Netflix Nabs Yes Studios’ Period Saga ‘The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem’ for Multiple Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy
·2 min read

“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” Yes Studios’ award-winning historical series, has been picked up by Netflix for multiple territories, including the U.S., U.K., France and Spain.

The multi-language series is represented in international markets by Yes Studios, the Tel Aviv-based producer and distributor behind “Fauda,” “Your Honor,” “Shtisel” and “On the Spectrum.”

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Set in the early-mid 20th century, “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” is adapted from Sarit Yishai-Levi’s bestselling novel of the same name and tells the story of a family set against the backdrop of the Ottoman Empire, The British Mandate and Israel’s War of Independence.

Opening in 1917, the show sheds light on Judeo-Spanish traditions and the history of a fledgling country. It was produced by Yes TV and Dafna Prenner and Shai Eines at Artza Productions with a cast headlined by Michael Aloni (“Shtisel”), Hila Saada (“Beauty and the Baker”), Itzik Cohen (“Fauda”), Yuval Scharf (“McMafia”), Mali Levi (“The Angel”) and newcomer Swell Ariel Or who plays the title role.

The costume period melodrama is considered to be one of the most ambitious Israeli series to date, and was shot throughout the country, including landmarks in Jerusalem, Safed and other cities. It won four awards at the Israeli TV Academy Awards recently, including the best daily drama prize.

The first season of the family saga will air on Netflix in two parts – each consisting of 10 episodes, starting on May 20 and July 29 respectively. Production of season 2 will begin in early June.

“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” was created by Shlomo Mashiach, Ester Namdar Tamam and Oded Davidoff. It was written by Shlomo Mashiach (“Your Honor”), and was directed by Oded Davidoff.

Yes Studios recently appointed Sharon Levi, a well-respected industry player with over 20 years of experience in music and television, as its new managing director. She took over from Danna Stern, the founder and former managing director of Yes Studios. Levi joined the company from the ITV Studios-owned outfit Armoza Formats and is now in charge of Yes Studios’ distribution and co-production arm. The company just won a pair of awards at Series Mania Festival in Lille with its romantic comedy series “Bloody Murray” which took home the best comedy prize, and “Fire Dance,” Rama Burshtein-Shai’s TV debut, which won best actor for Yehuda Levi.

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