last word
Gary Delfiner
HEATHER M. ROSS | STAFF WRITER
M ost people spend a long
time figuring out what it is
they’re meant to do, but few
can say they go through the process at
65 years old.

Gary Delfiner, 74, reinvented him-
self at that age and started a company
called Digital Sylvia. He started with
just one channel and grew his brand
WatchFree Flix to include 15 digital
movie channels available via app on
Roku and Amazon Fire with 1.5 mil-
lion monthly viewers, he said.

“Age is not a factor when you
have a passion to do something,”
Delfiner said.

It’s not easy to be an independent
business owner, but Delfiner has risen
to the challenge.

“My channels are in the top 70 of
1,000 movie channels in this country,”
Delfiner said. “I have over 3,000 movies
and an additional 1,500-2,000 movies
per year. I have 25 movie distributor
vendors who provide me with those
films. The channel is ad-supported, not
subscription. Just like broadcast TV.”
WatchFreeFlix content can be
found via Roku, Amazon Fire TV
and Comcast.

Delfiner got his start at 16 in
Philadelphia as a disc jockey, work-
ing Sweet 16s and bar and bat mitz-
vahs. He advertised his business in the
Jewish Exponent in a 2-inch-by-2-inch
advertisement that ran from 1964-’66.

Delfiner and his partner at the time,
Larry Goldfarb, also started one of
the first discotheques in Philadelphia,
Grendel’s Lair.

Delfiner’s Philadelphia roots run
deep. While he hasn’t spent his whole
life here, his love for the city and his
family brought him home when the
pandemic hit.

“It’s a big small town; access to people
in the arts and in the media or movie
space is pretty easy. It’s really one of
the top world-class cities because of the
culture. It’s changed, and it continues
32 to evolve. More restaurants are open-
ing, more shows are coming through.

Not to mention, the history of our
country is here,” Delfiner said.

However, Delfiner’s adventures
in the business world were far from
straightforward. When higher educa-
tion beckoned, he chose a pre-med pro-
gram at Syracuse University. He stayed
on that track for three years, planning
to become a doctor.

But, one fateful day, he went to see
a movie called “Funny Girl,” and that
changed everything.

“I looked at that movie and the sto-
ryline of Fanny Brice, a story about a
AUGUST 4, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
girl from the Lower East Side who just
wanted to be on a stage. I walked out
of that theater, and my world turned
upside down. On that day, I applied to
Temple University to transfer to their
radio television and film school, and
that’s where I graduated. To this day,
I’ve never regretted that move, ever,”
Delfiner said.

The way a movie radically impacted
his life inspired Delfiner to make sure
movies are available to other young
people looking to explore themselves
and share his love of film.

Ultimately, Delfiner only credits
“Funny Girl,” in part, with his digital
media journey; he credits his curiosity
to his mother.

“My mother was the biggest influ-
ence in my life; in her honor, I called
the company Digital Sylvia. She taught
me it’s better to be interested than
interesting. So it’s because of my curi-
osity I went into and studied this
whole digital streaming business,”
Delfiner said.

Delfiner has spent time working a
variety of jobs in music and movie
production, including producing jazz
concerts and MTV video clips to being
an executive at West Coast Video.

“I love movies; movies affect people’s
lives, especially these days,” Delfiner
said. Delfiner is so passionate about the
movie business that he welcomes the
competition. “The digital media business is the
biggest growth area of the digital space,
and I like being in the middle of the
action. This is a business that I plan on
doing for the rest of my life. It keeps
growing, my channels keep growing. I
bring on more vendors all the time to
bring me more movies,” Delfiner said.

According to Delfiner, there’s plenty
of room for other movie enthusiasts
and independent business owners to
get involved.

“No matter what a person’s age is,
their background, no matter their eth-
nicity or where they came from, the
digital media business is really wide
open, and it’s a great opportunity,”
Delfiner said.

Delfiner isn’t considering slowing
down, either. This fall, he plans to
enter the production scene again by
producing low-budget films and a non-
fiction TV series, specializing in the
paranormal, sci-fi, UFOs and all things
supernatural. He also intends to expand to half
a dozen other platforms and places
around the world, branching out to
Latin America, England, Italy and
Australia, to name a few. JE
hross@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy ofGary Delfiner
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