Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in
Speaker 1: which we speak with some of the brightest minds working
Speaker 1: in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety.
Speaker 1: When a streaming service has a brand spelled c hai
Speaker 1: fl i cks, some might pronounce it as chai flex,
Speaker 1: which might be movies for I don't know lovers of
Speaker 1: flavored tea, but if you're Jewish, you're likely to pronounce
Speaker 1: the brand Kai flex, Kai being the Hebrew word for life,
Speaker 1: and today's guest breathed life into this streaming service for
Speaker 1: is rally and Jewish themed movies, TV shows and docs
Speaker 1: nearly three years ago. Now Hi Flix founder Neil Friedman
Speaker 1: is ready to embark on the next big step, the
Speaker 1: brand's first original series. We'll be back with him after
Speaker 1: the break.
Speaker 2: We are back with.
Speaker 1: Neil Friedman, CEO and founder of the streaming service high Flix. So, Neil,
Speaker 1: for starters, I'd be remiss in not asking you about
Speaker 1: how the recent tragedy in Israel, how that colors this
Speaker 1: strategy for high Flicks going forward. Certainly it must cast
Speaker 1: quite a shadow over your streaming service and its place
Speaker 1: in the market right now.
Speaker 2: It does in the short run, I think it's we
Speaker 2: had to readjust ourselves immediately to the advertising and social
Speaker 2: media that we're doing. We press pause right away. We
Speaker 2: didn't want to be taking advantage of, you know, the
Speaker 2: attention of what was going on. We wanted to be
Speaker 2: low key and be out of the way. We're storytelling service.
Speaker 2: I will say that even without promoting and spending advertising
Speaker 2: or social media money, our subscribers sent a message to
Speaker 2: us by viewing almost in eighty ninety percent of their
Speaker 2: viewership was of the Israeli programming since the conflict started.
Speaker 2: But I just want to add one other thing to
Speaker 2: that is that you know, we still are a Jewish
Speaker 2: storytelling service for Jewish stories from all over from all
Speaker 2: over the world, Israel included. And I think it's to
Speaker 2: be honest, to be frank, okay, our mission is more
Speaker 2: important now than ever because you know, Jewish culture, Jewish
Speaker 2: history is more precious as a result of this.
Speaker 1: Conflict, I understand. And also so when and where did
Speaker 1: hi Flix get its start.
Speaker 2: We started in the United States and Canada in August
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty with forty titles we had from our
Speaker 2: film distribution company. In February of twenty and twenty one
Speaker 2: we made a deal or arrangement with an Australian distribution
Speaker 2: company that became our partner in Australia and New Zealand.
Speaker 2: So we expanded from the US and Canada to Australia
Speaker 2: New Zealand, and three months ago we expanded into the UK.
Speaker 2: So we're in five of the English speaking territories around
Speaker 2: the world. I guess. The only one that we're not
Speaker 2: included in that category of South Africa, which you know
Speaker 2: we probably will go back and do so.
Speaker 1: And do you have plans beyond those five?
Speaker 2: Yes, we do. We have plans to expand in Europe
Speaker 2: and Latin America as well.
Speaker 1: And at this point, can you say how many subscribers
Speaker 1: you guys have.
Speaker 2: We have had an amazing run over the last three years, Andrew,
Speaker 2: we have surpassed our goals on subscriber levels at every
Speaker 2: step of the way. We have been happily surprised about
Speaker 2: the excitement and the depth of interest in this channel.
Speaker 2: Part of the storyline of our growth and expanding into
Speaker 2: the UK, for instance, lately, has come from the interest
Speaker 2: from outside, not us seeking that territory, but getting emails
Speaker 2: and letters even from the UK asking us to expand
Speaker 2: into the UK. We are very happy with our subscriber
Speaker 2: growth to date. We are a successful company and the
Speaker 2: future is really bright.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I take it. I'm not going to get
Speaker 1: an exact number out of you, but let me ask
Speaker 1: you this, is there a Jewish market that you have
Speaker 1: sized up globally? Is there a target number you're going after.
