The Program
- Mentorship - Professional guidance on pilot refinement and pitch development while navigating cultural sensitivities in storytelling.
- Conversations - A series of online master workshops with industry veterans and social impact leaders offering creative and strategic support.
- Events - During a leading annual industry event fellows will engage directly with the industry's decision-makers. The one on one meeting will focuses on pilot development while the event will offer valuable insights into evolving market trends and the changing landscape of social and cultural narratives in global television.
- Fellowships - Fellows may be selected to receive grants to support the development of their original long-form episodic projects.
Eligibility and Applications
Shared Society on the Small Screen launched its first cohort with a five-day intensive in Los Angeles in September 2024, as part of Scripted Israel.
This 10-month program, running from September to June is specifically designed to support television professionals with original long-form episodic projects who bring diverse perspectives and a bold vision to Israeli storytelling.
Each year we will select a new group of emerging and mid-career Palestinian and Jewish professionals working as writers, directors and/or producers in television. Strong consideration is given to those whose work and statements of interest demonstrate talent, social responsibility, and a collaborative spirit.
Applications will be open by nomination only. Selections for the Albi TV Changemakers second cohort will be made by August 2025
Meet Albi's Shared Society Fellows' 2025 - 2026 Cohort!
Gal Rosenbluth
An Israeli director, writer, and editor, currently filming her first feature documentary, It Is What It Is. She wrote and directed four short films including: Shmita, Vivid Ruthie, and Arabic Friday, with the latter two also screened commercially. She won Best Research at the Israeli Documentary Awards and DocAviv for 1948 – Remember, Remember Not (Neta Shoshani), a film originally set to air on KAN11 but banned for political reasons.
Nayef Hammoud
A Palestinian-Israeli director and screenwriter, currently co-writing a new thriller series with Gideon Raff (Homeland). He co-wrote Maysaloun Hamoud’s debut TV series Nafas, now streaming on Sundance TV. Hammoud has written and directed four short films: Remember When We Kissed, Adnan & Lina, The Day My Father Died (Best Short, Festival Ciné-Palestine), and Last Days of Summer (CINEMED, Jerusalem FF, CANAL+).
Current project:
NON-ISSUE
Dramedy | 35x8 | Arabic, Hebrew & English
A witty Israeli woman and a sensitive Palestinian man believe their love transcends identity - until everyone around them proves otherwise. Fleeing to Berlin for a fresh start, they hope to live as a ‘regular couple,’ but the further they get from home, the closer they come to the identities they tried to escape.
Michal Cooper-Keren
Series creator, showrunner and head writer behind critically acclaimed Israeli and international productions including Spin (RAI/HOT), Exceptional (Netflix Israel, KAN Kids, MIPCOM Diversify Award), and Spyders (Nickelodeon International). Her shows have been broadcast in over 130 countries and adapted worldwide. NYU MFA graduate and winner of the Warner Bros. production award.
Samira Saraya
A Palestinian-Israeli actor, writer, director, and LGBTQ activist. She began performing as a drag king in her early twenties while working as a nurse. Her breakthrough came in 2011 with a lead role in Minimum Wage. She later starred in Shira Geffen’s Self Made and has appeared in films acquired by Netflix and screened at Cannes, Venice, Locarno, and San Sebastian. In 2018, she won TLVFest’s Best Screenplay Award for Polygraph, which introduced Israeli cinema’s first openly lesbian Arab character.
Neta Weiner
Co-founder of the renowned hip-hop collective System Ali, Neta is a rapper, musician and writer whose work fuses Arabic, Hebrew and English into a unique political and artistic voice. He has performed on major stages across Europe and North America and collaborated with artists from Berlin, Boston, and Jaffa. Hands Up marks his first foray into scripted television as co-creator and composer.
Current project:
HANDS UP
Musical Y/A | 35x8 | Arabic, Hebrew & English
Inspired by the real-life Jaffa-based hip-hop collective System Ali, Hands Up is a high-energy, multilingual drama about a mixed crew of young artists who believe they can change reality through music. As they fight to get noticed, their songs go viral, and suddenly they’re thrown into the spotlight — a sort of Arab–Jewish “Star Is Born” moment, but raw, street-level, and real.
Orit Fouks Rotem
Award-winning Israeli writer-director, best known for her debut feature Cinema Sabaya, which won Best Picture and Best Director at the Ophir Awards and Best Picture at the Jerusalem Film Festival. A graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School, Orit’s work explores female perspectives, identity, and belonging through intimate, human-centered storytelling.
Current project:
A Sense of Home
Drama | 35x8 | Hebrew, Arabic & English
After October 7, an Israeli family leaves the country “for a week,” only to find themselves on an unexpected 2,000-day odyssey across borders and identities. Along the way, they search for a renewed sense of belonging and grapple with the ever-shifting meaning of “home.”
