Even when it comes to biblical land-
scapes, price usually wins out over au-
thenticity. The most recent example, a
production of "Moses" by HBO, was shot
in Morocco and India. The last full-scale
Hollywood production shot in Israel was
back in 1987, when Sylvester Stallone
shot Rambo III using Israel's desert
scenery as a substitute for Afghanistan.

(Steven Spielberg's one-day shoot in
Jerusalem for the closing scene in
Schindler's List doesn't really count.)
Sternfeld and Rosenbaum both laugh
at the idea that the multitude of Israelis
in Hollywood encourages more produc-
tion in Israel. "Hollywood is very buck-
oriented," says Rosenbaum. "If they can
come to Morocco instead of coming here

and save $2 million, that's what they are
going to do."
"Big-time producer Arnon Milchan has
not made a film in Israel since he left,"
says Sternfeld. "And it certainly doesn't
help that we have Jews in Los Angeles
who are the heads of big studios. The
movie business is business. There's no
sentiment involved here." ❑

ILLUSTRATI ON BY MICHAEL GU NN

extremely cheap to film. Some countries
are so eager to be used as film sites that
they offer incentives Israel can't match.
Morocco, for example, will cover the costs
of flights and offer free hotels to a Holly-
wood producer who wishes to shoot there.
And the salaries of crews and of extras
there are far lower than Israel can
offer.