# Nitay Dagan — Website Strategy & Audit
**Prepared by:** Curious Endeavor | February 2026
**For:** Nitay Dagan (Director / Actor / Editor)

---

## 1. WHO IS NITAY DAGAN

### The Profile
Israeli-born, NYC-based director, actor, and editor. A multi-hyphenate creative who started in front of the camera and moved behind it — bringing an actor's instinct for performance and emotion into his directing work.

### Career Arc
| Phase | Period | Work | Role |
|-------|--------|------|------|
| **Actor (Israel)** | 2009–2015 | *Ron* (8.1 IMDb), *A Borrowed Identity* (7.2), *Cats on a Pedal Boat*, *Afterthought* (7.3), *Stolen*, *Sex Doll* | Lead/supporting roles in Israeli cinema |
| **Transition** | ~2015–2019 | Move to New York, shift from acting to directing | |
| **Director (NYC)** | 2019–present | *Friend Zone* (short, writer/director), *Brooklyn Coffee Shop* (8.2 IMDb, TV series), *Dennis Lloyd - Never Go Back* (music video) | Director, writer, editor |
| **Documentary** | 2024 | *Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets* (8.9 IMDb) | Editorial department |

### The Emerging Story
Nitay isn't just a director — he's an **Israeli artist navigating identity in New York.** His work moves between comedy (*Friend Zone*, *Brooklyn Coffee Shop*) and politically charged documentary (*Torn*). This duality — light and heavy, intimate and political, Israeli and American — is his brand, whether he knows it yet or not.

### Key Differentiators
- **Actor-turned-director** → He understands performance from the inside. This is rare and valuable.
- **Cross-cultural lens** → Israeli upbringing + NYC creative scene = unique perspective
- **Strong IMDb ratings** → *Brooklyn Coffee Shop* 8.2, *Torn* 8.9 — these aren't vanity projects
- **Multi-format** → Shorts, series, music videos, documentary. Versatile but not scattered.
- **Dennis Lloyd connection** → Directed a music video for a major Israeli artist with global reach

---

## 2. CURRENT SITE AUDIT

### nitaydagan.com (Wix)
**Current state: Near-empty.** The site has:
- Title: "Nitay Dagan | ניתאי דגן | director"
- Footer: "© 2035 by JACK BANKS PHOTOGRAPHY" (template artifact — not customized)
- No visible content, projects, bio, or reel
- Wix-powered, likely a template that was never filled in

### Verdict
The site does **nothing** for him right now. It's worse than not having a site — it suggests he doesn't care about his web presence, which undermines his credibility when producers, agents, or collaborators look him up.

---

## 3. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE — DIRECTOR PORTFOLIO SITES

### What Great Director Sites Do
| Element | Purpose | Examples |
|---------|---------|---------|
| **Full-bleed reel/hero** | Immediate impact — show don't tell | Opening with best footage, autoplay muted |
| **Project grid** | Scannable body of work | Thumbnail + title + role + year |
| **Individual project pages** | Deep dive per project | Stills, synopsis, credits, trailer/clip, press |
| **About/bio** | Human connection + credibility | Photo, story, training, awards |
| **Press/festivals** | Social proof | Laurels, quotes, features |
| **Contact** | Make it easy to reach | Agent/manager info, or direct email |

### What They DON'T Do
- Clutter with social feeds
- Use stock templates
- Hide the work behind navigation
- Write in third person (best director sites feel personal)

### Tone Benchmarks (for Nitay's tier)
At his career stage (emerging, strong credits, not yet household name), the site should feel:
- **Confident but not arrogant** — let the work speak
- **Clean and cinematic** — the design language should match film aesthetics
- **Current** — show what he's doing now, not just a filmography dump

---

## 4. RECOMMENDED SITE STRUCTURE

```
HOME
├── Hero: Reel or key project footage (full-bleed, cinematic)
├── Featured work: 3-4 highlighted projects
│
WORK
├── All projects grid (filterable: Director | Actor | Editor)
├── Each project → dedicated page with:
│   ├── Embedded trailer/clip (Vimeo)
│   ├── Stills gallery
│   ├── Synopsis + credits
│   ├── Festival laurels / press
│   └── IMDb link
│
ABOUT
├── Portrait photo
├── Bio (first person, authentic voice)
├── Background: Israel → NYC journey
├── What drives his work
│
PRESS (optional, add when there's enough)
├── Festival selections
├── Reviews / articles
├── Interviews
│
CONTACT
├── Representation (if any)
├── Direct contact / booking email
├── Social links (Instagram, Vimeo)
```

---

## 5. VISUAL DIRECTION

### Recommended Aesthetic
| Attribute | Direction |
|-----------|-----------|
| **Overall** | Cinematic minimal — dark or muted palette with the work providing color |
| **Typography** | Clean sans-serif (something like Neue Haas Grotesk or similar) |
| **Layout** | Grid-based, generous whitespace, full-bleed imagery |
| **Color** | Dark background (charcoal/black) with white text — lets footage pop |
| **Motion** | Subtle transitions, no gimmicks. Smooth scroll, gentle reveals |
| **Mobile** | Must be flawless — industry people browse on phones constantly |

### Why Dark Theme
Directors' work IS the visual content. A dark canvas makes stills and video pop. It also signals "cinema" immediately — this is a filmmaker's site, not a corporate portfolio.

---

## 6. CONTENT NEEDS (What We'll Need From Nitay)

Before building, we need:
1. **Reel or hero clip** — his best 60-90 seconds (or we help him cut one)
2. **Project stills** — high-res frames/photos from each project
3. **Vimeo links** — trailers or clips for each project
4. **Bio in his voice** — or a 15-min conversation we can write from
5. **Portrait photo** — professional, cinematic
6. **Contact preference** — agent/manager, or direct email?
7. **Social handles** — Instagram, Vimeo, anything else?

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## 7. POSITIONING STATEMENT (Draft)

> **Nitay Dagan is an Israeli-born, New York-based director whose work lives at the intersection of intimacy and tension.** From the sharp comedy of *Brooklyn Coffee Shop* to the charged streets of *Torn*, his films find the human story inside larger conflicts. Trained first as an actor, he brings a rare sensitivity to performance — and an instinct for the moment that changes everything.

This can be refined once we talk to him, but it captures the arc: Israel → NYC, actor → director, comedy ↔ documentary, personal ↔ political.

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## 8. NEXT STEPS

| Step | Action | Owner |
|------|--------|-------|
| 1 | Share this strategy with Nitay for feedback | Assaf |
| 2 | Collect content (reel, stills, bio, links) | Nitay |
| 3 | Design mockup in Wix (or Figma first?) | Kitt + team |
| 4 | Build in Wix with Nitay's editor access | Kitt |
| 5 | Review + refine | Assaf + Nitay |
| 6 | Launch | Everyone |

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*Task added to open list: "Nitay Dagan website redesign"*