TOP TALENT FROM THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
From scribes to music moguls, these Israelis are making an impact on the biz
Actress
The star of U.S. series such as “Crash,” “Tyrant,” “24 Legacy” and, most recently, “The Resident,” worked in Italy on such movies as “Oggi Sposi” and “The Mother of Tears,” before Israel, where she was born and raised, took note of her talent and marketability. “Italy was the first country that invited me into the entertainment business,” says Atias, whose younger sister Shani Atias is also an actress. “In Israel, they were thinking, what’s an Israeli girl doing hosting Italian shows? Israel didn’t think I was so special until Italy did.” Next up is John Luessenhop’s “Speed Kills,” in which Atias appears opposite John Travolta and Matthew Modine.
LYOR COHEN
Global Head of Music, Youtube
Born in New York to Israeli immigrant parents, Cohen has been at the forefront of managing and promoting hiphop artists at various record labels for more than 30 years. Raised primarily in Los Angeles, Cohen worked briefly in banking before getting his star in the music biz managing rappers for Russell Simmons’ Rush Prods. (now Rush Communications), signing such influential acts as Slick Rick and Big Daddy Kane. Cohen then became president at Def Jam, helping to make the record label a powerhouse before leaving to head up Warner Music Group. In 2012, he co-founded the record label 300 Entertainment with Kevin Liles, Roger Gold and Todd Moscowitz. In 2026, Cohen was named Youtube’s global head of music.
GAL GADOT
Actress
Israel’s beloved hometown Gal may be an international sensation, but she hasn’t forgotten her roots. The “Wonder Woman” star routinely posts in Hebrew on social media and frequently references her time serving in the Israel Defense Forces in interviews and on junkets. The former Miss Israel has come a long way from her roots in humble Rosh Haayin, Israel — she broke onto the international film scene as Giselle in the “The Fast & the Furious” franchise — but it was in 2017, when she lassoed the career-making role of Wonder Woman, that she secured superstar status.
And There Was Light
“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot credits her service in the Israeli army for her ability to perform demanding Hollywood stuntwork.
YORAM GLOBUS AND MENAHEM GOLAN
Producers
With his cousin Golan, who died in 2014 at the age of 85, Globus is considered one of the foremost B-movie producers in the world. As the co-owners of Cannon Films, Globus and Golan released a string of popcorn movies such as “Invasion U.S.A.” and “The Delta Force” and struck box office gold, helping to turn Chuck Norris into an action star. Later, they produced period dramas such as Just Jaeckin’s 1982 adaptation of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” as well as John Cassavetes’ “Love Streams” and Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Runaway Train.”
AHARON KESHALES AND NAVOT PAPUSHADO
Directors
Israeli horror films had hardly any bite before Tel Aviv directorial duo Papushado and Keshales burst onto the scene in 2010 with “Rabies,” a twisted fairy tale about a brother and sister lost in a dark forest. Keshales is a former student of Papushado’s, and while the former was still studying at Tel Aviv University, they realized a shared desire to make the first real Hebrewlanguage slasher film. Their critically acclaimed “Big Bad Wolves,” a bloody vengeance thriller about a cop gone off the rails, was released in 2013. They were scheduled to direct “Ambulance” next.
HAGAI LEVI
Writer, producer and director
While he doesn’t consider himself “an expert on Israeli TV,” Levi is one of the most soughtafter TV series creators around, having launched two of the most groundbreaking small screen dramas of the past decade: HBO’S “In Treatment” and Showtime’s “The Affair.” Because budgets are so much smaller in Israel than in the States, Levi was able to nurture each project to the point of perfection. “On ‘In Treatment,” we could afford a very long development and writing phase because the cost of that period was almost zero,” he says. “I could get every actor I liked, and every writer I wanted. So I had the biggest stars and best writers in Israel. I can only hope that creators and writers in Israel will continue to be personal, local and authentic and that the American option will not lead them into any speculation like, ‘How can I create something that can sell abroad?’ That could lead to an unfortunate decline of the originality in Israeli TV, and [Israel] will then become just another sweatshop for generic standard TV products. America has so many of them anyway.” Choreographer
The international dance community is gaga about Naharin, the 65-year-old choreographer, visionary and doyen of Israeli dance who dreamed up Gaga, a boundarypushing, convention-defying movement language that has swept the globe with its intuitive, freestyle pedagogy. Naharin, who until last year was artistic director of the world-renowned Batsheva Dance Company, has such a devoted following — Natalie Portman is among his ardent fans — that in 2015 he was the subject of “Mister Gaga,” a Tomer Heymann documentary that won the audience favorite award at SXSW. Among Naharin’s many accolades are the 2005 Israel Prize and an honorary doctorate from Juilliard.
AVI NIR
CEO, Keshet Since joining Keshet in 1993