Ohad (Odi) Ashkenazi

Ohad (Odi) Ashkenazi was born in 1971 in Kiron

Ashkenazi was born in Kiron on December 22, 1971, to Orina Raanan and Professor Israel Ashkenazi. His maternal grandfather, Mordechai Raanan, was the Irgun district commander in Jerusalem. His paternal grandfather, Shlomo Pinchas Ashkenazi, was a writer and researcher of Judaism.

As a teenager he belonged to the Habima youth theater group. He served in the IDF as a paramedic. He studied at the Beit Zvi school in 1993, then won an America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship in 1994 and earned a directing diploma at the Drama Studio London.

From 1999 he directed award ceremonies for Israeli television. He edited the talk show "Erev Adir" with Adir Miller and developed the sitcom "Ramzor" with him. From 2004 to 2006 he ran the comedy channel Bip, where he created the satire show "The Strip".

In 2008 he created "Comedians at Work" for Reshet, whose format was sold to Russia, France and Germany. In August 2010 he became head of Comedy Central in Israel and oversaw its launch in 2011. In 2012 he co-developed "The Green Project" with animator Eyal Be.

In 2016 he moved to New York, where he managed the American branch of Paramount Israel and headed the production company Mila Media. In 2024 he returned to Israel as development director at Herzliya Studios. He has been married to actress Maria Carrigan since 1998.