New Israeli streaming service, Screen iL, launches

“Leave the pirates and come to the Zionists,” said Moshe Edery, CEO of United King Films and the founder of a new international streaming service for Israeli content, Screen iL (screenil.com ), which launched on Monday. 

Edery unveiled this new service, designed to provide a user-friendly and legal option for the approximately 1.5 million Israelis living abroad who want to stay connected to Israel via media, at a press conference at his office at Cinema City in Glilot, along with Screen iL CEO and co-founder Ben Brenner and co-founder Tino Matalon. 

 

Screen iL, which will be available throughout the world (outside of Israel), offers a full Israeli television and movie viewing experience, and features all the major Israeli content providers, including Keshet and Reshet. All their live content will be avaialble, including news, series, children’s programs and entertainment shows such as song contests, cooking shows and Ninja Israel. 

“We’re giving you an experience that is just the way you watch television in Israel,” said Brenner. “Anyone can connect to the Internet with any device — smartphones, computers, smart TVs.”

The service will show everything that is live on the Israeli networks and subscribers will have access to seven days’ worth of broadcasts. 

This service, which costs $19.99 per month, will feature English subtitles as well “within a year,” said Brenner. 

Families living abroad who want to keep their children connected to Israel via television will be happy to hear that dozens of children’s shows are part of the service, in addition to such kid-oriented programming as the Festigal shows going back decades, which may be just as enticing to parents as they are to children.  

“There is an emphasis on holidays and learning Hebrew in the children’s programming,” said Brenner. 

In addition — and for many this will be the highlight of the service — there is a VOD library of Israeli films, a huge catalogue of over 300 titles. Just about every Israeli classic you can think of is part of the service, going back to the 60s, as well as more recent hits, with fan favorites such as Zero Motivation, Peeping Toms, The Troupe, Footnote, Forgiveness, The Women’s Balcony, The Policeman, Fill the Void, The Band’s Visit, Yossi & Jagger, Turn Left at the End of the World and so many others.

“More films are being restored all the time and more titles will be added,” said Edery. This is in addition to the Israeli Movie Channel, which broadcasts every day and is included in the service. 

Edery detailed the long battle United King Films has fought against those who pirate Israeli content online, including some who have done this in a way that they made it appear that they have been operating legally, he said. 

“By using our Screen iL, you ensure that the Israelis who create this content will be compensated, not some pirate company,” he said. “And Israeli creators deserve to be paid for their work.” 

Edery promised, “If I make more money, I’ll invest it in Israeli movies.”