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Avi Nir

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Avi Nir
Born1961
Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation(s)CEO of Keshet Media Group, television broadcaster and producer
Years active2002–present
SpouseTami Nir-Gottlieb

Avi Nir (Hebrew: אבי ניר; born 1961) is an Israeli television executive, entrepreneur, writer and producer. He is the CEO of the Israeli media group Keshet Broadcasting serving as a leading content and programming director.[1] He is known as the Executive producer of the American television program Homeland for which he was personally granted an Emmy Award.[2][3]

Biography

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Avi Nir was born in Jerusalem, to a Jewish family. He holds a BA from the department of Film and Television at the Tel Aviv University. He also attended the Tel Aviv University Graduate School of Business where he received his MA and MBA.[4][5] He published various academic articles and received the Sigal Prize for excellence in marketing research.[3] He also studied for one semester at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. During his psychology, marketing and television studies he taught in the university's Faculty of Management and its Department of Film and Television.[3][6][7] In 1993, he co-authored Advertising in Television: The Media, the Message, the Money with Ayalah Rahav.[2][8]

Nir is married to Tami Nir-Gottlieb, a clinical psychologist, and has two daughters.[2]

Media career

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Nir joined Keshet in 1993.[2][3] In 1994, Nir was appointed as Vice President of Marketing for Keshet. In 1998 he also became responsible for content.[1] He served as VP of Marketing through 1999 before heading Keshet's core business as VP of Programming. He became CEO of Keshet Media Group in 2002.[2][3]

As CEO of Keshet, Nir expanded the company beyond producing for the Israeli market by selling, co-developing and co-producing shows for the international market.[3][6][9] Keshet International, the global distribution and production arm of Keshet has since expanded to include production outposts in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong and in the US. Keshet has become an overachiever in the US, with Keshet Studios currently working with NBC, ABC, HBO, Apple, Netflix and others. Its first feature film, The Sound of Silence, was picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions[10] ahead of its premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Keshet Studios' second feature, Save Yourselves!, received its world premiere as part of 2020 Sundance Film Festival's US dramatic competition.[11]

Since Keshet's international expansion, the company has produced multiple international commercially successful programs. One such show is the Showtime series Homeland which is based on the Israeli program Hatufim. Nir attributes the success of adapting Keshet programs for foreign audiences on the discerning nature of the preliminary Israeli audiences, the strength of the writers, the "spirit of innovation" at Keshet and a constant need to improve upon shows.[12][13][14][15] The success of Homeland at the behest of Nir is credited as the catalyst for the annual doubling of foreign deals done by Keshet.[16]

He produced talent program Rising Star which is the first show on television to incorporate real-time voting via a fully integrated app.[7][12][17] After its debut in October 2013, Rising Star was picked up in more than 25 territories, which made it the fastest-selling talent format at the time.[4][18] Nir is credited as an executive producer on American TV shows Tyrant, Your Family Or Mine, Deal With It and Allegiance which is based on the Keshet program The Gordin Cell, aka MICE.[3][15][19][20][21][22][23]

In 2014, Nir came up with the idea of producing the archaeological thriller series Dig in Israel.[24] His inspiration for the series was a visit to new archaeological sites at the City of David in Jerusalem.[25] In 2015, HBO announced that Ari Shavit's My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel would be made into a documentary film with Nir as executive producer.[26] Nir has executively produced over 30 shows in the last 20 years,[27] including the critically acclaimed mini-series Our Boys, co-produced by Keshet Studios and HBO.

Nir oversaw and implemented Keshet's launch of Israeli popular music channel Music 24.[3] In 2007, Nir established Keshet's digital arm and web portal mako, which is the third most-trafficked site in Israel.[22][28] Nir is also the co-host of the Innovation in Television (INTV) confab, along with Keshet Media Group, which has been hosted in Jerusalem since 2012. The two-day conference features panels with industry executives, lectures, and mixers.[29]

Dudu Topaz attack

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In 2008 two men attacked Nir near his home in Tel Aviv. He received treatment for injuries at Ichilov Hospital.[1][30][31] In 2009, Israeli entertainer Dudu Topaz was charged for his involvement in the attack on Nir along with assaults on other people in the Israeli entertainment industry.[2][30][32][33]

