Early Years in Television

The first broadcast on Israeli television was a program in which Hannah Robina read a poem by Nathan Alterman, "The Silver Platter". I was asked to prepare the set but I had no budget yet so I needed to improvise. I looked around in Romema, where the TV studios were located .There were many garages around and among them lots of junk and scrap iron. I thought I could put them to use in the set. I went to the garage owners and asked their permission and help in using the scraps for set. They responded enthusiastically. I asked them to make holes and scratches in the scrap iron pieces so that they looked like war ruins. I arranged the scraps in the studio and this is how the first set was done.

My work with Ralph Inbar

Right after my return to Israel from advanced studies on television set design, I joined channel 1 foundation team. At the same time, a Dutch television director, named Ralph Inbar, came to Israel and joined the team as well. We had conversations over a cup of coffee and found out that we share the same perception in the field of the television work, and we felt a kind of a spark between us. We started working together, he as the director and I as the set designer. Together we created a fair amount of shows.
We were the first to raise the weekly entertainment show called “Round Studio” which was highly appreciated and still remembered as one of the best shows ever.
In addition to us, Ralph invited from the Netherlands, a lighting manager named jan Heismans to teach the Lighting team in Israel how to create the perfect lighting in the studio. The combination of the three of us was a winning team.
To save money, which was "an imperative", we created decorative elements in the form of "module” (as the "Lego" of children) from which we could put together a different decoration parts. The broadcasts were still in black and white, so we painted the elements light beige or white. When we moved to color broadcasts, we used the same elements and lighted them in colored lights.
The shows I’m talking about are the following entertainment shows were the most famous artists appeared:

• Round studio
• Summer Studio
• Telestav
• Jazz Plus
• Duo
• Chocolate Mint & Gum