On June 4, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best television series. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind shows well worth toasting. In the days leading up to the Los Angeles event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.
Ahead, Abbi Jacobson tells IndieWire about the “so smart and so very dumb” aspects of humanity that Spark Award recipient Raphael Bob-Waksberg brings to vivid life in their Netflix animated series, “Long Story Short.”
There is no one quite like Raphael. His spirit and humor come through in everything he touches. I’ve gotten the chance to work with him in a much lesser capacity on “BoJack Horseman” and now on “Long Story Short,” and I can say with the utmost confidence that we are better for the work he puts out into the world.
Life can be hard and sad and complicated, but it’s also hilarious and absurd — relationships are, family is, friendship is. Raphael lets us see all of the things we wrestle with, marching side by side, allowing us to connect and feel seen, while also showing us other experiences and lives we might not be familiar with. It’s all so smart and so very dumb — my favorite combination.
“The RBW secret sauce” so we say. (No one says this.)
To get to work with him as an actor is an absolute joy. He is so extremely collaborative, supportive, and inclusive and sets an incredible tone for the show both in front of and behind the “camera.” I feel so lucky to float around in both his real and fictitious worlds. If at the end of a hard day we get to plop down and watch something he’s made, well, it doesn’t get much better.
“Long Story Short” is available now on Netflix.