Tawfik Abu Wael
Award-winning Palestinian-Israeli film and television director, screenwriter, and educator based in Tel Aviv. Co-creator, writer, and director of HBO’s Our Boys and Kan 11’s Alumim. His debut feature Atash (Thirst) premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week and won the FIPRESCI Award, followed by Last Days in Jerusalem (Locarno, TIFF).
Current project:
The Guilty Woman
Drama | 35x8 | Hebrew, Arabic
Solafa, an Arab-Israeli senior banking executive, and her husband Dror, a Jewish man living with multiple sclerosis, have built a stable, quiet life together after years of estrangement from their families. But when a neighborhood dispute over a wheelchair ramp spirals into tragedy, Solafa’s career, marriage, and freedom all hang in the balance.
Yousef Sweid
is an actor, theater director, puppeteer, and writer. A Tel Aviv University graduate in social theater, he worked with Arab and Jewish communities, developing plays based on their stories and later founding the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa. He gained recognition as a puppeteer with ‘Mahbub’ on Israeli Sesame Street. Now based in Berlin, he performs at the Maxim Gorki Theater and Schaubühne, co-writing award-winning plays on intercultural dialogue, performed worldwide.
Current project:
THE GOAT
Culinary Puppet Drama | 35x6 | Arabic, Hebrew & Germany
Jojo, a puppet goat with big dreams of becoming Berlin’s top chef, teams up with Dishy, a food blogger, to create a groundbreaking cuisine. But in a world where puppets don’t belong in kitchens—and love between a puppet and a human is impossible—success is anything but guaranteed.
Dan Shadur
is a producer, director, and writer whose films tackle sensitive political and social issues with a bold, personal approach. His acclaimed documentary King Bibi and other works have aired on PBS, Arte, BBC, and Canal+, and screened at international festivals. His latest production, Strange Birds, won Best Director at the 2024 Jerusalem Film Festival. A Tel Aviv University Tisch School graduate, Shadur is currently developing his first scripted series.
Current project:
CAFÉ HAWAII
Inspired by a true story | 45x8 | Arabic, Hebrew
In 1940s Palestine, a Jewish entrepreneur and a Palestinian visionary open Café Hawaii, where cultures clash and music defies war—until rising tensions put their friendship and future at risk.
Shira Geffen
is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, and director. Her debut feature Jellyfish (Meduzot), co-directed with Etgar Keret, won three awards at Cannes, including the Camera d'Or. Her 2014 film Self-Made (Boreg) premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, winning multiple awards, including Best Screenplay at Jerusalem Film Festival. Her short Horizon Events won Best Short Film at Shanghai (2024) and Haifa (2025) International Film Festivals.
Michal Vinik
Michal Vinik is an award winning director and screenwriter known for her work across both film and scripted tv. Her second feature film - Valeria is Getting Married, premiered in Venice FF, was presented at Toronto FF and won more 15 international and national prizes including best film in Haifa FF, Shanghai FF, Thessaloniki golden Alexander and more and won the Ophir (local Oscar) for best screenplay.
Her first feature film BLUSH premiered at San Sebastian FF, was presented at Karlovy Vary FF and in 90 festivals around the world, winning 10 prizes. Her short films, Reality Check and Bait premiered at Sundance and Locarno FF.
Michal also created and co-directed a TV series Drive Me Crazy, and wrote for a TV series The Accursed by Hagai Levi and 30 Shekel Per Hour.
Most recently, Michal wrote and directed "Tell Me Everything" - a critically-acclaimed adaptation of the best selling book "The Man Who Wanted to Know" by Dror Mishani.
Current project:
D9
Drama | 50x6 | Arabic, Hebrew & English
Set in a near-future Israel, where a new genetic technology predicts every newborn’s exact expiration age. The story follows three mothers whose babies are classified as D9, a group of children destined to die between the ages of 18 and 23, pushing them to defy the system that sanctifies loss.
Meet Albi's Shared Society Fellows' 2024 - 2025 Cohort!
Samira Saraya
A Palestinian-Israeli actor, writer, director, and LGBTQ activist. She began performing as a drag king in her early twenties while working as a nurse. Her breakthrough came in 2011 with a lead role in Minimum Wage. She later starred in Shira Geffen’s Self Made and has appeared in films acquired by Netflix and screened at Cannes, Venice, Locarno, and San Sebastian. In 2018, she won TLVFest’s Best Screenplay Award for Polygraph, which introduced Israeli cinema’s first openly lesbian Arab character.
Shula Spiegel
A senior Israeli TV producer with over 40 years of experience in scripted, unscripted, and documentary television, as well as YA programming. She produced Apple TV+’s Tehran, which won the 2021 International Emmy for Best Drama Series. In 2008, she co-founded Donna and Shula Studio with her partner Donna Eden. Today, the company is one of Israel’s leading production studios, recognized both domestically and internationally, and also provides production services for advertising, museums, and more.
