DRG Names SVPs for AsiaPac, Factual Acquisitions

DRG has hired Warner Bros. and Fox alum Jess Khanom as the company’s new senior VP for the Asia Pacific region, while Mette Kanne-Behrendsen is filling a full-time position as senior VP of factual acquisitions.

Khanom previously served as sales director for international TV productions at Warner Bros. International TV Production, and global head of format sales at Fox, where she worked across the Fox Networks Group Content Distribution and Twentieth Century Fox TV Distribution catalogs. At DRG, she is charged with placing content and developing relationships across AsiaPac. She will also further develop the company’s formats business.

Reporting to Elin Thomas, DRG’s executive VP of sales, Khanom is replacing Joel Atley, who is leaving the company after ten years.

Kanne-Behrendsen first joined DRG last year as a maternity leave cover. Before that, she held senior posts at Off the Fence, where she was VP of acquisitions, and Modern Times Group, where she served as director of pay-TV channels. She returns to DRG after a period of consultancy in 2017. She will work under Dave Clarke, the company’s executive VP of content.

Richard Halliwell, DRG’s CEO, said: “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 program sales and in placing and managing formats and developing global brands—will be put to excellent use.”

He continued: “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 endeavors.”

Khanom noted: “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.”

Kanne-Behrendsen added: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with DRG and its producer partners last year so was really glad when the opportunity arose to return. DRG provides an exciting and supportive environment, and actively encourages its executives to explore new business avenues and ways of working. All of this presents a perfect chance for me and I look forward to developing the next stage of my career alongside Dave and the team.”