Jerusalem Vision

Developing and expanding the existing infrastructure of film in Jerusalem will eventually bring filmmakers from outside of Israel to use the extraordinary backdrop of the city for their films.

Jerusalem has a solid, vigorous infrastructure of cinema-related activity, including:

The Jerusalem Cinematheque/Israel Film Archives

The Jerusalem Cinematheque is a local, national and international film center that serves thousands of film-lovers of every age and background. Situated in the breathtaking Hinom Valley, facing the Mount Zion, and Jaffa Gate and the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Cinematheque hosts forums, conferences and seminars for film professionals.

The renowned annual International Jerusalem Film Festival, each July, transforms the city into a celebration of Cinema and The Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival in December screens more than 60 films celebrating film and Jewish identity. The Cinematheque also includes a Department of Film and Media Education, Israel Film Archives with more than 30,000 films and thousands of negatives, posters, stills and documents. Support is needed to further educational programming and the completion of the renovated new wing:

Programming: $50,000 annually

New Wing: $1 million

The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School

The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School provides practical training in all facets of cinematic production: Directing, scriptwriting, producing, cinematography, editing and more. Since its establishment the school has gained recognition as one of the best in the field. Once again this year, Sam Spiegel won the “World’s Best Film School” award. Support is needed for scholarships and to develop new and innovative fields of study.

Tuition scholarships: $4,000 per student

Curriculum development: $100,000

The Ma’aleh School of Film and Television Arts

The Ma’aleh Film School serves as a unique bridge between the world of mass media and religious Jewry. The school offers a four-year professional training program in which students specialize in one of five fields: script writing, directing, producing, editing or cinematography.

Tuition scholarships: $4,000 per student

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Bezalel is among the world’s most critically acclaimed art institutions, widely recognized for its uncompromising excellence and professionalism, it includes departments of Fine Arts, Architecture, Photography, Animation, Video and Film. A new campus for Bezalel has been designed and will bring the Academy back to the center of the city – bringing new life and young vibrancy into the center of Jerusalem.

Tuition scholarships: $4,000 per student

Naggar School of Photography, Media and New Music

The school prepares creative artists in both traditional and digital photography, multimedia, contemporary music and photojournalism. Graduates are in high demand throughout the country creating innovative work and contributing to the film and media industry in Israel. The School is growing and a renovation and expansion program has been designed.

New building and renovation: $4 million

Tuition scholarships: $4,000 per student

Expanding Businesses that support the development of the film industry: JVP Annimation is a new commercial media initiative headed by entrepreneur, Erel Margalit of Jerusalem Venture Partners. A full fledged Animation Studio developing international projects, employing many of the graduates of the art schools mentioned above and creating exciting business and investment opportunities in the city. JVP has already developed the old governemnt press building into a stet of the art annimation studio and major projects are in developemnt.

In a new initiative the city of Jerusalem invites first time filmmakers from around the world, from the region and from Israel, to create their first feature film or documentary in Jerusalem.

Goals

• Encouragement and support for new cinema creation in Jerusalem – providing opportunity for first time filmmakers.
• Advancement of the development of a professional film industry in Jerusalem and the economic advantages and benefits it will bring to the city.
• Inspiration for a broad pluralistic and multicultural artistic dialogue among young creative forces in the city.

The Program

Films to be included in the program will be full length (minimum 90 minutes for feature films) and documentaries (minimum 1 hour but with preference for 90 minutes) and the criteria for inclusion will include animation.

Estimated budget for first time filmmakers (feature film and documentary): $2.25 – $4 million.

The Jerusalem Film Fund

The Jerusalem Foundation partnered with the Jerusalem Development Authority to create the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund which has two distinct goals: to provide the backbone of a strong film and television industry in Jerusalem and to bring about a significant and lasting change in the public perception of Jerusalem.

