With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) striking simultaneously, the pending state of original scripted programming is rapidly deteriorating. So, when news recently broke that streamer ChaiFlicks has acquired a roster of new original programming, I immediately took notice. And so should you.
ChaiFlicks, which launched three years ago, is a streaming platform for Jewish-themed storytelling. As a “Jewish Netflix”, so to speak, the service was founded by Neil Friedman and Heidi Bogin Oshin, who run Menemsha Films, and Bill Weiner, who is a former senior executive at New Regency.
Founded in 1998, Menemsha is a U.S.-based distribution and international sales company focused on distributing a wide array of films from around the globe.
“Over the last 15 years Menemsha has only been in the Jewish and Israeli space. Prior to the pandemic, we had leased about 150 Jewish and Israeli films,” noted Neil Friedman. “When the pandemic hit, we knew the world was changing and we made a prediction this would have a big impact of the future of people going to theaters. With this available library, we launched ChaiFlicks the first week of the pandemic.”
“At the inception, ChaiFlicks featured 40 of our Menemsha films, and we made a quick decision to go on Vimeo,” he remembered. “As the pandemic progressed we continued to acquire programming for ChaiFlicks from third parties from around the world. But when I saw the success of Fauda and Shtisel on Netflix, I knew we needed to expand our reach to television series themed to the Jewish and Israeli world.”
The first acquisition for ChaiFlicks in the category, Shababnikim (The New Black), remains one of its biggest hit. The comedy follows four rebellious students at a prestigious Orthodox Yeshiva in Jerusalem as they try to reconcile their desire for modern life with their religious upbringings.
“In starting the Jewish streaming service, we were confident we could reach both the audience of that faith and beyond with a roster of quality shows,” said Friedman. “Our core audience is the Jewish community, but we have aspirations that ChaiFlicks will not only be just Jewish subscribers.”
Now available in five territories around the world (U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and U.K.), ChaiFlicks has announced new content following the recent arrivals of the drama The Lesson, which traces an explosive classroom argument between a high school civics teacher and his 18-year-old student, documentary series The Hebrews, and drama film Those Who Remained is The Elected. Debuting on September 7, The Elected follows the female members elected to Israel’s Parliament (Knesset) and the struggles they have faced over the years.
In Other Programming News at ChaiFlicks
Normal, a semi-autographical series from Lior Dayan (son of Israeli actor and writer Assi Dayan, and grandson of Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Dayan), will launch on the streamer on Wednesday, October 4.
On December 20, ChaiFlicks will premiere the fourth season of Wartime Girls, which centers on three young Polish women as they fight Nazi occupation during World War II. The first three seasons are currently available for streaming.
Additionally, as the current showcase for its inaugural Free Summer Film Festival, which wraps up on August 14, the featured films includes The Keeper, The Kind Words, Golda, Kosher Beach, Israeli Love Story, The Cakemaker, The Last Laugh and East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem.
“Like everyone else, our success is dependent on the caliber of the programming,” noted Friedman. “As the word of mouth continues to spread, others outside of the Jewish community are going to hear about it, take a chance, and become subscribers. That’s our goal.”
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