Current project:
COFFEE
Dramedy | 35x8 | Arabic, Hebrew & English
A Palestinian widow embarks on an extraordinary journey to transform her family’s small coffee factory into a nationwide brand, defying family resistance and opposition from both Arab and Jewish societies.
Noam Shuster Eliassi
A comedian, performer, and activist who blends Arabic, Hebrew, and English in her comedy, drawing from her upbringing in Neve Shalom, a mixed Jewish-Arab community. A documentary about her performances, produced by Emmy-winner Rachel Leah Jones and directed by Amber Fares, won the 2025 Sundance Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression and the Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Graduate of the Middle Eastern Artists-in-Residence Program at Harvard University (2019-2020), Bachelor's degree in Theater Arts from Brandeis University (2007-2011), and Film Acting Program at the New York Film Academy (2005-2006). She wrote and presented a regular satirical segment on Kan 11, and created, comedy videos for the Israeli Public Broadcasting that gone viral in several Arab countries. Shuster Eliassi’s live show received a four-star review at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Current project:
COEXISTENCE MY ASS
Comedy | 30x10 | English, Arabic, Hebrew & Farsi
From the land of unlimited possibilities comes a love story with very limited possibilities between Naama a Jewish-Israeli peace activist who lands a fancy UN internship called "Rising Stars of Tomorrow", and Amir, Palestinian-American comedian living in New York. A romantic comedy wrapped around the obsession and fantasy about land, national belonging, and the universal urge to make out.
Maysaloun Hamoud
Maysaloun Hamoud is a writer and director born in Budapest and raised in Deir Hanna. After a near-death experience during her BA in Middle Eastern History, she moved to Jaffa to pursue filmmaking. Her debut feature, In Between, premiered at TIFF 2016, earning critical acclaim and awards at San Sebastian. In 2020, she created The Dreamer for HOT, later acquired by Sundance Now. She now lives in Lisbon with her husband, producer Arad Sawat, and their daughter, Layla.
Arad Zion Sawat
Arad Zion Sawat is a producer and designer, and co-founder of Layla Productions alongside Maysaloun Hamoud. Their company bridges Jewish and Arab narratives, fostering meaningful dialogue through storytelling. As a set designer, Sawat has worked on HBO and Keshet Studios’ Our Boys, Amazon’s Absentia, Joseph Cedar’s Oscar-nominated Footnote, and Natalie Portman’s A Tale of Love and Darkness, among others.
Current project:
MEDITERRANEAN LOVE STORIES
Anthology | 35x6 | Arabic, French, Turkish & Greek
A one-of-a-kind anthology series set across the Mediterranean, where each episode is crafted by a local filmmaker, offering a personal and intimate perspective on love in the golden years.
Mor Azulay
Mor Azulay is a writer, designer, and Sapir College film graduate. In 2019, she founded Juice, a production house committed to increasing women-led sets. In 2024, she co-founded Lava, a social impact agency that leverages digital strategy and advertising to drive meaningful change for social organizations.
Ala Dakka
Ala Dakka is a writer, director, Palestinian peace activist, actor, and a graduate of the Goodman Acting School in Beer Sheva. He has starred in major productions, including Fauda (Lior Raz & Avi Issacharoff), Portrait of Victory (Avi Nesher), Beyond the Mountains and Hills (Eran Kolirin), and Handsome Groom (Sameh Zoabi). As a writer, he has contributed to Reshet 13 and Ron Leshem’s Red Skies. Deeply concerned about the climate crisis, he is co-creating The Last Summer, a scripted series exploring its impact.
Tamar Goren
Tamar Goren is a writer and director from Tel Aviv, whose award-winning short films focus on female-driven narratives. Her feature debut, the HOT documentary Homeboys, premiered at the 2022 Jerusalem Film Festival and screened at Busan Youth Film Festival, FIFA Montreal, and more. She has directed music videos with millions of views and wrote for the YA drama Spin (Rai/HOT). Goren is currently developing scripted TV and film projects with Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) and Keren Michael (Let It Be Morning, Indal).
Current project:
THE LAST SUMMER
YA Thriller | 45x6 | Arabic, Hebrew
An edge-of-your-seat YA thriller about a mixed group of Arab and Jewish teenagers who refuse to accept the world handed to them.
Dan Shadur
Dan Shadur is a producer, director, and writer whose films tackle sensitive political and social issues with a bold, personal approach. His acclaimed documentary King Bibi and other works have aired on PBS, Arte, BBC, and Canal+, and screened at international festivals. His latest production, Strange Birds, won Best Director at the 2024 Jerusalem Film Festival. A graduate of Tel Aviv University's Tisch School of Film & TV, Shadur is currently developing his first scripted series.
Current project:
CAFÉ HAWAII
Inspired by a true story | 45x8 | Arabic, Hebrew
In 1940s Palestine, a Jewish entrepreneur and a Palestinian visionary open Café Hawaii, where cultures clash and music defies war—until rising tensions put their friendship and future at risk.
