Meet Oshri Cohen | Artist and Executive Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Oshri Cohen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Oshri, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Hi! happy to be with you today. I am almost 26 years old. I was born and raised In Israel. since i remember myself, i wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry in the US. Since i am not a US citizen, i started to think how can i make it to the US with a job that i can be good at, and that can also give me the platform to promote myself.

I am an Artist myself, Singer, songwriter and producer, so LA is defiantly the best place in the world for people like me.

I am currently working at the Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific southwest based in Los Angeles.

I am serving as the Executive Assistant to the Consul General (the Ambassador) for 2 years already.

basically i am the closest person to the Consul General, I can say that i am his right hand and the one who is on top of everything that is going on at the consulate.

being a Diplomat in the LA is the best thing that ever happened to me.
I Came here with a lot of knowledge about the entertainment industry. I have been exploring this industry for over a decade thanks to social media. I used platforms like Instagram and Facebook to learn who are the people behind the scenes, who are the decision makers.

I looked at this industry like and onion that you have to pill slowly in order to get to the core and that’s exactly what i did. today i can proudly say that this hard work paid off and i am very well connected in the entertainment industry.
From the music industry to the film industry, i personally know and work with the highest Executives in town which helped me a lot to promote my Job at the consulate and to promote myself too.

Thanks to my specific position at the Consulate as an Executive Assistant to the Consul General, i was able to use my connections and knowledge to produce and organize big events in the past 2 years with the entertainment industry and not only.

My position at the Consulate is very colorful. I deal with so many different worlds.

for example, just recently i organized 2 high level diplomatic delegations visit of the Governor of Arizona and the Governor of Utah to Israel. i built the whole schedule for the delegations and i even set up meetings with the Prime Minister of Israel and also with the President of Israel.

From the other side, i had many cultural events that i made in the past 2 years at the consulate in partnerships with the local entertainment industry. for example, I just had a huge event that I organized, called ‘Scripted Israel’ we  Hosted the best 17 producers and 12 writers from Israel.

we had 200 curated one-on-one sessions that connected Israeli talent with  senior development executives from companies such as HBO, Amazon Studios, Endeavor Content and AMC Studios.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel came all the way from Israel to the event. What an honor!

The event was a great success for us and I can tell you that all of us will see, or actually watch the results in the near future with many Israeli talents and series on Netflix, HBO and many more.

The event was well covered by the biggest entertainment Magazines and website such as ‘Variety’ and ‘Deadline’. when your work is being recognized by the best of the best you know that you are doing something good and that is the best feeling. This made me be so happy and proud.

And that’s only events I made recently, I have done so many events in the past 2 years.

I’ll tell you more later!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think that what is separating me from others is the fact that in such a young age I am able to serve my country in a diplomatic mission in the very critical position. Being in touch with so many different people from different diplomatic missions from other countries and cultures makes you a smarter person who knows many cultures and mentalities without even leaving LA. It was very tough to get my current position. I worked on it over a year with so many tests and work interviews.
My position requirers high skills of networking and thinking outside the box. I am here to build bridges of peace through culture and shared values.
For example I organized an event against Asian hate with the Asian community in Los Angeles. We had a Painting artist who painted a huge mural on the Korean Federation building in Koreatown.

I invited Elected Officials and cultural leaders to fight against this shameful hate. The event was well covered by the local media and also by the Korean media in the Korean language.

Another event that an organized with the community was an event against Antisemitism. In the last year there was an increase in antisemitic attacks against Jews just for being jews.
We had a big solidarity dinner event with the Mayor of Los Angeles Mr. Eric Garcetti. I contacted with the Chief of LAPD Mr. Michael Moore and he came to the event to support and to give a speech.
We had leaders from every community in the city of Los Angeles inculding leaders from every religion, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, all sitting together to fight against hate and against those who wants  us separated.
I received a very exciting Official Certificates from the Mayor of Los Angeles and from Councilmember Paul Koretz for organizing and leading this event.
When I received those two certificates I understood the importance of my job and my ability to use my power to build bridges with all the communities in town.

I also invited executives from the entertainment industry included Mr. David Renzer, former Chairman and CEO of Universal Music publishing group who is working closely with me on so many things. He personally signed Kanye West and Justin Bieber in the past.

I know David Renzer for two years already. As part of my Job to promote peace through culture and especially through Music, I’m working with him in his organization called CCFP (creative community for peace peace). CCFP and our Consulate are doing so many things together. They help us with the entertainment industry and we help them with the diplomatic world.

The organization has a very big gala event once a year called Ambassadors of peace, honoring 5-6 executives from the entertainment industry for their work in sharing peace through culture.

I had the honor to organize  the CCFP annual Gala event of 2021 with CCFP’s director Ari Ingel.

We honored the Chairman and CEO of the Grammys Mr Harvey Mason Jr. and of course he came to the gala to get the award. We also had Artists and producers who came to the event including the famous Rappers 24K Golden and Ian Dior who had together one of the biggest hits in the world of 2021 called ‘Mood’.

organizing such an event is an honor for me. 

Being in touch with people that only  few years ago I was able to read about them only on Wikipedia or see them on Instagram becoming close and personal friends of mine is insane. It shows me that everything is possible if you have the passion and love to do what you do best.

this year (2022) on October 26 we are going to honor the 2 Managers of the international superstar

Billie Eilish. Billie herself will be in attendance at the Gala with us!

I really wanted them to be one of our Honorees this year and I made it happen!

we will be honoring also Darren star, the producer and director of Sex in the city, Beverly Hills 90210, and Emily in Paris. Working on such a high level events like this, and being in touch with these people makes me feel how lucky i am everyday. I think that the fact that I’m a foreign resident makes me want to be better than any other local cause

i always have to improve myself and show what I am worth.
another funny story that can happen to you only in LA!  I became a close friend with one of the biggest  bands in the world ‘One Republic’. i offered them to come to Israel to preform! they told me Oshri do your best and make  this happen. We’re in.  I used my connections with Live Nation Israel and they are officially going to preform in Israel on November 8 in front of 25,000 people!

Another event that i organized was bringing the international Israeli superstar and the Eurovision song contest winner s Netta Barzilay to preform live at the staple center at the beginning of the NBA game between the LA clippers to Golden State Warriors  as part of a big Hanukkah celebration that the consulate did. Being with her backstage at the Staple Center when Steph Curry is standing next to you is definitely crazy. What a world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My father is one of the Co-founders and COO of the biggest Winery in Israel.

My whole life I was surrounded by wines and vineyards. I love drinking wine and I love to eat good too!

i would start with a good glass of wine at the WALLY’S in Beverly Hills, from there I would definitely take my friend to Sushi Fumi in West Hollywood. It’s my favorite sushi spot in town.

I would also take my friend to a local or a big concert in the city. It’s obvious cause we are in Los Angeles. City of music and film.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
the Organization who deserves credit is the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles. the name consulate is definitely open for you the right doors if you know where to knock.

i was able to use my title at the consulate to reach out to the highest executives and producers in the industry.

i don’t think they would have been even answer to me without my title since so many people are reaching out for them everyday. but i can say that i was the first employee ever at the consulate who collaborated with this executives thanks to my passion and the  knowledge that i have on this industry.

one more person who deserves  a huge credit is my very best friend Shirley Halperin, the Executive Editor of Music at Variety Magazine. Shirley is the most Iconic Journalist in the Music industry worldwide.

i invited her to one of our events 2 years ago and since then we are best friends. we are collaborating all the time and I even going to produce the music for Variety and Iheartreadio podcast soon!

Instagram: Oshriicohen

Image Credits
credit for the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles And CCFP Organization.