Distribution in Focus: Keshet International’s Kelly Wright

As buyers descend on the UK capital for Showcase, London TV Screenings and Mip London this week, Broadcast International speaks to Kelly Wright, Keshet International’s MD, about the key trends and challenges facing the business.

It’s becoming more challenging to sell foreign language shows, so we were thrilled to strike a major deal with Paramount+ for Red Alert, our powerful four-part drama about the October 7 attacks. It’s another stamp of approval that foreign drama isn’t niche. And for everyone in Israel, it was super important to find the right partner to share this story internationally, and they’ve been brilliant – our deal means this show is still available to license everywhere except the US on a non-exclusive basis.

Ensuring that we continue to expand sales opportunities for our dramatic series, be that for Number One Fan – our return to English-language drama distribution – or for the next big Keshet 12 drama. The buying landscape is changing so rapidly, but also creating opportunities, like for our recent global sales of Red Alert to Paramount+ and Unconditional to Apple TV. We want to continue to ensure that we’re at the forefront of that business. We do that by preparing the very best content the world has to offer – driven by unique premises fostered by Israeli creativity – and marrying that content to the platforms that are going to supercharge that content across the global landscape.

If you were at Realscreen this year, you’ll have seen with your own eyes how extremely competitive the world of unscripted production has become. With the launch of KI’s Greenlight Factual & Formats initiative, we’ve thrown ourselves into the creation of factual shows and curated a fantastic slate of content, like Hitler’s Favourite Royals and Looted with Alice Roberts. So has every other distributor and producer.

There are a plethora of worthy ideas being actively pitched in the market, and buyers have their pick. In the past, we’ve brought shows from paper to production by fully financing them, and we were lucky to be successful with shows like Hitler’s Treasure Hunters from Perpetual Entertainment. In 2026, our priority is sustainable growth in unscripted production with co-financing partners.

Maximising the long-tail for our producers with re-licenses, FAST channels and AVOD partnerships is key to maintaining healthy and productive titles that continue to generate revenue for the producers and for us as the distributor across the entire distribution period.

Keshet’s relationship with YouTube is complicated. As a linear business in Israel, we’ve maintained a certain position in regards to YouTube that has yet to change, and we’ve built ancillary businesses in the digital space that don’t rely on YouTube for reach. As Keshet International, however, we obviously place content on YouTube channels, and we’re also seeing more buyers wanting to include YouTube exploitation in their bouquet of rights when licensing content from us. What’s been really interesting is the trend to license formats for YouTube, usually with sponsorship. We’re working on a number of scripted and unscripted format deals that will see these remakes debut and live exclusively on YouTube, in markets like France and Greece, which we’re excited about.

Of course, the impact will be massive, with repercussions that will be far-reaching. We are factoring that into our strategy and plans, but at this point in time, it doesn’t affect our day-to-day business and we remain laser-focused on what we are currently delivering to the current market. It’s fun to engage in speculation, but we have other plans.

Six years ago, you could have backed almost any content genre and not been wrong – they were all selling, they were all generating returns, they were all great business. Today, I’d take that investment and put it right into Keshet 12 dramas. I’d invest it in a killer premise, one that’s scarily true-to-life and brilliantly dramatic, like A Body that Works or Unconditional, and feed it that extra budget to elevate it to the next level. I’d add some world-renowned actors – Israeli and otherwise – and then take that impressive show and remake it in English for the biggest platform on the planet. That kind of investment is not just in one show, but it’s in a brand – Keshet – and its reputation as a sterling producer of original dramas with undeniable remake potential. That show could lead to further seasons and further production fees; to overall deals; to additional commissions. We’re known for being a major player in the international scripted formats business, and we want to continue to pioneer in that space.

We’re hosting the world premiere of Number One Fan, a new drama from Channel 5 set to debut later this year. There’s enormous talent behind the show both on and off screen: Jill Halfpenny and Sally Lindsay star, Paul Wilmshurst (“The Day of the Jackal”) directs, and Clapperboard produces. We rarely come by projects with this many twists which aren’t straight crime dramas: Number One Fan sees a morning show host stalked by an uber fan, who she discovers too late is hellbent on revenge. We love that this drama sees a woman stalking a woman, a powerful TV personality who’s climbed on the backs of others to reach her position, and neither woman is willing to back down. The changing roles of “victim” and “villain” will give you whiplash; it’s definitely an emotional rollercoaster that keeps you guessing until the last frame.

Besides Number One Fan, our big Keshet drama this February is Murder at the Dead Sea, which stars Tehran’s Niv Sultan in the role of a rookie cop with COVID who finds herself quarantining in Covid hotel when a murder takes place. It’s a classic locked-room Agatha Christie-style whodunnit but with a very inexperienced detective forced to complete her investigation alone, unsupported and in isolation, surrounded by suspects as the murders keep piling up. Its stunningly shot, and has a great twist at the end. We also think this show also has great format potential.