Howard Lovy

Tag: Interviews

  • Israeli Actress Takes On Hollywood

    Israeli Actress Takes On Hollywood

    In my recent interview with Israeli actress Swell Ariel Or, she shared how being Israeli in Hollywood has become a political statement, especially in the wake of the October 7 attacks. Casting decisions are increasingly based not just on talent, but on her stance regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite these challenges, Swell remains committed to her craft, believing that building connections with Jews and allies in the industry is key to overcoming bias.

    Israeli ActressSwell also discussed her latest project, Kissufim, a film set on a kibbutz near Gaza, now streaming on Netflix. Tragically, many of the real-life residents of Kibbutz Kissufim, where much of the movie was filmed, were victims of the October 7 terrorist attacks. Swell emphasized how the film highlights the idealistic and peaceful nature of kibbutzim, countering misconceptions that portray them as extremist settlements.

    Despite the difficult climate, Swell continues to use her platform to raise awareness about Israel and combat antisemitism. While progress has been slow, she is hopeful that things will improve. Swell remains determined to fight against the bias in Hollywood, believing that the current trends will pass, and that her perseverance will pay off.

    Read the full interview in The Algemeiner: Israeli Actors Face a New Bias in Hollywood; But They Are Determined to Keep Fighting.

    For more insight into Swell Ariel Or’s journey as an Israeli actress in Hollywood, you can read my previous interview with her from November 2023 in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, where she discusses her role in educating the public about Israel and fighting antisemitism during challenging times. Swell had just moved to Los Angeles when both the actors’ strike and the violence in Israel disrupted her plans, but she quickly pivoted to using her platform for activism.

    If you’d like to listen to the full audio interview with Swell, where we cover her thoughts on Hollywood bias, her acting career, and her activism, you can find it on my Substack here.

  • Interview: What I do as a Developmental Editor

    Interview: What I do as a Developmental Editor

    Leah Eichler and Susan Catto of Esoterica Magazine hosted an interview: What I do as a developmental editor. They asked some great questions, including how I handle tough clients. I discussed some of the favorite memoirists I’ve worked with and how I help writers discover their own “voice.” We also talked about trends in Jewish nonfiction, since I interview a great many Jewish authors for Publishers Weekly, JTA, and my own Substack newsletter. Below are some highlights from our interview. Below that, you can click and watch the whole thing.

    On Who I Work With

    “I get a lot of first-time authors who say, ‘Well, I don’t know if this is a book. Everybody told me I should write a book about this.’ My feeling is that everybody has a book in them. Not everybody agrees with me on that. But I think everybody does have at least one book in them. So, I help them take a series of events in their lives and tell their story. I have people on the other end who are experienced authors and have big publishing contracts who want me to be their coach and get them to meet deadlines. A lot of times, I’m part editor, I’m part coach, I’m part amateur psychologist.”

    On Writing Voice

    “When writing a memoir, there’s the story, and then there’s how you tell the story. Everybody has their own little way of speaking, has their own catchphrases that they like to repeat, and their own obsessions. That, to me, helps bring a story to life. It’s not just ‘This happened, and then that happened, and then the other thing happened.’ But it’s a matter of telling a story that only you can tell in the unique way that you can tell it.”

    On Memoirs I Enjoy Editing

    “The best kinds of books to edit and to read are where you go through some sort of life-changing realization. Sometimes it can be an addiction, sometimes it can be abusive situation, or sometimes it can be a fundamentalist form a form of religion that you end up rejecting. But, to me, it’s fascinating how you how you can go from the realization that something is not right with your life to, ‘Let’s do something about it, and really sacrifice to do it.’”

    Watch the Interview: What I do as a Developmental Editor

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  • Natan Sharansky Knows What ‘Anti-Zionism’ Really Means

    Natan Sharansky Knows What ‘Anti-Zionism’ Really Means

    Natan Sharansky
    A screenshot from my Zoom call with Natan Sharansky.

    I interviewed former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky over on my Emet-Truth newsletter. To say that Sharansky has experience with antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism would be an extreme understatement. As a former Soviet “Prisoner of Zion,” he spent years under torturous conditions in the gulag. He knew that when Soviet leaders began to talk about Zionism, all Jews, Zionist or not, were in trouble. When he was finally released and immigrated to Israel, he was surprised to notice the same phenomenon. That’s when he came up with what he called his “3D test” of antisemitism. They are:

    • Delegitimization of Israel
    • Demonization of Israel
    • Double standards in judging Israel

    Put them together, you can bet that what is billed as criticism of Israel is actually antisemitism. The 3Ds became the basis for widely accepted definitions of antisemitism. But the battle is still being fought, he says, not with other nations, but with Jews in America who are reluctant to be seen as equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

    In this interview, Natan Sharansky and I discussed this dilemma and other areas where Israel and the Diaspora meet.

     

    Listen to my interview with Natan Sharansky here.