Dori Media Group acquires fellow Israeli prodco Sumayoko to create new JV

Dori Media Group has acquired all the assets of fellow Israeli production company Sumayoko in a deal that will see the two develop and produce content for platforms at home and abroad.

Nadav Palti

Sumayoko’s production activities in Israel will be added to Dori Media’s joint venture with Fremantle-owned Israeli prodco Abot Hameiri. The new banner, Dori Media Sumayoko Studios, will be managed by Amit Gitelzon and Shlomit Arviv.

Sumayoko CEO Udi Segal, who founded the company in 2009, will join Dori Media’s international development team, in addition to continuing in his existing role.

Dori Media, which has offices in Israel, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain and Singapore, will also take over the distribution rights to Sumayoko’s content through Dori’s international distribution arm.

In a statement, group president and CEO Nadav Palti said the deal “is a step further in expanding Dori Media’s cooperation with Abot Hameiri of the Fremantle Group,” after the companies launched Dori Media Studios two years ago.

Sumayoko has produced scripted series including Asfur, Mossad 101 and On the Spectrum, the latter of which was sold and adapted in the US by Amazon Prime under the title As We See It, which premiered on January 22.

“Sumayoko and its world of scripted content in Israel has been renowned in the global television industry for many years,” added Palti.

“Sumayoko has created and produced many quality titles over the years and is a leading production house in Israel. The connection between Dori Media, which deals with the production and distribution of Israeli and international content, and Sumayoko’s quality productions, led by Udi Segal, Shlomit Arviv and Amit Gitelzon, together create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Segal said: “I am very happy that Sumayoko has joined Dori Media. The cooperation between our two companies and the teams leading them will enable the creation of high-quality Israeli productions that will be very successful in Israel and around the world.”

In other news, Dori has also signed a sales agreement with Brazilian streaming service Globoplay for its original crime series, La Entrega.