{"id":5324,"date":"2010-06-04T08:20:16","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=5324"},"modified":"2016-08-29T02:39:50","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T09:39:50","slug":"hill-harper-of-csiny-visits-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=5324","title":{"rendered":"Hill Harper of CSI:NY Visits Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meeting with 60 middle school students (age 14-17), film department, Telma Yelin School for the Arts\/Photo: Matty Stern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI believe we\u2019re competing for eyeballs and losing – against facebook, reality TV, blogs, twitter, YouTube, playstation\u2026we\u2019re not evolving fast enough, not being as compelling,\u201d said actor Hill Harper in a meeting with Israeli Film Academy members at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque last Friday. Harper, well known to Israeli audiences for his role as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes of CSI: NY, was in Israel from May 23 \u2013 28 as a guest of the U.S. Department of State and the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. His message to fellow actors, artists and filmmakers is one of hope and challenge: \u201cI\u2019m in the belief business; I\u2019m in the courage business because I\u2019m an artist. Go work for IBM if you don\u2019t have hope. Do something else, get out of my business, you\u2019re bringing it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his brief stay in Israel, Harper demonstrated that not only can he talk the talk, he walked the walk with a densely packed schedule that included workshops and lectures at \u201cNissan Nativ,\u201d and \u201cSam Spiegel\u201d schools, \u201cBeit Avichai\u201d and the Ethiopian Theatre in Jerusalem; \u201cTelma Yelin,\u201d \u201cMinshar,\u201d and \u201cSadnaot HaBama\u201d schools in Tel Aviv; the Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa and the ELEM center in Bat Yam.<\/p>\n

The talk at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque offered an opportunity to become better acquainted with the multi-faceted artist, who has been deeply involved in social issues throughout his career. In addition to an impressive list of film credits – including Spike Lee\u2019s Get on the Bus<\/em> (1996) and He\u2019s Got Game<\/em> (1998), as well as Beloved<\/em> (1998), the romantic comedy Loving Jezebel<\/em> (1999), teen thriller The Skulls<\/em> (2000) and Jordan Walker Pearlman\u2019s The Visit<\/em> (2000), Harper holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.<\/p>\n

The accomplished actor, who is scheduled to appear in Tyler Perry\u2019s forthcoming film For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf<\/em> (based on Ntozake Shange\u2019s 1975 play), has also written several books: Letters to a Young Brother<\/em>, published in 2006; Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny<\/em>, published in 2008; and The Conversation<\/em>, published in 2009.<\/p>\n

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Presentation\/workshop to Nissan Netiv students on the difference between acting for theater and acting for television\/movies. Photo: Matty Stern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King\u2019s statement \u201cAll [of us] are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,\u201d Harper sees the future of television and films as one of international collaboration. \u201cArtistic training is similar worldwide,\u201d he said, \u201cWe need to figure out ways to work together. Our art can push the world forward for social change. We can create new paradigms and we can do that internationally.\u201d In addition to meeting with actors and filmmakers in Israel, Harper said that he will also be taking scripts home to read and even said, \u201cI\u2019m gonna do a film in Hebrew someday. I\u2019ll learn it phonetically and know what I\u2019m saying. There\u2019s a beautiful dream in that. I believe in tearing down the barriers the walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

One example Harper mentioned of the kind of international collaboration he envisions is the Animation Lab in Jerusalem, whose first animated feature \u201cThe Wild Bunch\u201d (working title), co-written by Phillip LaZebnik and Roger Shulman is currently in production at their CGI animation studio in Jerusalem. Harper said, \u201cIt will be huge in the US. It\u2019s all being done here. That\u2019s what we need more of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing shows such as 24, Lost, Sopranos, The Wire and Madmen, Harper said that the \u201cquality level is high\u2026the writing, acting, is more original, more compelling.\u201d He attributes much of the success of CSI to its originality and \u201csuper high production value.\u201d Although the show has a crime-solving format familiar to viewers (citing Dragnet, NYPD Blue), Harper said, \u201cThe difference is that those shows interrogate the witness, CSI interrogates the evidence, and we use science. Let\u2019s use technology, special effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not taking the type of risks that are compelling to the audience,\u201d Harper said of the current situation in television and filmmaking in the US, \u201cWe are operating from a place of fear \u2013 False Evidence Appearing Real. We are fed false notions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a young business, operating from up here,\u201d he said, indicating his head, \u201cMy favorite word is courage, ometz<\/em> in Hebrew, it comes from the French word coeur<\/em>, which means heart. In Hollywood\u2026business works from a fear place rather than a heart place\u2026how do I mold my body into the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Short tour through ELEM center and motivational talk with Youth in Distress group, ELEM, Bat Yam. Photo: Matty Stern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Harper feels the hope for the future lies in creating connections \u2013 international collaborations, \u201caggressively using technology, merging cinema and theatre\u201d and combining great writing and acting with high end production value \u201cnot choosing one or the other.\u201d He is also not averse to \u201cmaking the audience work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversing freely with young directors, screenwriters and actors in the discussion at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Harper emphasized the need to dream big and remain positive. One aspiring actress asked, \u201cHow can you stay positive when you\u2019ve been waiting tables for 15 years?\u201d Harper\u2019s response was emphatic: \u201cIf it is truly in your heart, keep creating. LA is frustrating; you can\u2019t throw a stone without hitting an actor\u2026It\u2019s not about whether people see you or not. Do a monologue in your bathroom.\u201d Of writers who say that they haven\u2019t written anything lately because they are busy trying to get their script sold, Harper says, \u201cYou\u2019re not a writer, you\u2019re a salesman. If you\u2019re a writer \u2013 write. Don\u2019t run around saying you\u2019re an actor if you\u2019ve already quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation ended all too soon for the audience, reluctant to let the charismatic actor go. Exchanging email addresses and encouraging them to stay in touch, Harper said, \u201cI\u2019m on twitter, follow me and tweet to me what you\u2019re doing. I can get inspired by what you do \u2013 it\u2019s reciprocal.\u201d<\/p>\n

AYELET DEKEL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI believe we\u2019re competing for eyeballs and losing – against facebook, reality TV, blogs, twitter, YouTube, playstation\u2026we\u2019re not evolving fast enough, not being as compelling,\u201d said actor Hill Harper in a meeting with Israeli Film Academy members at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque last Friday. Harper, well known to Israeli audiences for his role as Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}