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Exclusive: Israeli content streamer Izzy is pushing into daily series, and veteran international TV exec David Levine is onboard to oversee the strategy.

The plan is kicking off this month with Dumb, an Israeli drama series for Hot that was licensed from Dori Media. It was created by and stars Bat-Chen Sabag and Lior Raz (Fauda), and Shay Capon is the director. Episodes will rollout every weekday.

That will be followed by a slate of teen dramas from Paramount Global’s Israeli production house, Ananey Studios, and we understand that Teen Nick drama Rising is among the first of them. The strategy, led by former Disney Channel and Moonbug exec Levine, is being positioned as a response to a perceived growing appetite for serialized programs.

“Expanding into daily drama represents a transformative moment for Izzy,” said Nati Dinnar, CEO and co-founder of Izzy. “We are redefining what international audiences can...

Global streaming platform Izzy, which specializes in Israeli shows and films, is set to exclusively launch “Kugel,” the highly anticipated prequel to Netflix hit “Shtisel,” on Feb. 28 to its subscribers across more than 60 countries. Variety spoke to Nati Dinnar, Izzy’s co-founder and CEO, about the show and why he was so keen to acquire it for the streamer.

“Shtisel” launched in 2013 on Israeli network Yes and ran for three seasons on Yes and on Netflix outside Israel, fast becoming a worldwide hit. The series scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and was praised as “groundbreaking television” by the New York Times, won 11 awards at the Israeli Television Academy Awards in 2013 and took home six awards in 2015.

Izzy will be launching “Kugel” in 12 languages, including English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Portuguese. “Shtisel,” which is also to be found on Izzy, followed the lives of the extended Shtisel family – a warm, closely-knit and argumentative ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem.

Exclusive: Fans of Israeli TV were handed an early Chanukah gift on Wednesday when broadcaster Yes and Fremantle revealed they had cooked up a prequel to hit drama series Shtisel.

Just as crucial a cog in the Kugel machine is Izzy, an Israeli streaming platform that has taken rights to the prequel and will air the show from early next year outside of Israel.

“Everyone wanted to keep this brand alive,” said Nati Dinnar, an Israeli TV vet who founded Izzy in 2020 and has since landed global rights to both Kugel and Shtisel.

Kugel has already launched locally on Yes and yet the majority of its global fanbase and industry only learned of its existence 48 hours ago. Set several years earlier than Shtisel, Kugel moves to Antwerp, Belgium, where Shulem Shtisel’s brother Nuchem and his daughter Libi are making their way in life, with plenty bumps along the way.

Global powerhouse Fremantle, international streaming service Izzy, production house Abot Hameiri and Israeli broadcaster Yes have partnered on the distribution of drama series “Kugel,” the prequel to the hit series “Shtisel.”

“Kugel” will launch on Izzy early next year, appealing to fans of two of the main characters of “Shtisel,” Nuchem (Sasson Gabai) and his daughter Libi (Hadas Yaron).

“Shtisel” followed the lives of a tight-knit ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem. Previously available in the U.S. on Netflix, all three seasons of “Shtisel” were acquired earlier this year by Amazon Prime Video.

“Kugel” is written by “Shtisel” co-creator Yehonatan Indursky. The commissioning broadcaster is Yes, which holds rights in Israel. Fremantle handles global sales. It is produced by Fremantle, Fremantle’s Abot Hameiri and Menuetto Film. (See the trailer here.)

The series takes places when Libi lived with Nuchem among the ultra-Orthodox community of Antwerp, Belgium, long before she met her future husband,...

The Shtisel universe is expanding.

The smash Israeli series about the trials and tribulations of an orthodox Jewish family is being handed a prequel titled Kugel, following Libi Shtisel in Belgium years before she marries Akiva.

