Dogwoof Grows Sales and Business Affairs Team

London-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has restructured its business affairs and sales teams as it continues to expand into production.

Former Western Edge Pictures executive Will Kane will join the company as head of business affairs, working closely with CEO Anna Godas and head of acquisitions and distribution Oli Harbottle to grow Dogwoof’s production and financing arms.

Meanwhile, Cleo Veger has been promoted to head of sales, and former TVF International sales and acquisitions executive Katie Bench has joined as new senior sales executive.

Veger joined in 2014 and moved to the role of sales executive in 2017, and then sales manager in 2019. She will head an expanded sales team across all sales and pre-sales as well as festivals. Bench, who specialized in sales for Latin America, Iberia and Benelux at TVF, will oversee TV sales in a number of territories. Both executives will be attending this week’s Sheffield DocFest and taking meetings at MeetMarket.

Ana Vicente, who has been overseeing the sales team, steps into a newly created strategy and business development role.

The restructure comes as Dogwoof — which was traditionally known as a documentary sales agent and distributor — looks to integrate production, sales, financing and distribution.

Godas said: “At Dogwoof, we believe in developing our in-house talent, like Cleo and Ana, because our team is simply the key to our success. Equally, we are aggressively growing in the production and sales space and we need the right calibre of people like Katie and Will to help take us to the next level.”

Added Veger: “I’m thrilled to take the next step as head of sales at Dogwoof as we continue to grow and bring a slate of incredible films and projects to the market. Will and Katie are a brilliant addition to our growing team who will help expand our reach.”

Vicente said: “I’m proud to have been part of the Dogwoof transformation over the last 10 years. It has been a ride. I’m grateful to be entrusted with this new role and excited to continue on the path to further develop Dogwoof’s expansion.”

Dogwoof’s latest sales titles include “The Story of Film” director Mark Cousins’ new documentary “My Name is Alfred Hitchcock” and Alexandre O. Philippe’s “Lynch/Oz,” which world premiered in Tribeca. Kane will handle all legal and business affairs, taking a key role in structuring Dogwoof’s increasing number of production and financing investments.

In the last year, Dogwoof has added four other new team members, including Debbie London, who joined as production management executive to look after the growing number of titles in production; Nafi Gordon-Sy, who boarded as head of home entertainment, and came from BT Vision to grow the company’s platform, Dogwoof on Demand; former Trafalgar Releasing executive Tom Howson, who joined as head of theatrical sales; and Rachel Brown, who came from production outlet Independent Entertainment as a sales and marketing executive, and executive PA to Godas.

(Pictured, L-R: Katie Bench, Cleo Veger)