Drum roll… 60 under 40 – meet the community’s Top 20 creative and media stars
From celebrities and social media influencers to journalists, musicians and designers, we can finally reveal the Anglo-Jewry trailblazers making waves in the creative and media world
THE TOP TWENTY (Unranked )
Emma Barnett, 39, Journalism
Award-winning journalist Emma Barnett has built an outstanding reputation as one of the finest broadcasters in the business. Known for her sharp interviewing skills, expertise in politics, media and digital trends – as well as social affairs, religion and feminism – the 39-year-old was named Interviewer of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2022. Until earlier this year, Emma presented Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, having grown its audience share to become the most downloaded programme across the BBC.
Emma now hosts Radio 4’s Today programme, the interview show Emma Barnett Meets on Bloomberg, and writes a weekend column for the i newspaper. She formerly presented Newsnight and the Emma Barnett Show weekdays on BBC Radio 5 Live for five years, having been Women’s Editor of The Daily Telegraph, where she launched the award-winning women’s section. A regular on all the main broadcasters, Emma remains one of the community’s most successful media personalities.
Mel Bezalel, 39, TV/Film
Mel Bezalel is an acclaimed TV editor who has worked on some of the nation’s top shows. As commissioning editor at E4, she works with indies to develop new formats and returnable series for the channel and has thus far co-execed major programmes including Celebs Go Dating, Kids Behaving Badly and Celeb Cooking School. Mel is also tasked with further developing the relationship between E4 and All 4 (now known as Channel 4). Prior to joining Channel 4, the 39-year-old was director of development at RDF Television, where she developed numerous successful unscripted shows, including Rock Till We Drop (BBC Two), Lodgers For Old Codgers (Channel 4) and Shop Well For Less (BBC One). Other notable credits include producing Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life (Sky One) and the Emmy award-winning Hoff the Record (Dave). The journalism graduate’s passion for telling contemporary stories in unconventional ways undoubtedly makes Mel one to watch.
Brandon Baum, 25, Social Media
Armed with a camera since he was 15, Brandon has achieved unparalleled success as one of the UK’s biggest digital content creators. The online star has racked up a staggering 13.5 million followers, with his imaginative VFX (visual effects) videos being viewed more than seven BILLION times since 2021. Brandon’s video shorts are loaded with eye-catching special effects – he has jumped across buildings as Spiderman (159.7m views), produced the world’s longest tape measure (274.5m views), set off a ‘$1,000 firework’ (300m views) and created a giant ice cream from a statue (885m views). The latter – YouTube’s third most popular video short of all time – features Brandon drop the top of his ice cream on the floor and replace it by turning a statue into ice cream (picture inset below).
Described as a “force of brilliant enthusiasm” who brings “enormous pleasure to so many youngsters”, the 25-year-old also runs production company Studio B. His firm creates viral videos for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Pixar Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Company, FIFA, Netflix, Adidas, Universal and a number of Premier League footballers, as well as celebrities such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Sam Ryder, Tyson Fury and KSI. Launched in 2022, London-based Studio B currently operates with a team of nearly 20 people. Remarkably, the former Yavneh student, who chose not to go to university, has even overcome dyslexia to achieve his success, and will remain an inspiration to many young content creators for years to come.
Ariel Booker, 30, & and Josh White, 32, Product Design
Next-generation entrepreneurs Josh White (32) and Ariel Booker (30) have taken the competitive world of hydration by storm. Alongside their friend Perry Alexander, the pair are the co-founders of canned water market leader CanO Water.
Feeling inspired after witnessing first-hand the pollution created by single-use plastic bottles along a remote island beach in Thailand, the trio founded their company in 2015. The early years were tough, with many considering placing water in infinitely recyclable aluminium cans to be a gimmick. Nearly a decade later, however, the highly successful businessmen have seen their product stocked in all major supermarkets, including Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose and WH Smith. Their products have even featured at royal weddings and on red carpets, including the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles, as well as at famous landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Houses of Parliament. The pioneering brand, which has sold more than 50 million cans, recently announced a multimillion-pound investment backed by comedian and Hollywood star Ricky Gervais.