The creation of a region/municipal film fund has been the norm in many countries in Europe since the 1980’s and the goals have been to strengthen local culture, to change perception of particular regions and to strengthen local industry. The Jerusalem Film and Television Fund is the first fund of its kind in Israel. The fund supports projects in film, television and the media that put their emphasis on stories of daily life in Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Film Coordination Center

The city of Jerusalem will establish a coordination office to provide services and assistance to the filmmakers and their teams. The coordination office will assist in receiving permits for filming in and around Jerusalem, organize up to date information on film professionals in the city who are available to work on productions and help with all logistic issues that arise, including, accommodation, transportation, film crews, tax benefits and more.

Funding needed: $100,000 annually

Why Jerusalem chooses to help first time filmmakers?

• Improving the image of Jerusalem and branding the city as THE location for young filmmakers – pluralistic, open and creative.
• The expansion of the Jerusalem film industry with direct economic benefits to all residents of the city with a goal after 5 years of 1000 filming days a year in Jerusalem.
• Significant expansion of job opportunities for film industry professionals in Jerusalem: producers, cinematographers, lighting and sound, editing and more.
• Economic benefits for other business and industry in Jerusalem and industry in Jerusalem including: hotels, restaurants, transportation and other service providers.
• Development of the film industry through reciprocal connections with filmmakers abroad and between local and international professional organizations.

The first time filmmakers will make a commitment to include local film professionals and services based in Jerusalem at a certain percentage (to be determined) of their overall production and to hold their Israeli premiere at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.

The Vision

Jerusalem’s natural cultural and historical assets provide a solid base for making Jerusalem the capital for filmmaking, production and cinema in Israel.

How to make it happen…

• Building on the existing infrastructure for film in Jerusalem with philanthropic support
• Matching government tax incentives with private and public funds
• Creating a Jerusalem Film Office to streamline services and opportunities
• Bringing together public, philanthropic and business resources in the film/culture/media areas.

The potential exists to turn Jerusalem into a desired location for filmmakers and thereby bringing wide economic benefits to the city.

Why Jerusalem for film?

• The Jerusalem Municipality is working to advance a tax incentive program for Jerusalem that would enhance the existing national tax incentive of 6%. The current Film Law ensures governmental support of about $600,000 per film for about 15 new films per year.
• The past few years have witnessed an astounding revival and growth of Israeli cinema on the world stage, lending a further boost to the local film industry and creating international interest in Israel.
• The State of Israel is signed on co-production agreements with a number of major countries such as Canada, France and Germany, which makes local filmmakers eligible for economic assistance in co-production partner countries.
• Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular is of international interest and contains all the multicultural history of this region.
• Israel offers a wide range of landscape settings and is geographically small and accesible.
• The Israel Film Archive and the Israel television Archive will provide significant discounts for reasarch assistance and requested archival footage (most relevant for documentary production).

Mayor Barkat, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA), seeks to promote culture and tourism through creating a critical mass of cultural events – conceived with the needs and interests of tourists in mind – and operating in concert on a city-wide basis. Leveraging culture will stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

The Vision: Critical Mass of Culture and Creative Leveraging

The program focuses on three central central objectives:

• Volume: Increasing the number of cultural events in Jerusalem, creating a “critical mass”
• High visibility: Promotion of these events, expanding each one wherever possible to venues and neighborhoods across the city
• Leveraging: Exploiting the name recognition of Jerusalem’s existing high-profile cultural events to create spin-off programs and happenings
  

Today, little or no communication exists between the tourism industry and Jerusalem cultural institutions:

• Research indicates that 80% of a standard tour schedule is decided prior to arrival at destination.
• Less than 5% of visitors will see a cultural performance in Jerusalem.
• No comprehensive information source covers and updates cultural events for tourists.

The Jerusalem Development Authority will effect change by developing clusters of culture packages and promoting communication between cultural institutions and tour operators. Demand for Jerusalem’s culture exists throughout the world and supply must match this demand.

Empowering Culture in the City – A Pro-Active Approach

• Jerusalem offers a wide selection of cultural activities ranging from mainstream to  eclectic.
• Leverage established festivals and events to expand and develop for city-wide enjoyment, multiple venues and accessibility.
• Support new cultural initiatives to complement the established events.
• Each of these cultural joint ventures will take place over a five-day period of time including a weekend so as to encourage overnight stays.

