How They Did It: Turning an Israeli TV Series Into HBO’s ‘In Treatment’

photo: HBO

After two seasons on HBO, the acclaimed series In Treatment will soon air for a third exciting season. Before we all delve back into the hearts and souls of the characters, the New York Women in Film and Television will conduct a panel on the series, during which the Israeli writers behind the original show Be-Tipul will meet with their American counterparts for a discussion on the question of translation, and the process of adapting an Israeli series into an all-American show.

In case you’re not familiar, In Treatment is a nightly drama that follows a psychiatrist as he treats various patients. The series has been critically acclaimed both in Israel and the U.S., drawing extra attention because of its unique adaptation process. While switching names for a character from “Naama” to  “Laura” is a technicality, writing a part for an American fighter pilot requires not only a new name, but a new mission–trading Gaza for Iraq.

Both shows give viewers a true sense of reality–that fly-on-the-wall experience. Much of the motor that drives Be-Tipul and In Treatment is their aura of stark authenticity. What the show offers is something you don’t see much on television, which is a cast concentrating on bringing life to long, complicated monologues while remaining seated.

Photo: HBO

The panel on March 9th will include Noa Tishby, an Israeli actress and the mastermind behind this adaptation. Tishby will shed light on what it takes to sell Israeli content to the know-it-all Hollywood scene. Also in the lineup, two screenwriters, Yael Hedaya and Sarah Treem, who will discuss what it meant to translate a Hebrew character into an American one, as well as the process of writing, feeling and expressing change between cultures, countries and religions.

It’s sure to be one heck of a session.

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