Tyrant production moved amid Israeli/Palestinian conflict

Production on new U.S. drama series Tyrant has been relocated from Tel Aviv, Israel to Istanbul, Turkey amid the ongoing political unrest in the Middle East. The show, starring actor Adam Rayner as the youngest son of a dictator in a fictional Middle Eastern country, has been filming episodes in the Israeli capital, but the escalating violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces has made the area too dangerous to continue.
As a result, producers at the FX network, which airs the programme, moved the shoot to Turkey last week (ends18Jul14) so the cast and crew could complete work on the remaining two instalments of season one.
Showrunner Howard Gordon says, “Tel Aviv was under missile fire and people were running into bomb shelters. I don’t think anybody felt physically threatened, but it was not conducive to shooting.”
The news about Tyrant’s relocation emerges days after a number of top musicians, including Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Paul Anka and the Backstreet Boys, cancelled concerts in Israel in the wake of the escalating conflict.