From Shtisel co-creator Yehonatan Indursky, Kugel will launch next year on Israeli net Yes and global streamer Izzy. The show will tell the story of Libi (Hadas Yaron) and her father Nuchem (Sasson Gabai). Nuchem is a charming jewellery dealer, unafraid of bending the rules to make a sale. But when his wife Yides (Mili Avital) finally tires of his swindling and says she wants a divorce, their family life is thrown into disarray – Nuchem spends his days trying to save his marriage and achieve his dream of one day being a mogul, and his nights courting Pnina Baumbach, a recently-widowed woman who inherited a restaurant that specializes in fine Jerusalem-style noodle kugels, hence the name.

Shtisel, the Israeli drama about an ultra-Orthodox family that became an unlikely global hit, is getting a spinoff.

Shtisel producers Abot Hameiri are teaming with Israeli’s Yes network and streamer Izzy to deliver Kugel, the next chapter in the lives of father-daughter duo Nuchem and Libi Shtisel, played by Sasson Gabai and Hadas Yaron. Kugel will move the action from Israel to 1990s Antwerp, Belgium, exploring Nuchem’s life as a jewelry dealer and Libi’s ambitions to pursue a career as a writer while navigating the complexities of family, faith, and love.

The eight-episode series, written by Shtisel co-creator Yehonatan Indursky and directed by Erez Kavel, will premiere on Izzy in early 2025. The series is being co-produced as a collaboration between Abot Hameiri, parent company Fremantle, and Menuetto Film. Fremantle is selling the show internationally.

Created and written by Indursky and Ori Elon, Shtisel originally aired on Yes...

Apc, Hat Trick & Dcd Joins Forces For London Screenings

A trio of distributors will join forces to showcase their latest wares at next year’s London TV Screenings. About Premium Content (Apc), Hat Trick International (Hti) and Dcd Rights will combine to introduce buyers to content at an event on Tuesday, February 25 at the Vue West End in Leicester Square from 4.30pm-7.30pm local time. Apc co-founders Emmanuelle Guilbart and Laurent Boissel and Hti chief Sarah Tong noted how combing efforts would allow time-stretched acquisitions execs access to more programming during an increasingly busy week of international screenings. Dcd Rights and Hat Trick have jointly screened at the Vue for the past two years. Dcd Rights CEO Nicky Davies-Williams said she was “pleased to have Apc join us and Hti for our annual screenings and drinks at the Vue, which has proved to be a must attend event over the past years.

Legendary “Pulp Fiction” producer Lawrence Bender has boarded “Red Alert,” a new Israel drama inspired by real-life events, as exec producer.

Five-part series “Red Alert” is based on the terror attacks of Oct. 7, telling the stories of five citizens who found themselves in unimaginable life-or-death situations as cold-blooded slaughter takes place around them.

“This multicharacter drama blends incredible human stories of bravery, resilience, and defiance – many of which made news headlines around the world in the aftermath of this shocking terror attack – with intense military action,” reads the logline.

Over a thousand people were murdered by Hamas terrorists and a further two hundred were taken hostage to Gaza during the attacks last year.

“Red Alert,” whose title is taken from Israel’s emergency warning signal indicating an imminent threat, was developed in consultation with survivors and victims’ families.

Lior Chefetz (“The Stronghold”) created the series, which he wrote and will also direct.

Three Yes Studio shows have been licensed to Israeli streamer Izzy, including Shtisel, an authentic portrayal of Haredi life that ran for three seasons on Netflix.

The deal includes yes shows Who Died?, a romantic comedy centered around two cancer patients, Just for Today, wherein a social worker deals with the shutting down of her life’s work and the reemergence of her former ward and flame, and The Chef, a restaurant drama.

In addition to the scripted shows, Izzy will also be adding new documentary series and films.

All 12 first-season episodes of Shtisel will be available for streaming worldwide on Izzy today. Seasons 2 and 3 will follow, airing in Q1 of 2024.

“Welcoming Shtisel to our platform is a landmark event for Izzy,” said Nati Dinnar, cofounder and CEO of Izzy. “With its rich storytelling and authentic portrayal of Haredi life, this series perfectly fits our mission to bring the best...