IZZY’s David Levine

With the acquisition of Dori Media Group’s Dumb and the recruitment of ex-Disney executive David Levine, Israeli streamer IZZY is embarking on a drive to expand its reach into teen and young adult audiences. World Screen Weekly caught up with Levine to hear about what this evolution means for IZZY’s content strategy and what he’s on the lookout for.

WS: What appealed to you about joining IZZY?
LEVINE: I recently moved to Israel. I’ve always been passionate about bringing Israeli content to the world. When I was at Disney, we had an original show in Israel called North Star. I had been very inspired by Homeland and In Treatment, two early Israeli formats. I wanted to do my part for Israel and bring an Israeli kids’ show to the world. And we did it on Disney Channel with [adapting North Star into] The Lodge. Ever since then, I’ve tried to figure out ways to support the country. When this opportunity came up, it was like the perfect marriage of my experience and my desire to support Israeli content.

WS: Tell us about the move into daily dramas and younger-skewing content, and the viewing habits you’re looking to cultivate.
LEVINE: Historically, particularly with the younger cohort, there has been a habit of watching kid and teen telenovelas. We had incredible success with that at Disney with the likes of Violetta and Soy Luna. This seemed like a natural way for us to stand out in the marketplace and get the attention of kids and teens. We’ve also seen a rise in daily microdramas. The habit of coming back to a daily piece of content is there. It’s a shorter duration, it’s more snackable. We hope to reignite some of the old habits that existed with the telenovelas of the past. Those telenovelas tended to be longer in format. This is the middle point—generally half-hour episodes. So, it’s shorter than the traditional telenovela, but longer than the minute microdramas.

Tapping into the audience and understanding what they want and what they’re looking for is much more frictionless today than ever before. Particularly when you’re dealing with an older cohort, you can communicate with them directly, not only behind the scenes, but also from a fandom and audience standpoint. I’m looking forward to that. In the kids’ space, you are limited in terms of dealing with your audience. With this, we’re able to tap into all the social media means available to any content. We’re looking to leverage the natural audience for this. Many young people come to Israel, for example, over the summer for tours. These are already people who have an affinity to be exposed to Israeli culture, and so they are the prime ambassadors for us. We’re looking to determine how we can reach that audience as they’re in the country over the next few months.

WS: You do have a fantastic well of Israeli creativity to tap into in terms of shows that have already been made. Are you also looking at opportunities where you can board projects early as originals?
LEVINE: We’re interested in exploring opportunities that allow us to get in earlier. There are plans for an original show in 2026.

WS: Can you tell us about the challenges and opportunities for IZZY in building a brand in this crowded streaming environment?
LEVINE: Clearly, there are the big brands out there that are either must-haves or already-haves. You’ve got to compete to be one of the additional services. We have a unique proposition that comes from a positive place of being able to bring Israeli content and culture to audiences around the world. It’s all different kinds of content—documentaries, films, TV—and now we’re moving into this additional demographic. Having this unique proposition and having it in all these different languages puts us at an advantage to be one of those additional choices for anyone who has an interest or a passion for what’s happening in Israel.

WS: What else can you tell us about the lineup?
LEVINE: We are focused on Israeli content. We’re not looking to import content that is Israel- or Jewish-theme adjacent. It’s a very strict mission. We’re excited to look at new opportunities.