TV dramas Dig and Tyrant flee Gaza violence

By The NewsDay | Jul. 23, 2014 | 2 Min read

The escalating conflict in Gaza has forced two US television dramas to shift production out of the region.

Sydney Morning Herald

The US drama series Dig, described as a “murder mystery which unearths a 2000 year old conspiracy”, is moving to Albuquerque in the US state of New Mexico.

Another series, Tyrant, about the family of a Middle Eastern dictator, has already confirmed it has shifted production to Turkey.

Both programs were filming in the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv.

“Given the current situation and after careful consideration, we are relocating the production of Dig partly to Albuquerque and are continuing to explore other locations,” Dig’s US producer, Universal Cable Productions, said in a statement.

Television producer Gideon Raff, who is involved with both productions, said at this week’s US television press tour, an annual showcase of new programming, that they wanted to shoot Dig in Israel because of the rich, historic landscape.

“Hopefully, everything will calm down and we’ll go back to working there and if not we’ll sort it out,” he said.

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The shift to Turkey is the third for Tyrant; that show’s pilot was filmed in Morocco, and then shifted to Tel Aviv to film the series.

Dig is a six-episode “event” drama, with a larger-than-usual emphasis on location filming. Tyrant, on the other hand, uses permanent sets that have been built in soundstages in Tel Aviv.

The shows writers have been forced to re-write episodes to explain the absence of the show’s usual sets from filming.

“Our hearts go out to everyone in Israel and in Gaza for what is happening there right now, and hopefully it will be resolved very soon,” Raff said.

Tyrant is produced by 20th Century Fox for the US cable channel FX, and Dig is produced by NBC Universal for the US cable channel USA Network.

Neither program yet has a confirmed Australian broadcaster.