Awards and recognition

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Nir was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2013 as Executive Producer of Homeland. He personally won an Emmy when the show received recognition for Outstanding Drama Series in 2012.[2][16][15][34][35]

In conjunction with Keshet and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Nir initiated the inaugural INTV conference in 2012. INTV was the first international television conference ever held in Israel with a second held in November 2013 and another scheduled for March 2015.[2][36] He delivered the keynote address at the 2014 MIPTV Focus on Israel conference in Cannes, France.[37][38][39]

Nir won the title "Marketing Personality of the Year" from the Israeli Marketing Union in 2008.[40][41][42][43] In 2009 he was awarded the title "TV Personality of the Decade" at the Rosh Pina Festival and by Israeli web portal Walla!.[44][45] In 2011 he was named the third most influential person in the media by Israel's largest business magazine Globes[46] and in 2012 The Marker ranked him as No. 28 in their list of "Israel's 100 most influential people this Jewish year."[47]

In 2013, Israeli newspaper Haaretz named Nir the No. 1 Most Influential Person in Israeli culture among a list of the nation's 100 Most Influential People.[9][48][49][50] He was also named "Executive of the Year" and "Television Personality of the Decade" Israeli business magazines TheMarker and Globes, respectively.[3] Nir was awarded TBI's inaugural Contribution to Content Award[51] in 2018, and also made the Variety500,[52] Variety's index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global $2 trillion entertainment industry every year since its inception in 2017.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Bar-Zohar, Ophir; Klingbail, Sivan (9 July 2009). "What is the secret Avi Nir's management?". TheMarker. Haaretz Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Izikovich, Gili (9 November 2012). "'Homeland' is just the beginning for Israeli TV in Hollywood". TheMarker. Haaretz Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Staff writer. "Avi Nir Executive Producer". FXNetworks.com. FX Networks, LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Avi Nir". PaleyCenter.org. The Paley Center for Media. 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Spotlight On... The Department of Film and television". aftau.org. Tel Aviv University American Friends. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (22 June 2008). "US Nets' Israeli Connection". Variety. 411 (7). Reed Business Information.
  7. ^ a b Gallo, Phil (28 June 2014). "It's Hunger Games Meets The Coliseum in Rome". Billboard. Vol. 126, no. 21. Prometheus Global Media.
  8. ^ Pirsum be-ṭeleṿizyah : ha-medyum, ha-meser, ha-kesef. WorldCat. 1993. OCLC 30421945. Retrieved 8 February 2015 – via WorldCat.org.
  9. ^ a b Kamin, Debra (2 October 2013). "Avi Nir, Keshet CEO, Promises to Keep Pushing Envelope". Variety.com. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Sundance: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Nabs International Rights to 'Sound of Silence' (EXCLUSIVE)". 25 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Save-yourselves". Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Keshet International and DC Media create Keshet DCP". Prensario.net. Editorial Prensario S.R.L. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  13. ^ Arnowitz, Leora (19 September 2013). "TV networks look to Israel for the next big hit". FoxNews.com. Fox News Network, LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  14. ^ Chozick, Amy; Mitnick, Joshua (11 March 2011). "Coming to America". WSJ.com. News Corp. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  15. ^ a b c Barrraclough, Leo (January 2013). "The New Formats Titan". Television Magazine. Royal Television Society: 18–19.
  16. ^ a b Lang, Brent (28 September 2012). "TV's Israeli Connection: What to Expect Post-'Homeland'". TheWrap.com. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  17. ^ Gopi, Shreya (28 August 2013). "MIPCOM: Keshet launches interactive talent show". OnScreenAsia.com. Contineo Media. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  18. ^ Natividad, Angela (6 April 2014). "Liveblog: How Rising Star is "changing the way people watch"". MIP Blog. Reed Exhibitions. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  19. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (7 May 2015). "TBS Orders 'Buzzy's,' 'Your Family or Mine,' Rashida Jones Comedies to Series". HollywoodReporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (20 August 2013). "TBS' 'Sullivan & Son', 'Men at Work' & 'Deal With It' Renewed". Deadline.com. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  21. ^ "Allegiance TV Series (2015–)". IMDB.com. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Keshet, Israel: "We are not a typical company."". Prensario International (217). Editorial Prensario S.R.L.: 46 June 2013.
