Reboot Studios Joins Producing Team for Alex Edelman's JUST FOR US

Reboot Studios has joined the producing team for the Broadway run of Just For Us, the acclaimed one man show about antisemitism from comedian Alex Edelman, as part of a second round of funding for a new slate of grantees also including Alysia Reiner, Jacob Kornbluth and Marval Rechsteiner.

Reboot Studios, the production arm of the arts and culture nonprofit Reboot, funds and develops content for theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing, empowering storytellers to transform society through a Jewish lens.

Reboot Studios is co-producing Just for Us with award-winning Broadway producer Rebecca Gold at a time of an unprecedented rise in antisemitism. The Broadway show is produced by Jenny Gersten, Rachel Sussman, and Seaview, with Mike Birbiglia. Birbiglia originally produced Just For Us Off-Broadway in association with Mike Lavoie, Carlee Briglia and Joseph Birbiglia.

"Alex's incisive voice is hilarious and essential -  he exemplifies the caliber of creative talent we’re committed to supporting at Reboot Studios,” said Adrian Salpeter, Tony® Award-winning producer and Reboot Studios Advisory Board Member.

Reboot Studios projects tell hopeful stories that unwind and address prejudice. Previous successes include the widely hailed virtual Passover production Saturday Night Seder,produced by Reboot Network members Adam Kantor, Benj Pasek, Alex Edelman, Jen Snow, and Michael Mitnick and featuring Jason Alexander, Billy Porter, Henry Winkler, Pamela Adlon, Cynthia Erivo, and more.

Second round Reboot Studios funding will include The Boring Stuff from Alysia Reiner (Ms. Marvel, Orange is the New Black) and Shaina Feinberg (The Babymooners), a comedy series that humorously tackles the quest for Tikkun Olam, or healing the world through good deeds, amidst a backdrop of global turmoil and personal challenges; Israel Therapy, a podcast hosted by Libby Lenkinski (VP for Public Engagement, New Israel Fund) and produced by The Forward and Reboot that helps guests sort through their complicated feelings about Israel/Palestine; an untitled short film by Emmy Award winning director Jacob Kornbluth featuring international peace advocate Eric K. Ward and his confrontations with the white nationalists movements and its intersections with the punk scene; Rabbi Rex, a documentary that follows transmasculine artist and Sephardic Jew Marval Rechsteiner as he embarks on his spiritual journey to become a Rabbi amid rising anti-semitism and transphobia; and an untitled dramatic series about the history of the Jews in Bollywood from producer Naz Haider.

Reboot’s programming is funded in part by the generous support of: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation, Jim Joseph Foundation,  Schusterman Family Philanthropies, William Davidson Foundation, Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation, Jane and Daniel Och, Howard & Geraldine Polinger Foundation and CANVAS.

The full slate of new projects will be announced this summer. The first round of support included:

The Anne Frank Gift Shop from author and journalist Mickey Rapkin (Pitch Perfect, Theater Geek). The dark comedy about anti-Semitism that packs a vital and timely message will be premiering this summer at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the LA Shorts Film Festival. 

Kitchen Radio hosted by Regine Basha (Tuning Baghdad) and Nathalie Basha (The Travel Muse). The just released podcast explores the Jewish culture of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for intergenerational stories of community life and ritual practices with guests who are part of a rising renaissance of creative food projects exploring their oft-overlooked Jewish history and heritage.

Just The Tip from actress/writer/comedian/director Jessie Kahnweiler (The Skinny). The documentary short explores male circumcision from a comedic feminist Jewish perspective.

Just For Us, written and performed by Obie Award winner Alex Edelman and directed by Adam Brace, is in previews now, opening June 26, 2023, at the Hudson Theatre Broadway. Expertly crafted by one of comedy’s most distinctive voices, this singular theatrical experience is an exploration of identity and our collective capacity for empathy —and it’s also “belly-laugh funny!” (The New York Times). In the wake of a string of anti-Semitic rhetoric pointed in his direction online, standup comic Edelman decides to go straight to the source; specifically, Queens, where he covertly attends a meeting of White Nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. What happens next forms the backbone of the shockingly relevant, utterly hilarious, and only moderately perspirant stories that comprise JUST FOR US. Get tickets here.

Just For Us lands on Broadway this summer following acclaimed international runs in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Boston, and Washington D.C., as well as a six-time extended off-Broadway engagement across three venues in New York City, which earned a “Critic's Pick” from The New York Times, a 2023 Obie Award, and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.

The full list of current and announced Reboot Studio Projects can be found here.

Reboot Studios’ advisory board, comprised of distinguished industry leaders and creators who will be actively shepherding and guiding the projects, includes: Adrian Salpeter, a Tony® Award-winning producer and creative director, Amy Israel, Executive Vice President, Scripted Programming for Showtime; Benj Pasek, Oscar®, Grammy®, Tony®, and Golden Globe® Award-winning songwriter of Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land and The Greatest Showman; David Greenbaum, President, Searchlight Pictures; Jeb Brody, President of Production, Amblin Partners; Jenny Steingart, Tony® Award-winning producer and co-founder of Ars Nova; Joey Soloway, writer, director, showrunner, Transparent; Michael Ellenberg, CEO & Founder, Media Res Studio; Raymond Roker, Global Head of Editorial, Amazon; Rebecca Arzoian, President, Smokehouse Pictures; and Riva Marker, CEO Linden Productions.

About Reboot Studios:
 

Reboot Studios funds and develops Jewish content across theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing. Find out more about Reboot Studios here.

About Reboot:
 

Reboot is an arts and culture non-profit that reimagines and reinforces Jewish thought and traditions. As a premier research and development platform for the Jewish world, Reboot catalyzes its network of preeminent creators, artists, entrepreneurs and activists to produce experiences and products that evolve the Jewish conversation and transform society. Reboot’s creative network now consists of more than 600 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), San Francisco tech pioneers (Google, Facebook, MasterClass) and New York journalists (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Buzzfeed); plus influential academics, non-profit executives, community organizers, renowned chefs and digital media innovators.

All Reboot projects imagine Jewish ritual and tradition afresh, offering an inviting mix of discovery, experience and reflection through events, exhibitions, recordings, books, films, DIY activity toolkits and apps. These projects have engaged more than 5.5 million participants in the past three years and continue to inspire Jewish connections and meaning by encouraging participants to become creators in their Jewish experience. Find out more at Rebooting.com.