Speaker 2: I have been involved in the Jewish space for twenty
Speaker 2: years now from the film distribution company that I was
Speaker 2: involved in that I'm still involved with. This is not
Speaker 2: a new exploration for me to extend into the Jewish space.
Speaker 2: Over those twenty years, have developed expertise in the Jewish space.
Speaker 2: We've handled films not only for North America but for worldwide.
Speaker 2: And this is what I focused on in my career
Speaker 2: since I since nineteen ninety eight when I started the
Speaker 2: start the film distribution company, I've focused on just one area,
Speaker 2: built up my expertise and therefore I'm walking into high Flix.
Speaker 2: When we started high Flix with a whole group, long
Speaker 2: list of relationships, trust, expertise. Know how that is I
Speaker 2: think unique to us and what we had done over
Speaker 2: that period is released two hundred and fifty Jewish themed films,
Speaker 2: which is an incredible amount of films, and we built
Speaker 2: up that expertise from distribution of those films and during
Speaker 2: the course of that film distribution company's life prior to
Speaker 2: kay Flicks, we started to get into a TV series
Speaker 2: world because we were asked by an Israeli network to
Speaker 2: release three TVs Israeli TV series through the Jewish Film
Speaker 2: Festival circuit in North America. And that was dipping our
Speaker 2: toe in the in the series of the TV world
Speaker 2: when we in the past, so we were from that
Speaker 2: experience and that new area for us right then and
Speaker 2: there we decided that we were going to develop into
Speaker 2: a streaming service, and we had put together business plans
Speaker 2: after that experience, and we were ready to go, and
Speaker 2: then the pandemic happened, and then we decided that there's
Speaker 2: no reason to delay to a date later and we
Speaker 2: went the first week of the pandemic. We were all
Speaker 2: set ready to go.
Speaker 1: Makes sense. And so you're basically describing your background at
Speaker 1: Minemsha Films, and obviously clearly this experience establishes can't think
Speaker 1: of a better person to get into this marketplace given
Speaker 1: your background. But I still want to understand how big
Speaker 1: is this global market that we're talking about.
Speaker 2: We're talking about the streaming world right so, and the
Speaker 2: world has changed. So we're not talking about distribution into
Speaker 2: North American cinemas, and we're not talking about out limited access.
Speaker 2: We're talking about home availability of programming. So there's a
Speaker 2: couple there's a lot to talk about here. First of all,
Speaker 2: there's an incredible amount of programming that's available that was
Speaker 2: that we found, that's available, that has been untapped. And
Speaker 2: even though others had acquired other Jewish or Israeli series
Speaker 2: that people know about, we found out that there was
Speaker 2: ninety five percent of the terrific available programs were not
Speaker 2: acquired and not available. So we when we started, we
Speaker 2: started with forty minemsha titles that were Jewish theme. We
Speaker 2: had that advantage. That's how we that's how we're able
Speaker 2: to pivot right into the once the pandemic hit, the
Speaker 2: start conflicts right away. But what we also did is
Speaker 2: once the pandemic started and we no long could distribute
Speaker 2: our film district Bausch And Companies films in theaters because
Speaker 2: theaters were closed and film festivals were closed, we spent
Speaker 2: that time immediately into pursuing more of the TV world
Speaker 2: and the other programming world of Israeli Jewish. I'm going
Speaker 2: to make that. I'm going to go over that again.