Ariel and Josh have also turned their hand to campaigning, recently taking a bold stance against Wimbledon’s ongoing partnership with Evian through their #breakupwithplastic campaign. Despite its commitment to sustainability, the tennis tournament still generates a staggering 250,000 single-use plastic bottles each year. Among their impressive accolades, the trio were featured in Forbes 30 under 30, and Josh has even been invited to the Houses of Parliament to speak alongside Sir David Attenborough about climate change and plastic pollution.
Shana Douglas, 38, Music
Talented musician Shana Douglas is an exceptional violinist and organiser in the music industry. Praised as a “true leader in her field”, Shana became assistant leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra when she was just 28. Working for one of the world’s leading orchestras, Shana regularly tours the globe bringing her music to places such as China, Japan and Jamaica, and has helped curate chamber events in Germany, Luxembourg, France and the USA. The 39-year-old is incredibly proud of her Jewish identity and runs a week-long music festival annually in Florida. She partners with a synagogue, Young Israel of Bal Harbour, where the ensemble performs overlooked music by Jewish composers, many of whom perished in the Holocaust. Shana has championed and programmed music by the likes of Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullmann, Erwin Schulhoff and Pavel Haas.
Reuben Dangoor, 35, Graphics/Animation
East London artist Reuben Dangoor has taken the art world by storm with his sharp takes on current affairs and social injustice. The illustrator broke onto the scene with his 2015 painting series Legends of the Scene, which reimagined grime artists, including Skepta and Stormzy, as 18th century nobility. The paintings were so well received that he was asked to exhibit them as part of Tate Modern’s Tate Lates series, receiving global coverage as the first artist to bring the UK Grime and hip-hop scene into a museum.
In 2018, Reuben, a keen sports fan, went viral after his drawings of the England men’s football squad were purchased by Gareth Southgate. More recently, Reuben has collaborated with David Beckham to design an exclusive in-game fit with EA Sports for video game FIFA22 and even unveiled five new artworks at Arsenal’s Emirates stadium.
Julius Dein, 30, Social Media
Magician extraordinaire Julius Dein has quickly become one of the world’s most recognisable social media stars. The 30-year-old regularly boggles the minds of his 65 million social media followers with his eclectic mix of interactive magic, illusions and witty humour. Known for performing close-up tricks with everyday objects such as lollipops, matches and sweets, Julius has performed magic in more than 50 countries and at more than 1,000 events internationally, never failing to bamboozle diverse audiences such as those in the glamorous venues of Monte Carlo and the poorest communities in Johannesburg, South Africa.
A regular at celebrity bashes, where he rubs shoulders with the likes of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, American basketball player Shaquille O’Neal and famous rapper and singers Drake and Post Malone, Julius is aptly described as the “face of modern-day magic”.
Having enacted his first magic tricks aged just 13 at a stall in Camden, Julius’ career started taking off at university, where he began performing at birthdays, corporate events and private parties. A passion quickly became a profession – and a lucrative one at that – upon moving to Los Angeles after his study abroad placement at UCLA. Word of Julius’ unique style and incredible magic performances spread across Hollywood’s elite market and, before he knew it, Julius was being booked for Beverly Hills celebrity parties and billionaire birthday bashes.
The social media star is leveraging his success to focus on philanthropy this year, building schools in Uganda primarily for refugees who have escaped to Uganda from war-torn South Sudan.
Julius remains one of the most sought-after magicians whose career will remain one to watch – carefully.
Dov Forman, 20, Social Media
Dov Forman has made an incalculable contribution to Holocaust education. Few teenagers, upon being separated from their great-grandmother during the Covid-19 pandemic, would seize the opportunity to co-author a book with them. Yet, amid rising antisemitism, that’s exactly what Dov did. Lily’s Promise: How I survived Auschwitz and found the strength to live follows 100-year-old Lily Ebert from her hometown in Hungary to Auschwitz, and latterly to Switzerland and Israel, where she rebuilt her life after the Holocaust. Lily’s remarkable set of stories, which range from hiding a treasured pendant inside some bread to witnessing her mother bravely light candles during their final Shabbat together, has captivated millions worldwide.
