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In the Warner Brothers Studios’ office space in Burbank, California, David Levine scrolled through YouTube, searching for inspiration. 

Working as an intern for the talk show “Conan” as part of the Syracuse University Los Angeles summer program in 2019, Levine spent his free time coming up with ideas he could produce on his own. After bingeing episodes of shows such as “Hot Ones” and “Cold as Balls” — two interview shows that put their guests in uncomfortable positions — Levine had a breakthrough.

“I’m very injury-prone, and my doctors always recommended acupuncture as a new form of treatment,” said Levine, who graduated from SU’s Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2020. “I was deathly afraid of needles, but one day I got it and realized it didn’t hurt. I wanted to make a show that would get people out of their comfort zone.”

Levine’s idea turned into the YouTube show “Gettin’ To The Point,” on which Levine and his guests receive acupuncture treatments while Levine asks questions about their lives and careers. Levine is the host and executive producer of the show, which is similar to “Hot Ones” and “Cold as Balls.” He creates episodes out of his apartment-turned-acupuncture clinic, and four other recent Syracuse graduates are a part of the show’s production crew. 

Guest stars on the show have included NBA player Cole Anthony, online sports personality Overtime Megan and NBA trainer Chris Brickley. The show has amassed over 50,000 views since the first episode was released in November 2020. 

Levine is an avid sports fan, and he wanted to try to have “Eastern medicine meet Western culture” in a unique combination, as he says at the beginning of every show. While he isn’t promoting acupuncture specifically for athletes, he wanted the show to have a sports twist.

YouTube wasn’t always Levine’s first choice of streaming platform. He planned to film a pilot and pitch the concept to Quibi, a short-form streaming platform, but Levine’s hopes were abruptly shut down due to COVID-19 concerns. Months later, Quibi ceased operations. 

Undeterred, Levine decided to reach out to his connections, including Jack Upton, an executive assistant of Creative Artists Agency and a fellow Newhouse graduate, to build a team and materialize his vision.

“David texted and asked me if he could run an idea by me, so I said ‘yeah,’ and had to act like I knew anything and could help him,” Upton said. “He pitched me the idea for ‘Gettin’ to the Point.’ I fell in love with it and knew I had to join the team.”

By then, Levine had already locked in his first guest: Cole Anthony, a former North Carolina guard and current player for the Orlando Magic. Levine had been good friends with Anthony since they played on the same AAU team in the third grade, and the pair stayed close since. When he pitched Anthony the idea, Levine had to quell Anthony’s enthusiasm to start filming because Levine hadn’t even built a crew.

“He believed in me, so when I called him and pitched the idea, he was ready to hop on board right away,” Levine said.

While Anthony was excited to be the show’s first guest, he also wanted to help Levine on the production side. He joined the team as an executive producer, and he was able to line up the show’s next two guests. Anthony joining the team was a no-brainer, Upton said.

“Athletes get drafted day one now and want to get involved in the entertainment space, and this was a good opportunity for Cole to do so,” Upton said.

From there, Levine continued to build his crew and iron out the details that would set the production in motion. To bolster his team, Levine reached out to high school classmate and fellow Newhouse graduate Michael Gaines to help with the production’s creative and promotional side.

“David initially reached out to me asking how (to) position and promote the show,” Gaines said. “But, we have such a small, scrappy group of people doing so many different things, so I do everything from social media to making memes on Photoshop for the show.”

Along with Gaines, Levine also connected with fellow SULA alum and Newhouse graduate Elisabeth Palomba and persuaded her to work as a producer for the show.

“I immediately jumped into a catch-all, anything-we-need type of role to do anything we need for the show to succeed,” Palomba said.

After assembling the crew, they started production of the first show in Levine’s apartment. There are certain “quirks” involved in trying to film a show in such a unique space, Gaines said, but he’s proud of the quality of the production they are able to put out.

“When we set up, we have to turn David’s apartment into a sound stage, and when we break down, we have to make it look like an apartment again,” Gaines said. “I think it shows how resourceful the crew is at getting a product out there at a good quality but by any means.”

Although not all crew members are Syracuse graduates, Palomba believes that the Orange nucleus of the team creates good chemistry in all phases of the show.

“There’s a bond between all of us because we share the same experiences and trust each other’s skills,” Palomba said. “It definitely shows how strong the connection between Syracuse alumni is and how we are all able to work so well together.”

Published on February 14, 2021 at 11:18 pm

Contact Sam: swarre03@syr.edu