Script File

THE KOSHER GIANT

Rachel turns 19, and her overbearing mother Chava enlists the community’s matchmaker, Mazal, to set her up on dates with a nice Jewish boy to marry. While shopping at The Kosher Giant for shabbat dinner with her mom and sisters, Rachel notices a new employee working behind the deli with her brother Mendy. While ringing Rachel and her mother’s groceries up, Dell starts rapping to them. Rachel is immediately attracted to Dell and Dell digs Rachel’s smile; she is different than what he is used to. Rachel continues making unneeded trips to see Dell at the deli. While secretly crushing on Dell, Rachel continues to go on dates that Mazal sets up and she does different things on each date to sabotage them. When she returns home from every date, Chava and Mazal are waiting to hear how it went and Rachel must make up a story.

Rachel’s mother Chava is constantly worried about the Finklestein reputation, especially with her “Jewish Gossip Girl Housewife” friends, and she thinks Rachel can’t find a match because her other daughter Leah, who is 17, doesn’t dress tsnius (modestly), and her older son, Jake, who she disowned because he married a shiksa (non-Jewish woman) and is a drug addict. Chava doesn’t know that Rachel’s dad, Ruben, keeps in contact with Jake and sends him money for drugs and his family.
While shopping at The Kosher Giant, Rachel sees Dell outside fighting with a girl. When the girl storms off, Rachel goes to talk to Dell and finds out that the girl was his girlfriend, with whom Dell has just broken up with. Rachel wants to continue talking to Dell, but she can’t risk anyone in her community seeing them together. Therefore, Dell takes Rachel to his hood. When Rachel leaves, Dell’s family and friends tell him “Be careful with that white girl.” Rachel and Dell continue seeing each other in secret, and as their relationship grows stronger, they have more to hide.

Mazal starts to second guess her matchmaking skills. Not only are Rachel’s matches not working, but neither are her brother Mendy’s, because Mendy has a secret too: he is gay. While his family thinks he is working at The Kosher Giant to save money to study at the Yeshiva next year, he is really saving to move to LA, become a hair stylist, and explore his sexuality.

  • shira krasnow
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Student
  • Number of Pages:
    32
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Hebrew, Yiddish
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Point Park University
Writer - shira krasnow
Writer Statement

At the age of three, I could be found standing on my father’s briefcase, using it as a stage and singing my own made-up words for my parents as an audience.

At age 12, I saw my first Broadway show, “Footloose,” and I could barely stay in my seat. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be involved somehow in the performing arts.

After years of performing as a back-up dancer for many different artists such as Wiz Khalifa, De La Soul, Fat Joe, Miri Ben Ari, and more, I wanted more. I wanted to be the star. I wanted the audience to see me, and I wanted to be able to tell my own story. I decided I needed to add a voice to my act, like all the famous people, Beyonce, Brittney Spears, Michael Jackson, etc.… After years of listening to rap music, and being “Gucci Man’s,” biggest fan, I decided to write my own feminine lyrics to one of his songs. I wrote lyrics about my real relationships with two ex-boyfriends. I wrote and recorded my own song, “Pound on My Muffin,” but that still wasn’t enough for me, so I wrote out a script for a visual music video to go with the song. After releasing the filmed video, it went viral. It received 1,300,000 views in a month. It was featured on many famous blogs, radio stations, and played in night clubs. From then on, I continued writing music video scripts, maybe 30 or more. I was hoping to top my first video, but I still have yet to come close.

In 2013, I worked as the dance captain and assistant choreographer at the University of Pittsburgh, in its production of “in The Heights,” by Lin Manuel Miranda. I was thrilled to find a musical that included hip hop dance, music, and rap. I started studying and becoming infatuated with Miranda and his work. I then concluded that I could put together all the things I love and have been doing. Like Miranda, who wrote his entire musical, created the world of it and the characters and cast himself in his shows as the main role, I realized that not only is that what I want to do, but it is where I belong, and what has led me to find my place in the arts as a content creator. After realizing that I could put dance, music, and acting together, and create the story that incorporates them, I wanted to write a musical like Miranda, which led me to apply for an MFA in screen and playwrighting, to learn to write a musical. I have completed my first full hip-hop musical, partially inspired by Miranda, but also inspired by the Scroll of Esther, which is a Jewish story.

I am passionate about Jewish culture, since I was born and raised Jewish and spent a lot of time in Israel and studying and immersing myself in my culture. I also always have had a strong passion for hip-hop music and black culture. Growing up, I mainly had two groups of friends, Jewish and Black, which therefore has shaped many of my experiences and much of my life and work. In many of my productions and projects, I like to work from my passion and what I feel I know best, which incorporates Judaism and Jewish culture as well as hip-hop and black culture.

Currently, while studying in the MFA program in screen and playwrighting at Point Park University, I am working on writing stories in a variety of media and genres, while incorporating my passions into my stories. I have noticed that the work in my program has allowed me to use my creativity, my writing and story ideas, my visuals, and my music. My entire life of learning, participating in and making different genres of creative and performing arts, has led me to be able to put it all together and use it to be the creator of stories.