Ben Silverman, Micah Green Back New Platform for Jewish Filmmakers

The SHOOQ online platform for Jewish filmmakers looking to tap investors, funders and philanthropists has launched.

Ben Silverman, former NBC co-chairman; Micah Green, CEO of 30 West; Tanya Cohen, co-CEO of Made by Us; actress Emmanuelle Chriqui; and Keshet International producer Anthony Bregman are among backers of the non-profit venture to advance Jewish storytelling.

The SHOOQ was launched by Ari Pinchot and Jonathan Rubenstein, producers of the Roast of Anti-Semitism comedy show in Los Angeles, and comes amid an apparent rise of anti-semitism and anti-Israel propaganda impacting Jewish filmmakers and their ability to tap production funding.

“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.  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,” Pinochet added.

The platform is looking to accelerate financing for movies, TV series, podcasts and social media video content.

“There is an enormous amount of money being spent to rewrite history and vilify Jews and Israel. 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,” Rubenstein said in his own statement.