Plans are underway to launch a Jerusalem Convention and Visitors Bureau (JCVB), modeled after successes in other cities, in order to promote tourism as one of the city’s top priorities. The JCVB will take the lead, acting as Jerusalem’s central marketing agent as an international convention destination and as a vehicle for managing Jerusalem’s tourism industry for all those considering Jerusalem as their destination.

Convention Tourism: A Gold Mine for Potential

Through marketing Jerusalem as an international convention destination, the Jerusalem Convention and Visitors Bureau will dramatically increase inbound tourism to Jerusalem.

Convention visitors…

• Extend their stay to explore the city
• 30% bring a spouse or other family members
• Spend an average of $2,000, double the average tourist

For convention and trade show planners and delegates, Jerusalem is home to a range of venues to suit every size and style, from large-scale options like the International Convention Center (ICC) at Binyanei Ha’Uma to landmark venues such as the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus. Moreover, the city itself is characterized by an exceptional energy and diversity which will captivate conference goers after hours.

Three key communications objectives will be the focus of the JCVB strategy:

• Inspiration: Conveying, demonstrating and reiterating the message that Jerusalem is one of the world’s most interesting, unique and inspiring destinations.
• Now: Jerusalem is not only a must-see destination, but a must see-now one.
• User Friendly: JCVB will coordinate the creation of tools and materials that make planning a conference in Jerusalem simple and straightforward. Actively helping conference organizers tailor and book their trips can ensure that they will follow through on plans and have the best possible experience during their stay.

Partner Organizations

The Office of the Mayor and JCVB have secured the collaboration of major partners: Ministry of Tourism; Ministry of Finance; Israel Hotel Association; Incoming Israel Travel Association; JICC-Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’Uma); and Hadassah University Medical Campus-Scientific and Medical conventions.

The Government of Israel has included JCVB in its economic development plan for Jerusalem and expressed willingness to provide partial matching funding.

Creating Economic Growth and Opportunity for Jerusalem

Few cities in the world have had as much influence on art, culture, thought  and literature as Jerusalem – influencing and inspiring artists and creative minds around the world for centuries.

For the last 3000 years, Jerusalem has been the setting for every conceivable human drama. Epic battles, timeless poetry, great romances, monumental human endeavors are all engraved in the stone of Jerusalem. The city’s architecture is as diverse as its population, colored by markets and alleyways traversing the centuries – all set in the timeless landscape that has inspired mankind for generations. It is hardly surprising that some of the very first film reels were shot in Jerusalem by the Lumiere Brothers in 1896.

For the vast majority of humanity, the images most immediately associated with Jerusalem are of spirituality, of mysticism and as the focal point of the region’s most passionate tensions – but not as a vibrant cultural center in a contemporary city.

The time has come to showcase the city of Jerusalem’s unique blend of cultural activity and to build upon its appeal by bringing increased numbers of tourists. In realizing Jerusalem’s potential, there is a shared benefit – enriching visitors and boosting the city’s creative and artistic community.

The city’s history, diversity, spirituality and even the tensions and conflict contained within, make it a particularly creative setting. This is why the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, is leading the development of the city as the home of culture in Israel.

Tourism: A Crucial Source of Income

Much of Jerusalem’s economy depends on tourism; yet while the potential capacity is tremendous, the potential is far from realized. A comprehensive approach is needed and the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) is uniquely qualified to take the lead, acting as the central marketing agent for Jerusalem as an international cultural destination.

With the target goal to stimulate cultural and tourism services in a ll sections of the city, the JDA will bring benefits to Jerusalem’s entire population, east and west, north and south, religious and secular. The local tourism industry and cultural institutions include approximately 500 small and medium sized businesses which employ thousands. With a projected 4,000 new jobs from every 100,000 additional tourists, a reinvigorated tourist trade will play a major role in boosting the city’s commercial life.

How to make it happen…