A new online platform, backed by several Jewish businessmen, aims to connect Jewish filmmakers and creators with investors eager to bring Jewish stories to mainstream audiences, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Saturday.
“Great stories shape culture. And for the past several years, outstanding Jewish creators have struggled to secure the funding needed to bring their projects to life,” Ari Pinchot, who launched the nonprofit SHOOQ platform with fellow producer Jonathan Rubenstein, was quoted as saying in the report.
“Many investors and philanthropists have been eager to support meaningful media but lacked both a trusted way to curate projects and an efficient mechanism and/or the means to fully finance them. Shooq is the solution,” he added.
Although demand exists for both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian films, mainstream distribution remains largely closed, with big distributors wishing not to step into the politically contentious subject, the report read.
SHOOQ is the Hebrew word for marketplace. The advisory board of the platform, launched last week, includes former NBC co-chairman Ben Silverman, 30 West CEO Micah Green, Made by Us co-CEO Tanya Cohen, actress Emmanuelle Chriqui, Israeli media group Keshet International’s producer Anthony Bregman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The platform is looking to accelerate financing for movies, TV series, podcasts and social media video content, which, according to outlet Deadline, already features content from each category.
SHOOQ is not designed to raise funds for creators like crowdfunding platforms, but operates as a matchmaking mechanism with funders outlining their investment interests, requirements, preferred genres, funding ranges, etc., according to Deadline.
The funding takes place directly between the parties, with SHOOQ also offering funders access to industry consultants, including metrics to measure a project’s possible “cultural and social outcomes,” the report said.
“There is an enormous amount of money being spent to rewrite history and vilify Jews and Israel,” Rubenstein wrote in a separate statement. “We can’t afford to keep competing with one another for the same limited resources. We need to come together under one roof, pool our resources, and give our best storytellers the support they need to get impactful projects made to reach audiences around the world. That is what SHOOQ is designed to do.”
Founders Pinchot and Rubenstein produced the Roast of Anti-Semitism live comedy event in Los Angeles on June 14, 2023, and run the Jewish Writers Institute with the Maimonides Fund.
