Left: On the heels of the Emmy
award-winning "Joseph," TNT's
four-hour mini-series "Moses"
features Ben Kingsley in the title
role.

Opposite Page:
Top right: Oscar-winner Ben
Kingsley.

DETROIT J EWISH NEWS

aking a new movie
where a robed Jew-
ish man stands on a
windswept cliff and
makes the sea part
is risky. Popcorn-
munching viewers
everywhere may re-
act: 'Whoa. Where's
Charlton Heston?"
But Gerald Rafshoon, executive produc-
er of Turner Network Television's Bible Sto-
ry series, is pleased by his takes on
Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and now, "Moses,"
airing at 8 p.m. April 7-8. Success has been
of biblical proportions: "Joseph" broke TV
ratings records in several European coun-
tries and won the 1995 Emmy Award for
Outstanding Miniseries.
How can movies based on the Bible still
appeal? Realistic characterizations let the
timeless messages come through, says Raf-
shoon from his Washington, D.C., home.
"It's the story of a person's journey to find
something in his life. It speaks about val-
ues, ethics and religion."

78

CELLULOID DREAM
Those three concepts don't rank high on
most filmmakers' lists of essentials. Con-
sidering Rafshoon's background, it's odd
that he stresses them over sex, money, and
violence — the holy triad of Hollywood.
The 63-year-old New York native was
head of 20th Century Fox's advertising de-
partment during the Cleopatra period in
the early 1960s, owned his own advertising
agency in Atlanta and served as President
Jimmy Carter's campaign manager and di-
rector of communications in the late 1970s.
After his White House stint, Rafshoon re-
turned to his dream of making movies, pro-
ducing a TV miniseries based on the Atlanta
child murders in 1980.
With "Moses," Rafshoon completes the

Susan Bernstein is a staff writer for the
Atlanta Jewish Times.