Saar Dor was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, Kelly Wright was promoted to Managing Director of Distribution, and Gadi Ben-Dror was promoted to the role of General Counsel.
Keshet International’s (KI) new CEO Keren Shahar has marked her official start by promoting three key direct reports at the global producer and distributor with immediate effect.
Shahar stepped up from her previous role as COO and President of Distribution to lead Keshet Media Group’s (KMG) international operations as CEO of KI at the start of this year.
In her first move as CEO, Shahar has named Chief Finance Officer Saar Dor to be her second-in-command, passing on the mantle of Chief Operating Officer to him. As the newly appointed COO, Dor will take on responsibility for all business and operational aspects relating to the international company’s activities from Shahar, while continuing with his current day-to-day responsibilities as CFO. Dor first joined KMG in 2013 as Financial Controller from accountancy firm EY, before being appointed KI’s CFO in 2019. During this time, Dor has been instrumental in enabling KI to expand its production interests across Europe through various acquisitions, as well as successfully bringing to screen international dramas such as Our Boys (HBO), Echo 3 and Suspicion (both Apple TV+).
Stepping up to backfill the second role vacated by Shahar is Kelly Wright, who is being promoted from her current role as SVP of Distribution and New Business to the newly created position of Managing Director of Distribution. In addition to leading KI’s sales team, Wright will also scale-up her regular managerial responsibilities to become a member of KI’s global leadership team. Since joining KI as a Sales Director in 2013, and then stepping up to become Shahar’s deputy in 2018, Wright has played an integral role in driving forward KI’s distribution strategy and expanding its operations around the world, with a particular focus on the LatAm and Asia-Pacific regions.
Finally, Shahar is promoting Gadi Ben-Dror to the role of General Counsel and KI’s global leadership team. Ben-Dror joined KI in 2017 as legal counsel having worked at various leading Israeli law firms, focusing his practice on technology, license, and cross-border M&A transaction.
KI’s CEO Keren Shahar says: “I am thrilled to be able to acknowledge Saar, Kelly and Gadi’s hard work and dedication to Keshet International during the time we’ve already worked together with these three well-deserved promotions. They are all ambitious and driven individuals, who thrive when pushed to think outside the box and inspire others to do the same. I am honored to have them as part of KI’s global leadership team and looking forward to working more closely with them both to continue our expansion in our existing businesses as well as new arenas as we enter our second decade.”
With the support of her global leadership team, CEO Shahar is responsible for overseeing all KI’s activities, including its network of production companies and distribution hubs – its headquarters in Tel Aviv; Keshet UK; Tresor and Keshet Tresor Fiction in Germany; Keshet Studios in the US; and a majority stake in Greenbird Media.
In the past two years, KI has generated exponential growth in its production output, with Keshet Studios producing the When Heroes Fly-remake Echo3 (Apple TV+), alongside co-producing The Calling (Peacock) and season 2 of La Brea (NBC) with Universal Television, as part of their ongoing production pact; and Keshet UK producing the False Flag-remake Suspicion (Apple TV+), and also co-producing Ralph & Katie (BBC One) with ITV Studios. Further productions in the KI’s pipeline include Rough Diamonds (Netflix/VRT), co-produced by KI with De Mensen; and A Small Light (Disney+/Nat Geo), co-produced by Keshet Studios and ABC Signature.
In her new role, Shahar will be looking to expand KI’s production output further; leverage the company’s core strengths and positioning in the global market to enter new areas; while also boosting its curated catalog of international dramas, factual entertainment shows, and formats.
