David Katznelson

Reboot CEO, David Katznelson, shares his reflections on the life and legacy of Seymour Stein, the prolific music exec and founder of Sire Records:

I think Seymour would have thought it appropriate for his funeral to be on the day when Jews around the world gather for Passover.  What an apt time for a person who championed artistic freedom as well as so many other progressive agendas to be remembered, to be celebrated.  Tonight, I propose an audio Seder Plate that celebrates freedom and change and revolution in the form of the new wave of the late 1970s. You can access my audio seder plate here, which will start with what Seymour always said was his favorite single of all time, The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks.

“It is vital that Jewish stories continue to be told, providing a link to Jewish life that is relevant, welcoming and inspirational. Reboot Studios is set to be the place where new Jewish stories can get early-stage funding and support, which is the hardest support for artists to find.” Read more from Reboot CEO, David Katznelson, from his recent op-ed in eJewish Philanthropy here.

Finally, Reboot has a place where anyone can go for a deep dive into the beautiful work we have done these past 20 years. Twenty years? Yes, we have blown past the Chai mark, having spent our 19th year locked down like the rest of the world but connecting with more people than ever with our programs and productions. Reboot at 20 – we have much to celebrate.

Though we are beginning to enter a new and different phase of COVID times, many musicians  used to being on the road, and many dependent on the road, have been homebound. Knowing this  creativity and passion should not stay bottled up, I decided to reach out to some old friends, many of whom would normally never have had the time to embark on a new project.  And I wanted to  propose something they had never done before – work collaboratively on a pretty massive project while everyone  was in quarantine in different cities

I have been mulling over how to begin this end-of-year letter to you —  how to start on a positive note when 2018 has been a difficult year, for our community and our world. We have been confronted with tragedy and prejudice, injustice and intolerance.