  23. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (21 November 2014). "The best TV that you can't see". TheGuardian.com. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  24. ^ Averbach, Li-or (13 November 2013). "First-ever US TV series to be filmed entirely in Israel". Globes.co.il. Globes. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  25. ^ Tucker, Nati (5 May 2014). "Fox against NBC in the Holy Land, too". Haaretz.com. Haaretz Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  26. ^ Debra Kamin (16 March 2015). "Ari Shavit's 'My Promised Land'Set as HBO Documentary Film". Variety. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  27. ^ "Avi Nir". IMDb.
  28. ^ Kamin, Debra (2 October 2013). "Keshet: Two Decades of Evolution". Variety.com. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  29. ^ "Deadline to Co-Produce Israeli Media Conference INTV with Keshet Media Group". 15 October 2018.
  30. ^ a b "Alleged Topaz victim Avi Nir: My life is under constant threat". The Jerusalem Post. Jpost Inc. 10 July 2009.
  31. ^ Goren, Yuval (25 November 2008). "Keshet chief Avi Nir attacked near north TA home". Haaretz.com. Haaretz Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  32. ^ Luvitch, Vered (18 June 2009). "Entertainer Dudu Topaz indicted". Ynetnews. Yedioth Internet. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  33. ^ Izikovich, Gili; Kobovitz, Yaniv (14 January 2010). "TV exec Avi Nir gets death threat". Haaretz.com. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  34. ^ Caspi, David (24 September 2012). "Exclusive: Emmy Winning EP of "Homeland" Avi Nir Delighted with Israeli Achievement (Interview)". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  35. ^ "Avi Nir Awards". IMDB.com. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  36. ^ "Keshet Media Group announces its second annual INTV Conference". Advanced-Television.com. Advanced Television Ltd. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  37. ^ Kamin, Debra (3 April 2014). "All eyes on Israel at top TV content confab". TimesOfIsrael.com. The Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  38. ^ "MIPTV 2014 Focus on Israel visibility in Cannes" (PDF). Export.gov.il. Ro & Co. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  39. ^ Guider, Elizabeth (7 April 2014). "MIPTV: Keshet CEO Avi Nir Shares What Makes the Israeli Company Tick". HollywoodReporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  40. ^ "Avi Nir, CEO of Keshet, is a 2008 marketing". Ishivuk.co.il. Israel Marketing Association. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  41. ^ Genius, Yael (18 January 2009). "Select Marketing Association CEO Avi Nir Keshet Marketing Man of the Year". Globes. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  42. ^ Dovrat, Adi (18 January 2009). "Marketing Man for 2008: Avi Nir CEO of Keshet". TheMarker. Haaretz Inc. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  43. ^ Yefet, Orna; Berger, Waves (18 January 2009). "Keshet Executive Selected as Marketing Man of 2008". Calcalist.co.il. Llachllachlist. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  44. ^ Wertheim, David (11 December 2009). "Even talkbacker Set: Avi Nir – a decade". Nana10.co.il. Nana10 Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  45. ^ Kam (11 December 2009). "A decade on television: Avi Nir". b.walla.co.il. Walla! Communications LTD. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  46. ^ "100 most influential people in media: 3 Avi Nir, CEO of Channel 2 franchisee Keshet". Globes.co.il. Globes 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  47. ^ "Israel's 100 most influential people this Jewish year / The full list". Haaretz.com. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  48. ^ Brezski, Patrick (7 August 2013). "Keshet CEO Avi Nir Leads List of 'Israeli Culture's 100 Most Influential Figures'". HollywoodReporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  49. ^ "Global Showbiz Briefs: Avi Nir Most Influential Figure in Israeli Culture; Scott Free London, Universal Music Publishing Ink". Deadline.com. Penske Business Media, LLC. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  50. ^ Kupfer, Ruta; Izikovich, Gili; Elkayam, Liat (2 August 2013). "Israeli culture's top ten, Israeli television's No. 1: Avi Nir". Haaretz.com. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  51. ^ "Avi Nir: A contribution to content". 15 October 2018.
  52. ^ "Avi Nir". 12 January 2018.
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