Speaker 2: We are Jewish streaming service, and I want everybody to
Speaker 2: understand that much of the programming Israeli, but we are
Speaker 2: worldwide Jewish streaming service. So the first acquisition we made
Speaker 2: for Jewish streaming service is a show called The New
Speaker 2: Black or in Hebrew Shabbat ni Kim, which we now
Speaker 2: have two years, two series, two seasons on the channel,
Speaker 2: and it's one of the most successful series that we have. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and mine as well. And this is a series I
Speaker 2: will say that could be on any streaming service. And
Speaker 2: I think when I was referring to our expertise that
Speaker 2: we grew over those twenty years of being a film
Speaker 2: distribution company, part of the reason that we ended up
Speaker 2: with a quality program like The New Black was based
Speaker 2: on that experience, and we've taken that experience and continued
Speaker 2: to grow that experience. We quickly after acquiring The New Black,
Speaker 2: which was our first television series, which really got us
Speaker 2: going right away because everybody loved it, we made a
Speaker 2: three series deal with one of the premiere Israeli television
Speaker 2: networks called Yes Studios. So in the first eight to
Speaker 2: ten months of the company we already had. We were
Speaker 2: off to the races as far as TV was concerned,
Speaker 2: and we've only expanded into other areas of programming. We
Speaker 2: now have thirty five TV series on the channel, not
Speaker 2: all Israeli. We have a wonderful Swiss series, we have
Speaker 2: a wonderful polar series, and you will see series from
Speaker 2: all over the world. But I want to emphasize something.
Speaker 2: There's something in the water in Israel. How So, the
Speaker 2: quality of the of the creative pool there is absolutely
Speaker 2: unique and specific to that country. Whatever way you want
Speaker 2: to analyze it, pound for pound, it is no question
Speaker 2: the best talented TV pool in the world. Well it's clear.
Speaker 1: I mean you look at the track record that that
Speaker 1: country has had in terms of exporting those shows, whether
Speaker 1: it's the shows themselves or the formats. I think people
Speaker 1: don't even in this country realize how some of not
Speaker 1: necessarily the biggest shows, but some very successful shows in
Speaker 1: this in the US are based on Israeli formats.
Speaker 2: Israel revolutionized the television business because they exported formats. Yeah so,
Speaker 2: and many of this reel companies have Los Angeles offices
Speaker 2: now because they're really Hollywood players. So that just speaks
Speaker 2: to the ingenuity from the business side of what they
Speaker 2: were doing, but it also speaks to the exceptional quality
Speaker 2: of the programming that was created.
Speaker 1: Now, what I would also think bodes well for your service.
Speaker 2: I mean you.
Speaker 1: Cited earlier, obviously the pandemic was probably a real accelerant
Speaker 1: for high Flix. You know, maybe the stuff the movies
Speaker 1: that people would have gone to theaters for now they
Speaker 1: were going to be willing to watch at home while
Speaker 1: they were sheltered at home. But what I would also
Speaker 1: argue was the success of shows like Fouda and Shtistle
Speaker 1: on Netflix probably really opened up the appetites for Israeli
Speaker 1: type shows for your service, would you say that was
Speaker 1: also a big factor.
Speaker 2: No question about it. What I want to emphasize there
Speaker 2: is those shows are not just There's the viewership is
Speaker 2: not just Jewish, right, because of the quality of those shows,
Speaker 2: we see the world the same way. And the other
Speaker 2: thing that I want to emphasize here is those two
Speaker 2: shows that you just mentioned are just the tip of
Speaker 2: the iceberg. How So, there are fifty shows of that
Speaker 2: quality that have been made in the Israeli television business.
Speaker 2: We've been lucky enough to get a certain amount of
Speaker 2: those fifty and they've been very successful on our service,
Speaker 2: and we can continue to acquire and put those undiscovered gems,
Speaker 2: those hidden gems our on our channel. This is what
Speaker 2: we do. We're micro focused on the Jewish storytelling, and
Speaker 2: that gives us an advantage and a focus that other
Speaker 2: streamers don't have.
Speaker 1: Sure, although you know, here's the thing though, when I
Speaker 1: there's obviously a vast world of so called niche streamers
Speaker 1: or specialty streamers out there.
Speaker 2: But don't you think.
Speaker 1: All so that when people think of the Netflixes of
Speaker 1: the world, the Amazons, the you know, the the big
Speaker 1: Kahunas out there, that because there's such a vast amount
Speaker 1: of programming on those services, that they've come to expect
Speaker 1: that the kind of libraries that a that a high
Speaker 1: Flix has could be on those premium services instead of
Speaker 1: on a niche player like yourself.
