DRG has appointed Jess Khanom to SVP, responsible for placing content and developing relationships across the Asia Pacific region.
Mette Kanne-Behrendsen has also returned to DRG as its full-time SVP factual acquisitions, after previously acting as maternity cover for the role in 2017.
Jess Khanom has held senior positions at companies including Warner Bros International TV Production, where she was sales director, international TV productions and Fox, where she was global head of format sales, working across properties in both the Fox Networks Group Content Distribution and Twentieth Century Fox TV Distribution catalogues.
In addition to licensing completed programming across all genres she will be responsible for further developing DRG’s evolving formats business, which includes scripted titles such as Doc Martin and Black Widows and factual hits such as The Farm and Don’t Tell the Bride. Khanom will report to Elin Thomas, DRG’s EVP of sales.
Richard Halliwell, DRG’s CEO comments: “We are delighted to welcome Jess to the DRG team. She joins at an exciting time for the company: we’ve just moved into an amazing new space with some of our production partners and we have a number of interesting business developments in the pipeline. Her extensive international experience, both in programme sales and in placing and managing formats and developing global brands, will be put to excellent use.”
Jess Khanom said: “I am thrilled to be joining the team at DRG and to be working across Asia Pacific. While DRG already has excellent relationships in the region there is definitely a growing opportunity there for formats, so I am looking forward to applying my knowledge and experience and hitting the ground running. DRG has great content and impressive content partners, but the company’s ambition and desire to do things a little differently made joining an easy decision.”
Mette Kanne-Behrendsen, who has previously held senior roles at Off The Fence, where she was VP acquisitions and Modern Times Group, where she was director, pay TV channels, returns to DRG following a period of consultancy last year. She reports to EVP of content, Dave Clarke.
Jess Khanom replaces Joel Atley who, after 10 years with DRG and nearly 20 years in the industry, is taking a career break. Richard Halliwell said: “Joel has been a tremendous asset to DRG for more than a decade. We will miss him both professionally and personally and he leaves with our very best wishes for his future endeavours.”
Staff Reporter
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