On this episode of Inside Content, I am joined by two guests from Keshet Media Group - Karni Ziv, Head of Drama and Comedy at Keshet Broadcasting, and the newly appointed CEO of Keshet International , Keren Shahar to discuss the reasons behind Israel’s global success with content and how they build their programming catalogue.
As Head of Drama and Comedy, Karni is responsible for the development and management of the creative processes of all scripted projects destined for Keshet 12, Israel’s most-watched commercial TV channel. In addition, Karni also supervises the production aspects related to content and creativity for all international drama projects of Keshet's co-productions with foreign content producers. Since joining Keshet in 2013, Karni has focused on developing content with great international potential: including the romantic comedy The Baker and the Beauty, which Amazon acquired the global rights to; the double Canneseries-winning False Flag which has recently been adapted by Keshet Productions for Apple TV+ as Suspicion; and the psychological thriller Sleeping Bears, which premiered internationally at Berlinale 2018.
Widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers of the Israeli formats sales market, 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. Shahar is 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. A founding member of KI, Shahar has built its distribution business from the ground up. Since its inception in 2012, KI has grown to become an influential player in the international content market, with an extensive list of shows and formats picked up by the likes of HBO, NBC, and the BBC, as well as streaming platforms including Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.
This episode takes a deep dive into the Israeli TV Export Market, looking at its growth and the evolution from selling formats globally to global consumption of Israeli content. We also discuss how the market has developed for programming and scripted content and how they champion the unexpected to enable them as a small company from a small country to compete.
Topic Breakdown:
- An overview of Keshet and Keren and Karni’s individual roles in the business
- How the Israeli TV Export Market has grown and the transition from it being about selling formats globally to people watching Israeli shows around the world
- How the Israeli market has developed for programming, including for Israeli and Foreign Language programming
- Keshet’s scripted content including shows made for K12
- Keshet’s co-production with broadcasters and streamers
- Content in the pipeline for Keshet
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