Speaker 2: I don't think so, why, because I think that we're
Speaker 2: The whole idea behind high Flix is one stop shopping
Speaker 2: for a certain kind of subscriber, Okay, that core Jewish
Speaker 2: subscriber who who has a voracious and a very loyal
Speaker 2: attendance to viewing Jewish storytelling and what we've found with
Speaker 2: the series of successes that we've had, especially on the
Speaker 2: television side for us with Shabatanakeam, then with a series
Speaker 2: called Unchained, which w has become a big hit, and
Speaker 2: very recently with a series called The Lesson that once
Speaker 2: these folks binge these series, they go out and look
Speaker 2: at the other eighteen hundred hours of programming that's available
Speaker 2: on high Flix and that's unique to high Flix. Now,
Speaker 2: eighteen hundred is just the begin is where we are. Now,
Speaker 2: We're going to grow and continue and build the quality
Speaker 2: programming on our channel and continue and continue and continue.
Speaker 2: This is a life pursuit. This is not a this
Speaker 2: is not a pandemic pursuit on our part. We're building
Speaker 2: this channel for preservation of Jewish culture and the storytelling
Speaker 2: that we'll that will that registers in the audience, Jewish
Speaker 2: or otherwise, will register in the word of mouth that
Speaker 2: comes from people's viewing of this quality programming makes people
Speaker 2: want to watch more and come to high Flix more
Speaker 2: and tell others about the channel. We have tremendous word
Speaker 2: of mouth, tremendous, whether it's rabbis at synagogues, whether it's
Speaker 2: Jewish federations, whether it's the press. And we're building a
Speaker 2: unique streaming service that, although it is Jewish storytelling, it
Speaker 2: will have it has a quality base and a spirit
Speaker 2: that can go beyond just the Jewish audience because it's
Speaker 2: the bad stories that everybody can relate to, not just
Speaker 2: Jewish folks.
Speaker 1: We will be back to help Meil spread the word
Speaker 1: of mouth right after these messages, and we are back
Speaker 1: with Neil Freedman, CEO and founder of the streaming service
Speaker 1: hi Flix. So in terms of how people discover hi Flix,
Speaker 1: you know, I caught an interesting statistic. There was a
Speaker 1: firm called Antenna Research that studies specialty and niche streaming services.
Speaker 1: Last month, they just said that two out of every
Speaker 1: three specialty streaming services are discovered through so called aggregators
Speaker 1: like Amazon Channels, compared to just nine percent of the
Speaker 1: so called premium you know, the big time streaming services.
Speaker 1: Is there any arrangement like that for your service or
Speaker 1: you aggregated elsewhere or how do we find you answer?
Speaker 2: You asked a great question, and I'm really happy that
Speaker 2: you asked that question. We've had that decision to make
Speaker 2: from the very beginning whether to go and become a
Speaker 2: channel on Amazon or Roku, et cetera, et cetera. But
Speaker 2: there's something unique to our channel that's different than any
Speaker 2: other niche distributors. We have a world unto itself. People
Speaker 2: that are on our streaming service US have uncles in
Speaker 2: another part of the world, another part of North America.
Speaker 2: They have friends, friends, they have university roommates. We believe
Speaker 2: that we do not need to be on a bigger
Speaker 2: channel in order to grow, and that's not that's been
Speaker 2: the case. We don't want to give over our channel
Speaker 2: to another platform. We want us We want to continue
Speaker 2: to go in the way that we have been successful
Speaker 2: from day one, which was starting with one subscriber all
Speaker 2: the way up to where we are today, where we're
Speaker 2: continuing every single day to add subscribers. That's the way
Speaker 2: it's worked. It's worked on word of mouth, and then
Speaker 2: maybe it's unique to the Jewish space, okay, as opposed
Speaker 2: to other spaces, but we're going We're banking on that
Speaker 2: and what we and part of that is the experience
Speaker 2: have had at the film Distribution Company in the sense
Speaker 2: that our repation as that name Menemsha became a brand
Speaker 2: name in the in the Jewish world in North America
Speaker 2: as big as Mirror Mex. Okay, you, when you narrow
Speaker 2: the world to the Jewish world, Menemsha is a big,
Speaker 2: big brand, and the ki Flix and when it's narrow
Speaker 2: to the Jewish world in the world, is a big,
Speaker 2: big brand, and we want that for ourselves.
