Jerusalem
A Crime Drama Series
Creators: David Akerman & Dror Sabo
Head Writer: David Akerman
Director: Dror Sabo
Producers: Mosh Danon & Chaim Sharir
In Production for Hot & ITV
Jerusalem is an original crime drama about the brutal struggles between God’s official and unofficial representatives, willing to do anything to conquer another square meter in his name, fueled by dark desires, greed and blind faith. The series reveals through its characters what really takes place behind the scenes of the holiest city on earth. It is a charged, dense, gritty and realistic show exposing the bitter, the boundless power struggles that take place between the “official representatives” of God, who are willing to sacrifice human life to gain ownership of another centimeter of the city, and the dark motivations behind this struggle, the vast amounts of money, the decadence, and the religion that allows it all to happen.
The series moves through the maze of narrow, claustrophobic alleyways in this overcrowded city, and rarely leaves the confines of its suffocating walls. It moves underground and through the hundreds of cameras scattered around the city, waiting for the violence and rage trapped in it to explode without advance warning. It moves through a gallery of colorful characters and a tapestry of languages and cultures that, in spite of harboring deep hatred for each other, coexist. It reminds everybody that this is the holiest place on earth, a place that holds within it a spirituality and a sweeping, magnetic energy, a place full of hope that succeeds (in spite of everything) to draw millions of believers from all over the world who are willing to spend their money in it to find a remedy for their suffering.
Jerusalem is based on real events and true stories. The creator of the series performed “security jobs” for the Israeli government in the Old City of Jerusalem. In doing so, he was exposed both in his work and in his extensive and ongoing research to the sharp dissonance between what the city “sells” and what goes on behind the scenes. He saw the millions of believers who visit the city every year; he saw the hopeless down on their knees, holding on to the only thing they had left – their faith; he saw religion putting them to its own use, murdering faith in cold, calculated cynicism. Then he wrote Jerusalem.
