Participating in specific understandings of Jewish identity through acts of paid subscription

Using the notion of “critical media industry studies,” the article by Mike Wayne and Matt Sienkiewicz considers how three competing subscription video on-demand services (SVODs) – Jewzy, ChaiFlicks, and IZZY – attract American Jewish subscribers via content selection, platform design, and marketing rhetoric. Although these three SVODs offer similar catalogues, they nonetheless foreground distinct elements of Jewish life, history, and practice. This process of commercial framing, the article argues, creates unique brand identities for the three services that align with three different approaches to the construction of American Jewish identity. These three services invite Jewish users to participate in specific understandings of Jewish identity through acts of paid subscription. Engaging in distinct practices of curation and promotion, each SVOD draws on specific aspects of Jewish life and media history in order to direct attention to particular aspects of Jewish self-understanding. The resulting analysis, as argued by Mike and Matt, provides insight into the evolving relationship between screen media and minority cultural representation.

Read the full article in International Journal of Cultural Studies here.