Speaker 1: Makes sense. And also you don't have to split revenue
Speaker 1: with the aggregator, which certainly helps your business. Of course,
Speaker 1: another thing that could help ky Flix is a nice
Speaker 1: breakout original hit of your own. So it sounds like
Speaker 1: you guys are now ready to talk about a first
Speaker 1: original program. Tell us what's what's coming for ki Flix
Speaker 1: on that front?
Speaker 2: Okay? So we have, as I said to you, we
Speaker 2: now have eighteen hundred hours of programming. It's all fired programming,
Speaker 2: and it's not programming, it's third party acquisition programming. But
Speaker 2: we have I'm announcing now with you that we have
Speaker 2: our first original it's called Schmoozing and Cruising and it's
Speaker 2: a kosher food series. Okay, six episodes with a food
Speaker 2: subject matter as the essence of each thirty minute episode.
Speaker 2: One episode is about barbecue, one is about doughnuts, one
Speaker 2: is about coffee, one is about Chinese And in each
Speaker 2: episode you will see three restaurants in different cities in
Speaker 2: the country who highlight who present that kind of food
Speaker 2: as a highlight of their menu. And we're in essence,
Speaker 2: this series is bringing the kosher food world again, something
Speaker 2: that not everybody knows about, not even the Jewish world.
Speaker 2: It's sort of underground to some extent, out into out
Speaker 2: above ground. And this is this is what our mo
Speaker 2: O is with the channel. Overall, we're bringing great programming,
Speaker 2: whether it's from Israel, or whether it's from from uh Poland,
Speaker 2: or whether it's from Swiss Jewish programming out into the
Speaker 2: world for the Jewish and audience and and the larger audience.
Speaker 2: We believe, okay, we believe that we're onto something that
Speaker 2: is only going to get bigger, and that in the
Speaker 2: same way that you talked about the format rights of
Speaker 2: of the of the Israeli programming being remade in the
Speaker 2: in the home countries, we believe that these stories that
Speaker 2: are that that are that the Jewish storytelling that that
Speaker 2: that we have on our channel are available to others
Speaker 2: in the in the sense that they they're about human experience, okay,
Speaker 2: and that's why they're transferable beyond the Jewish audience.
Speaker 1: So when are we going to start? When do we
Speaker 1: see a first episode hit the service.
Speaker 2: Of the of the original Yeah, just before Thanksgiving?
Speaker 1: Makes sense?
Speaker 2: And is this going to be by the way, it's
Speaker 2: time to Thanksgiving because that's a food holiday.
Speaker 1: As makes sense. And by the way, food is a
Speaker 1: savvy programming choice.
Speaker 2: Nothing is more.
Speaker 1: Universal in its jewishness than food, like I get it.
Speaker 2: And what about kosher food that's even more Jewish?
Speaker 1: Absolutely? Will this take place in international cities or is
Speaker 1: it just you as.
Speaker 2: It's North America?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: And you know it will play in all five of
Speaker 2: the territories that Kiflix is on. And this is just
Speaker 2: our first foray, we're dipping our toe in this water,
Speaker 2: and we are going to rely on licensing third party
Speaker 2: series or from around the world, and we'll go step
Speaker 2: by step, including this original program in building the channel.
Speaker 1: Now, what's the cruising element in this.
Speaker 2: The idea is that you're going from city to city, okay,
Speaker 2: because every episode will take place in three cities, in
Speaker 2: three different restaurants, one restaurant in each city.
Speaker 1: Okay, sound can can you preview what restaurants are going
Speaker 1: to make the cut in this first season.
Speaker 2: There's one in you know, I don't know the name
Speaker 2: of the restaurants on the top of my head, but
Speaker 2: you know it's if there's one in the valley here,
Speaker 2: there's one in Cleveland, there's They're all every every part
Speaker 2: of the US.
Speaker 1: I'm salivating already. Yeah, no, it sounds absolutely.
