Reboot Studios: Providing Funding and Creative Support for Fresh and Imaginative Projects in Film, Television, Podcasts, Music, Stage and Beyond

Dispatches from the Studio: TheWrap featured Reboot Studios’ announcement of its 2024Creator Fund slate that elevates diverse Jewish Stories. Reboot’s new round of funding supports media projects that build on the success of its recent studio projects. Launched in 2022, Reboot Studios empowers artists, storytellers and innovators to transform society with diverse, inspirational and provocative new Jewish content. Our investments in new Jewish projects have now surpassed half a million dollars. Learn more about Reboot Studios’ projects.

Reboot Studios was also recognized by the Television Academy as a leading authority on Jewish representation in their Expert Index for Storytellers. This acknowledgment highlights Reboot Studios’ dedication to authentic and diverse narratives and positions it as a key resource for creators committed to authentic storytelling.

Alex Edelman’s Just For Us had an acclaimed Broadway run last summer in a production co-produced and funded by Reboot Studios as a part of our inaugural round of studio investments. The one-man comedy special that got a special Tony Award and an Emmy this year is now streaming on HBO’s MAX! We Should Eat, a short film written and directed by Shaina Feinberg and starring Alysia Reiner, Joel de la Fuente, Lexi Perkel, Jackie Hoffman, Bob Ari and Tovah Feldshuh premiered this summer at the SF Jewish Film Festival. Dark comedy The Anne Frank Gift Shop, from author and journalist Mickey Rapkin – the first film project funded and produced by Reboot Studios – was shortlisted this year for an Oscar in the Live Action Short Film category. The feature documentary Sabbath Queen, following Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, was included as an Official Selection of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. Supported with funding from Reboot Studios, the film was directed and produced by Sandi DuBowski and executive produced by Reboot Network member Adrian Salpeter.

Reboot Studios provides seed investments to develop new inspirational and transformational Jewish content. Driven by the belief that art influences our world, enriches our lives and has the power to educate, inspire, create movements and change the way we think, Reboot Studios tells stories through a Jewish lens about the shared human experience.

Reboot is uniquely positioned to create the best, most exciting and high-quality Jewish content and to distribute and launch projects at a national level, while also targeting local communities via existing partner organizations, using a model and relationships developed over the past 15 years. Reboot’s previous successes funding a multitude of projects across all media, including the widely hailed virtual Passover production Saturday Night Seder, with Jason Alexander, Billy Porter, Henry Winkler, Pamela Adlon, Cynthia Erivo, and more, led to Reboot Studios. Notable projects include the Academy Award-shortlisted film The Anne Frank Gift Shop and the award-winning Broadway show Alex Edelman’s Just for Us, released as a comedy special for HBO’s MAX. Reboot also supported the launch of the HBO film The Survivor, hosting a Reboot Ideas conversation with USC Shoah Foundation featuring director Barry Levinson, actor Ben Foster and producer Matti Leshem, moderated by Sami Sage, co-founder of Betches Media.

Reboot’s creative network now consists of more than 650 Jewish (and “Jew-ish”) influencers, including Hollywood creatives (Transparent, Lost, The Office, Orange is the New Black), Broadway stars (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman, Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, The Band’s Visit), tech pioneers (Google, Facebook, MasterClass) and journalists (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Buzzfeed); plus influential academics, non-profit executives, community organizers, renowned chefs and digital media innovators.

The Reboot Studios’ advisory board is comprised of distinguished entertainment industry leaders and creators who actively shepherd and guide the projects: Rebecca Arzoian, President, Smokehouse Pictures; Steve Bodow, Emmy® and Peabody winning writer and producer, The Daily Show (Reboot Board Member); Jeb Brody, President of Imagine Features, former president of Amblin Partners; Melissa Eccles, Emmy®-nominated producer and creative director; Michael Ellenberg, CEO & Founder, Media Res Studio, David Greenbaum, President of Disney Live Action Studios and 20th Century Studios; Amy Israel, President of TV, North Road; Jamie Kantrowitz, Entrepreneur and Investor (Reboot Board Member); Samantha Kurtzman-Counter, Emmy-winning producer and director, President, The Mother Company (Reboot Board Secretary); Riva Marker, CEO of Productions, Linden Entertainment; Benj Pasek, Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriter of Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman; Marc Platt, Producer; Stacey Reiss, Emmy award-winning Filmmaker (Reboot Board Vice Chair); Raymond Roker, Consultant and former Global Head of Editorial, Amazon (Reboot Board Member); Adrian Salpeter, Tony® Award-winning producer of theatre, film and television and executive creative director (Reboot Board Member); Lacey Schwartz, Producer and Director (Reboot Board Member); Joey Soloway, Writer, director, showrunner, Transparent; Sam Sonenshine, Vice President, Sonenshine Partners; Jenny Steingart, Tony® Award-winning producer and co-founder of Ars Nova; Rachel Webber, Chief Commercial & Chief Brand Officer, 11:11 Media.

Reboot Studios will: 

• Identify talent, provide resources for project development, and ongoing mentorship and support for emergent creatives. 
• Develop docuseries, plays, podcasts, books, films, theater, record albums, photography projects, digital and multimedia art.
• Develop a program specifically focusing on Jews of Color, to provide funding, mentorships and ongoing support. 
• Distribute and market projects to scale for a hungry young Jewish audience and their friends.
• Launch high-impact programs that inspire real participation/social change for Jews and beyond.
• Leverage Reboot’s existing marketing and distribution channels, including over 1,000 community partner organizations across the country.