Television drama
In 1997, Sivan changed directions and began focusing on television. Sivan wrote and directed, along with director Eytan Fox, the successful Israeli television drama series Florentine, starring Ayelet Zurer and Karin Ofir. Florentine achieved great success amongst viewers, and aired for three seasons. In 1998, Sivan participated in the project Short Stories about Love of the Israeli Channel 2 TV network, where he wrote and directed the short film Domino which won short film of the year in the London Fantasy Film Festival, and was broadcast on the BBC film channel.
In 2000, Sivan co-created and was head screenwriter of the popular Israeli television series Saturdays and Holidays, starring Alon Abutbul and Lior Ashkenazi, which ran for 5 seasons. Saturdays and Holidays was highly successful amongst both viewers and critics, won the Israeli Film Academy Award for television series and the Israeli Gold Screen Award. In 2003, Sivan wrote and directed the television film I Had a Wonderful Childhood.
In 2005, Sivan co-created, co-directed, and was head screenwriter of the original Israeli television series In Treatment (Betipul), starring Assi Dayan, Ayelet Zurer, and Maya Maron. In Treatment (Betipul), which includes 3 seasons and 80 episodes, won the Israeli Film Academy Awards best drama series as well as best screenplay for two years in a row. It was the first ever Israeli TV series to be sold in the US to the American premium cable and satellite TV network giant HBO for re-make.
The American version, In Treatment (same name), is based on the Israeli series' format, opening theme, and script, which is often word-for-word translations of the Israeli script. The American In Treatment series was critically acclaimed and was broadcast on HBO as a prime-time weeknight series, starring Gabriel Byrne, who won for his role as Dr. Paul Weston the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a drama series of 2008. In Treatment aired on HBO for 3 seasons from 2008 to 2010, received outstanding reviews, and won numerous honors, including Emmy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild awards. In addition to HBO, The original Israeli series was sold for re-make and broadcast in more than 20 countries including Spain, Italy, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Belgium and The Netherlands.
In 2011, Sivan created and directed a 6 episodes historical mini drama series names Barefoot for Israel's HOT 3 TV channel.