Speaker 2: This is just part of what we do. I mean,
Speaker 2: the whole idea is that this is a repertoire. This
Speaker 2: is not this is one stop shopping. I want to
Speaker 2: keep emphasizing this right, one stop shopping, preserving Jewish culture.
Speaker 2: So where our ideas to go to a to z okay?
Speaker 2: In terms of kinds of programming, a subject matter of
Speaker 2: programming and sensibility of programming.
Speaker 1: Now do you see this says the first in a
Speaker 1: I'll have to use a food metaphor menu of original
Speaker 1: could be?
Speaker 2: Could be? Obviously you said it yourself. Food is makes
Speaker 2: sense that this would be the first original from a
Speaker 2: Jewish streaming service. Why not? Okay, it's too early to tell.
Speaker 2: I think this is this. You know, this could be
Speaker 2: something special. We just don't know yet.
Speaker 1: Sure, sure, I also have to ask the most Jewish
Speaker 1: of questions, what does it cost per month or per
Speaker 1: year to access high Flex? And is that something that
Speaker 1: could change over time?
Speaker 2: It's it's right now. It's seventy two dollars for an
Speaker 2: annual subscription and nine to ninety nine month.
Speaker 1: And is that the same price in different regions or.
Speaker 2: That's the same price in all five territories?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: And we want to make it affordable. Okay. We're not
Speaker 2: looking for an elite audience. We want it. We we
Speaker 2: we have a cultural function here. Remember I keep it.
Speaker 2: I want to hit this bell often as often as
Speaker 2: I can, preserving Jewish culture. We wanted it affordable. And
Speaker 2: what we're finding and what we know now is that
Speaker 2: people really love this channel and people watch and are
Speaker 2: voracious about it. And I'll tell you we sent out
Speaker 2: a survey. I think it was about price, matter of fact,
Speaker 2: and we wanted to talk to our subscribers this and
Speaker 2: I would tell you, maybe not half, but a tremendously
Speaker 2: large percentage of our audience said when we asked them
Speaker 2: what about the price point, they said, we don't care
Speaker 2: what it costs, we just want the channel. So that
Speaker 2: was a complete surprise to us, and that made us
Speaker 2: think that we were onto something okay, And you know,
Speaker 2: how could you How can I not feel that way
Speaker 2: because there is nothing out there like this. And you know,
Speaker 2: being Jewish, by the way, is not just being Jewish.
Speaker 2: It's not just being a secular Jew. There's other aspects
Speaker 2: that we think about in terms of being Jewish, whether
Speaker 2: that's takun olam, you know, changing the world, whether it's
Speaker 2: uh all these all these good traits of a human
Speaker 2: being that come from our our history that and you
Speaker 2: don't need to be Jewish to be that way. So
Speaker 2: maybe we'll have a whole section on social justice unrelated
Speaker 2: to being Jewish. Me personally, when I see the refugee
Speaker 2: crisis going on in the world right now, how can
Speaker 2: I not think about World War two and and the
Speaker 2: and the Jews situation in Germany. So is that is
Speaker 2: that a Jewish subject matter that should be on the service?
Speaker 2: It's a social justice issue. I'm I'm open to expanding
Speaker 2: that way as well. Well.
Speaker 1: That's interesting and it's commendable. But when you start getting
Speaker 1: down that road, I also think you could potentially slide
Speaker 1: down a slippery slope that could get divisive because obviously
Speaker 1: there's also nothing more Jewish than disagreeing on stances about
Speaker 1: social justice. And different kinds of Jews have different kinds
Speaker 1: of views. And then perhaps the audience starts to splinter
Speaker 1: because politics get in the way. Do you think about
Speaker 1: those kinds?
Speaker 2: We're not political, okay, we're not political, okay, But I'll
Speaker 2: tell you there's two things that every Jew and this
Speaker 2: is what I've learned from my handling this subject area
Speaker 2: for twenty years. There's two things that every Jew cares about.
