EXCLUSIVE: As Barbie approaches the end of a spectacularly successful first month in theaters, the Israel Film Festival has set one of the film’s great champions, Mattel Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz, to receive its 2023 IFF Industry Leadership Award.
Recognizing visionaries and transformative change-makers who demonstrate exemplary leadership traits and have achieved significant success while inspiring others, the prize will be presented to Kreiz at the L.A. festival’s Opening Night Gala, taking place at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on November 1st.
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Kreiz joined Mattel, the global toy company boasting one of the world’s strongest portfolios of children’s and family entertainment franchises, in 2018. He has since led a multi-year transformation strategy that has set Mattel up to capitalize maximally on its breadth of IP.
Under Kreiz’s leadership, Mattel Films has announced 14 live-action motion pictures in active development with major studio partners. Mattel Television has at the same time expanded its content offering and now reaches audiences across 37 languages in 191 countries. Mattel’s first major theatrical movie, the Margot Robbie-led Barbie — an unexpected feminist take on the iconic doll — has broken out of late as a box office juggernaut and cultural phenomenon, setting numerous records for both Warner Bros. Pictures and filmmaker Greta Gerwig. Debuting in Israel as the highest-grossing movie of the year to date, the film surpassed the billion-dollar mark in just over 17 days in release, becoming the first by a solo female director to do so. It also recently surpassed the Batman pic The Dark Knight from Gerwig’s recent box office competitor, Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan, as it notched the highest-grossing domestic release in Warner Bros history.
Said the Israel Film Festival’s founder and executive director Meir Fenigstein of this year’s Leadership Award honoree, ‘Ynon Kreiz’s visionary leadership and incredible achievements at Mattel, most recently Barbie‘s triumph at the worldwide box office, are exciting beyond imagination. In just over five years, Ynon has transformed Mattel into an IP powerhouse, with its first theatrical release shattering records and becoming a showcase for the expertise of the Mattel Films division he created.
“On a personal note,” he continued, “I fondly recall Ynon as a UCLA Anderson MBA student volunteering at the Israel Film Festival. Now, 30 years later, I am proud to be recognizing and honoring him at the Festival for his own amazing accomplishments.”
Added Kreiz, “I have long admired the work of the Festival to promote and celebrate Israel’s thriving film and television industry, introducing the nation’s inspiring content, creators, and artists to U.S. audiences. I am honored to be receiving this award from an organization whose mission I so strongly support.”
Prior to joining Mattel, Kreiz served as Chairman and CEO of short-form content leader Maker Studios, before that holding the same roles at the Endemol Group. He earlier served as a General Partner at Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Capital Europe), one of the leading early-stage startup investors in Europe, and co-founded Fox Kids Europe NV, where he served as Chairman and CEO.
The accomplished Israeli-born executive received his BA in Economics and Management from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. He serves on the Board of Directors of Warner Music Group and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, as well as the Paley Center for Media. He is also a member of Business Roundtable, an association of leading American CEOs, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Executive Branch.
Since it was established nearly four decades ago, the Israel Film Festival has presented more than 1,200 features and brought hundreds of Israeli filmmakers to the U.S. to share their art, the goal being to spotlight Israel’s thriving film and television industry and enrich the American experience of its social and cultural diversity. The 36th edition will run from November 1st – 15th.
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