Keshet International’s CEO Alon Shtruzman to step down

Suspicion

Keshet International (KI)’s Alon Shtruzman is stepping down as CEO of the Israeli-based producer and distributor, following a decade in the role.

Shtruzman will leave at the end of 2022, having led the division since it was launched by Keshet Media Group in 2012. A replacement has not been named and his next move is not yet known.

Alon Shtruzman

KI was launched following the Israeli company’s success with selling scripted formats into the US, particularly Showtime’s adaptation of Prisoners Of War, which became Homeland.

The sales and production arm – which sells unscripted formats such as Boom!, Singletown and Rising Star – then expanded rapidly, opening Keshet UK in 2012 and LA-based Keshet Studios in 2015, before buying German production company Tresor in 2017 and incubator firm Greenbird Media a year later.

It is behind Apple TV+ duo Suspicion (a remake of False Flag) and Echo3 (an adaptation of When Heroes Fly), while upcoming series include A Small Light for Disney+/Nat Geo, and Peacock’s The Calling and NBC’s second season of La Brea (the latter both co-produced with Universal Television, with which Keshet Studios has a first-look scripted programming pact).

Avi Nir, Keshet Media Group’s CEO, said: “Probably for many years to come, there will be talk around the campfire and on Zoom in London, Los Angeles, New York, Munich, and Tel Aviv about Alon Shtruzman’s 10 years at KI. Perhaps historians will rightly call it the ‘glorious decade’.”

Shtruzman added: “The 10 years since KI was founded have been an amazing experience for me. So much has happened to our industry during this time and I’m beyond proud for how much KI has evolved and adapted during this last decade.

“I am grateful to Keshet and Avi Nir for the faith and support, to KI’s management and the entire team for conquering so many peaks and taking our content across the world, and to the buyers, producers and creators who were part of this exciting journey.”