Speaker 2: The Holocaust in Israel, and I'm not when we you know,
Speaker 2: that's not the only program we have. Obviously, Coach of
Speaker 2: Food doesn't fit into any of those two categories, right,
Speaker 2: But we're not taking a position on any of those
Speaker 2: two issues.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: This is what Jews are, every Jew thinks about, and
Speaker 2: these are and this the discussion is exactly what the
Speaker 2: channel is for, to share programming, for people to discuss it.
Speaker 2: May have different points of view on it.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: And by the way, if you know there's going to
Speaker 2: be so much programming on the end, there already is.
Speaker 2: If you don't like one show for whatever reason, there's
Speaker 2: eighteen hundred other hours to watch.
Speaker 1: Sure, but even when you say something like Israel that
Speaker 1: can be divisive, and you could put something in that
Speaker 1: one program about Israel that could offend someone to the
Speaker 1: point where they don't want to watch the other eighteen.
Speaker 2: I don't think sellers. I disagree with you about that.
Speaker 2: And it's our job as a as a as a
Speaker 2: streamer preserving Jewish culture to present the panoply of points
Speaker 2: of view, and not everybody is going to agree with
Speaker 2: every point of view. And when I say point of view,
Speaker 2: I'm talking about a narrator of fiction show primarily, but
Speaker 2: if it's a documentary and somebody has a point of view,
Speaker 2: there's another documentary we will have a different point of view.
Speaker 2: And that discussion, you know, you say two Jews, three synagogues,
Speaker 2: this is part of who we are and that dialogue
Speaker 2: is something that we want to encourage and we want
Speaker 2: It's like a library. If you and I, you and
Speaker 2: I went to the UCLA library and went into the
Speaker 2: Jewish section, You're going to pull out three books, and
Speaker 2: I'm going to pull out three other books, and then
Speaker 2: we're going to sit and discuss. That's what that's the
Speaker 2: basis of who we are.
Speaker 1: That's certainly commendable and also you know there's different shows
Speaker 1: on your service. There are also other streaming services and
Speaker 1: channels out there servicing Jewish programming. Do you think much
Speaker 1: about the competition out there.
Speaker 2: No, we're aware of it, but we are different than
Speaker 2: everybody else. Okay, nobody's released two hundred and fifty Jewish
Speaker 2: theme films over fifteen years that I have. Nobody has
Speaker 2: their relationships with film sellers, producers, sales companies, television companies
Speaker 2: just in the Jewish space that we do. We've built
Speaker 2: this up over years and years, first from our film
Speaker 2: side and now since Hi Flicks started in two thousand
Speaker 2: and twenty, and people come to us because they want
Speaker 2: to be on our channel, because they want access to
Speaker 2: our audiences. We're getting solicited more and more from sellers,
Speaker 2: from producers, from sales agents for their programming to come
Speaker 2: to Kiflis. Why because the past experience of other shows
Speaker 2: and other producers has been that people are completely ecstatic
Speaker 2: and happy and content with the experience of appreciation of
Speaker 2: their shows. With our audience. We have an audience and
Speaker 2: nobody else has and this is the audience for that,
Speaker 2: and that's why people are now coming to us to
Speaker 2: bring their programming to us, and we have a certain
Speaker 2: way of dealing with these with programming which comes out
Speaker 2: of the film side, I think, and my sensitivity, every
Speaker 2: single show is a child, and we deal with it
Speaker 2: in a special and sensitive way. That's the only way
Speaker 2: to be a film distributor. We're not a big company,
Speaker 2: we're not one of the we're not cut from the
Speaker 2: studio world. Uh. And and the big streaming world where
Speaker 2: it's just product product product. We're sensitive and I think
Speaker 2: that relates a little bit to my personality, to the
Speaker 2: truth to being to handling every every film, every program
Speaker 2: as if it's your the only child you have.
Speaker 1: Well, uh, that is certainly an admirable approach, and I
Speaker 1: appreciate you schmoozing with me about the channel and look
Speaker 1: forward to seeing how you'll be cruising into twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four with ki Flix. Thank you, Neil for walking me
Speaker 1: through your fascinating venture.
Speaker 2: Thank you great to be here.
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