10/12/2020 - We talked to Pnina Halfon Lang, executive director of CoPro and head of DocuShuk, to discover how the innovative Israeli digital platform works and what the future could bring

Running each spring, CoPro, the Israeli Content Marketing Foundation, is dedicated exclusively to Israeli content. Owing to the pandemic, this year the market was forced to adapt and introduced DocuShuk, a digital platform for film professionals. Thanks to its successful launch, the platform was featured at other festivals in Israel, and it is now being used in collaboration with the online version of the Jerusalem Film Festival, which runs from 10-20 December, to screen some of its documentaries. We had a chance to chat with Pnina Halfon Lang, executive director of CoPro, and executive producer and head of DocuShuk, to discover how the innovative platform works and what the future could bring.

Cineuropa: How has CoPro been coping with the pandemic, and how different was your last edition, compared to the physical ones?
Pnina Halfon Lang: The pandemic took us by surprise two months before our planned physical co-production market. Right before the strict lockdown, we made the risky decision to go online and adjust our activities to the changing world. At that moment, we were one of the first markets to go digital, and dive into this big adventure of changing our format and working remotely. Each spring for the past 22 years, we have been welcoming film-industry professionals from all over the world to Tel Aviv. Compared to other similar events, the CoPro Market is relatively small and is focused mostly on Israeli content, and yet we have supported over 650 international co-productions. Decision makers come to CoPro year after year with an appreciation of our unique style of filmmaking and a curiosity for the compelling and innovative storytelling made in Israel. Luckily, there were some impressive attendance levels this year, also for the digital version of the market, and the Israeli projects attracted a lot of attention. The chosen documentaries were presented in two pitching streams, and over 50 decision makers participated in around 300 meetings. The success of the market in these very uncertain times wouldn’t have been possible without our online DocuShuk platform.

Could you give us an overview of your platform?
DocuShuk is the only online marketplace and screening platform in the world dedicated to local content. It’s a B2B platform that was launched in 2019, aiming to exhibit Israeli documentary films and works in progress, and connect them with international decision makers. It all started a few years ago, when we were wondering how to keep track of projects that had been accepted for our market, including completed films. We realised that we could expand our market activities and extend the time frame for decision makers to access projects at different stages, via a year-round, online platform. The word Shuk in Hebrew means “market” and, typically in the Middle East, is rich in flavours, smells, spices and sounds. That’s the way we see the Israeli documentary scene, which offers a huge variety of stories told by local filmmakers.

All film-industry professionals are invited to log on to DocuShuk and access a huge catalogue of around 100 completed Israeli documentaries from the past three years, including screeners and a smart tool enabling direct contact with the rights holders. Moreover, for commissioning editors, sales agents and co-producers, we added an “In Development” section, where they can find the upcoming new projects being made in Israel, which are available for co-production and pre-purchase. The platform had a large volume of traffic and piqued a high degree of interest during the market, but also since then, we’ve been receiving many requests regarding the films and projects. The last few months have created this huge hunger for content, and we’re happy to be able to respond to this need for the good of the Israeli industry.

How important was the use of DocuShuk, and what are its advantages?
We can say without exaggerating that having a platform enhanced our 2020 market, as we had this digital infrastructure ready to showcase the projects and the pre-recorded pitches. We received great feedback from participants and our colleagues from different film markets, especially due to the timing: we were pioneers of the online market. The platform is user-friendly and saves time for professionals in terms of finding the right information, asking for one-on-one meetings and contacting the teams behind completed films directly. As we know it’s impossible to replace physical meetings and events, we were trying to make the platform more customised, including a personal tool for creating wish lists and internal ratings, as well as adding clips of Meet the Filmmakers in order to get a better sense of the person behind the project. In the past few months, we have been upgrading the platform and the mobile version.

Your partnerships have now expanded with the Jerusalem Film Festival, which will use DocuShuk for its content for industry guests. Could you give us some more details on this collaboration and how it will work for those who are abroad?
Due to the travel restrictions and local festival geo-blocking during COVID-19 times, DocuShuk has become the go-to platform for film-industry professionals, screening the latest titles from Israel. In this way, CoPro and DocuShuk are supporting festivals and filmmakers as well as the international industry. We had some very successful collaborations with the Docaviv International Film Festival and the Haifa Film Festival, and we are carrying on promoting the Israeli documentary industry internationally by presenting the current Israeli titles screened at the Jerusalem IFF. Therefore, every film-industry professional who wants to participate in these gatherings can watch the freshest premieres on our platform. Films will remain available in our catalogue after the festival. We encourage festival programmers and buyers to log in and screen the latest titles from past festivals, including: High Maintenance, a new documentary by Barak Heymann [JFF]; Lebanon by Duki Dror [Docaviv]; Leaving Paradise by Ofer Freiman [the winner of Best Documentary at Haifa IFF]; and many more.

Do you have any plans to further extend these collaborations?
CoPro loves collaborations. We are hoping to keep these collaborations up with local film festivals and broaden their scope to encompass other industry events. Furthermore, we are always seeking to extend our collaborations with international industry events and partner with different organisations, and can also offer our online platform services to other countries, industries and genres.

Regarding next year, assuming everything returns to normal, what are your plans for CoPro? Do you think that digital platforms are here to stay and will become a tool for professionals?
We believe that the online presence of the film industry is here to stay. Even after the COVID-19 era, I believe that the international film industry will change, and there is a very important role to be played by these kinds of platforms and direct correspondence with filmmakers and rights holders. We keep on creating new marketing tools for both content buyers/promoters and the local industry. We are aiming to have a larger archive of Israeli films available in 2021 and are looking to expand our activities into both the educational market and the private sector.