<\/p>\n
About 200 people gathered on Paramount\u2019s Melrose Avenue lot for a screening of \u201cRed Alert,\u201d a four-part scripted drama portraying the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel from the perspective of six victims. <\/p>\n
The host of the Sept. 30 event was Paramount Chairman and Chief Executive David Ellison, who shared how he had chatted with Academy Award-nominated producer Lawrence Bender a few weeks earlier at a memorial service for legendary Hollywood power broker Skip Brittenham. That\u2019s where Ellison learned that Bender\u2019s Israeli-backed series, \u201cRed Alert,\u201d needed a home in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Ellison quickly volunteered. \u201cIt was a fast \u2018yes,\u2019 \u201d he told the group.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, \u201cRed Alert\u201d debuted on the company\u2019s streaming service, Paramount+, marking the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The initial Hamas assault left about 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 kidnapped. <\/p>\n
The high-profile project comes two months after Ellison assumed control of Paramount in an $8-billion buyout by his family, led by billionaire and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners. <\/p>\n
Since the deal closed Aug. 7, David Ellison has moved to position the company slightly right of the political center, while also taking on polarizing issues. The scion has been unafraid to challenge those in Hollywood who\u2019ve called for a boycott of Israel.<\/p>\n
More than two years after the Oct. 7 attack, a deep divide remains in Hollywood over the subsequent Israel-Hamas war. <\/p>\n
Last month, Paramount condemned an open letter in support of Palestinians, which has gained steam in Hollywood.<\/a> More than 5,000 people have signed the Film Workers for Palestine letter, including such prominent filmmakers as Adam McKay, Ava DuVernay, Alex Gibney and Hannah Einbinder. <\/p>\n The effort called for a boycott of Israeli film festivals, institutions and projects to help spur an end to the war in Gaza. The campaign was designed in the vein of South African boycotts decades ago, which proved to be instrumental in ending apartheid, that country\u2019s racial segregation. <\/p>\n No other major studio followed Paramount. <\/p>\n In its Sept. 12 statement, Paramount said it disagreed with the Film Workers call to avoid film screenings or to work with Israeli film institutions. <\/p>\n \u201cAt Paramount, we believe in the power of storytelling to connect and inspire people, promote mutual understanding, and preserve the moments, ideas, and events that shape the world we share,\u201d the company said. \u201cSilencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.\u201d <\/p>\n The Film Workers group accused Paramount of misrepresenting the intent of its pledge, saying it did not target individual filmmakers.<\/p>\n But critics counter that filmmakers who engage with Israeli cultural institutions would likely fall under the ban.<\/p>\n More than 1,200 industry players including actors Mayim Bialik and Liev Schreiber and Paramount board member Sherry Lansing signed an opposing open letter released by the nonprofit organization Creative Community For Peace that accuses the Film Workers for Palestine of advocating \u201carbitrary censorship and the erasure of art.\u201d<\/p>\n The Palestinian supporters dismissed the characterization. \u201cThe Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity is an explicitly anti-racist and non-violent campaign that is grounded in international law and the moral clarity of a global majority opposed to genocide,\u201d the group said in a statement this week. \u201cIt is the first major refusal of the international film industry at large that targets complicit Israeli film institutions and companies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRed Alert\u201d was co-produced by a prominent Israeli production company, Keshet Media Group, and received funding from the Jewish National Fund-USA and the Israel Entertainment Fund. The series premiered last weekend on Israel\u2019s popular television channel Keshet 12. Keshet produced the Hebrew-language series \u201cPrisoners of War\u201d that Showtime later adapted into the award-winning American drama \u201cHomeland.\u201d <\/p>\n During the late September screening at Paramount, Ellison spoke of the need for such projects as \u201cRed Alert\u201d to remember the atrocities as well as stories of survival and heroism. <\/p>\n \u201cWe at Paramount, we are here to tell stories that last forever,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cWe are not here to debate politics or platforms or to argue about east or west. And \u2018Red Alert\u2019 is the very embodiment of that mission, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder to support this series.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics note that Ellison\u2019s father, Larry, the co-founder of Oracle, is a prominent supporter of Israel, contributing millions to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces<\/a>. <\/p>\n Others in Hollywood have found fault with Israel\u2019s government and its conduct in the Gaza war<\/a>, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians or combatants.<\/p>\n The United Nations, rights groups, experts and many Western governments accuse Israel of committing genocide. Israel denies the charge.<\/p>\n During a May 2024 Simon Wiesenthal Center<\/a> gala in his honor, WME Group Executive Chairman Ari Emanuel sharply denounced Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for his ouster. Emanuel\u2019s remarks were met with cheers and jeers<\/a> and some attendees walked out.<\/p>\n In his Oscar acceptance speech last year,<\/a> Jonathan Glazer, director of the Holocaust drama \u201cThe Zone of Interest,\u201d<\/a> asked \u201cWhether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization \u2014 how do we resist?\u201d<\/p>\n Weeks later, Steven Spielberg called out the rise of antisemitism as well as the ongoing war.<\/p>\n