The book rose to become a five-time Sunday Times bestseller and was the Waterstones and Daily Mail best history book of 2021. The United States edition of Lily’s Promise is a three-time New York Times bestseller and was chosen as the Costco US buyers’ pick for May 2022. Moreover, impressively, the 19-year-old went one step further and set up a Tik Tok account to share Lily’s story with young people around the world. The account has received a staggering 2.1 million followers, with nearly 50 million likes on the platform, and even resulted in King Charles III paying tribute to Dov for his “engaging and effective use of social media”. His numerous accolades have also included a Points of Light award from the Prime Minister for services to Holocaust education and a Jewish Care community award in 2022.
Andrew Gold, 35, Podcasting
Broadcasting supremo Andrew Gold runs a hugely successful podcast series that has received numerous international accolades. On the Edge with Andrew Gold has featured high-profile guests – including singer Robbie Williams, biologist Richard Dawkins and activist Amanda Knox – with whom the 35-year-old converses on a variety of quirky topics, from scientology and cults to royals and Chasidic Judaism. Other notable episodes include the one with My Unorthodox Life star Julia Haart and with skier-turned-poker host Molly Bloom, author of Molly’s Game. Some have attracted close to 800,000 views.
Andrew, who speaks five languages, has even investigated paedophiles in Germany, which won him a prestigious Whicker Award in 2021, while his exorcism film took home international festival awards. His programme – which is broadcast to more than 200,000 YouTube subscribers – has also featured David Baddiel talking antisemitism and Sara Braun describing life as a black Chasidic Jew. The former award-winning BBC journalist turned to podcasts as a communication medium when the Covid-19 pandemic stunted his plans to launch a career making documentaries. Some 350 episodes later, Andrew has now published his debut book, The Psychology of Secrets: My Adventures With Murderers, Cults and Influencers (published by Macmillan). The book came about after fans started to send him increasingly intense secrets involving betrayal, fraud and even murder, sparking a desire in him to further explore the phenomenon and delve into the shocking history of secrecy.
Ben Kentish, 33, Journalism
Ben Kentish has fast emerged as one of nation’s most insightful, well-connected and talented political journalists. The 33-year-old spends his week traversing the corridors of power in Westminster interacting with government ministers, MPs and civil servants before reporting on major political stories as Westminster editor for LBC. Ben also regularly presents prime-time weekday shows for LBC, as well as hosting his own weekly slot every Sunday afternoon. His “passionate and articulate” presenting skills and choice of topics have been praised for engaging a younger audience and generating an excellent standard of debate. Before joining LBC, Ben worked as political correspondent at The Independent, and has appeared as a political commentator on BBC News, Sky News and CNN. Trusted with the biggest stories, he has been sent to cover major international events such as the US presidential election and global summits.
Hen Mazzig, 34, Social Media
Hen Mazzig has emerged as one of the seminal voices of his generation, inspiring millions with his online content about Jews and Israel. Praised as “precisely the right kind of Jew for our time”, the digital influencer and globally-recognised author has been a Jewish educator with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa for more than a decade.
With more than 100 million online users interacting with his content, Hen has sparked numerous viral campaigns, such as #JewishPrivilege, with which he inspired others to speak out about the falsehood of Jews having advantages in modern society, and #JewishLooking, for which thousands of Jews celebrated the ethnic and racial diversity of the community.
Hen has appeared as an expert on Jewish issues across four continents, visiting more than 500 college campuses and appearing regularly on the BBC and Sky News. His writing has featured in the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, NBC News, Haaretz and in numerous other publications.
The 33-year-old is also the founder of Mizrahi Heritage Month and co-founded the Tel Aviv Institute, a non-profit dedicated to using data-driven social media strategies to stand up for Jewish people and other minorities online. As the Institute’s senior fellow, he has trained a dynamic roster of Jewish advocates in messaging and empowers a new generation of Jews to use modern media platforms to promote tolerance and peace. A staunch advocate for the queer community, he also served as the head of the Transgender and Health department at the National Israeli LGBTQ Task Force (The Nir Kates Centre) in Tel Aviv.
Aimée Jacobs, 37, PR/Branding
Top PR guru Aimée Jacobs is making waves as a leading entrepreneur in the creative industry. Last year, Aimée founded Klaxonn, a live experiences communications agency, and has had a stellar career in public relations over the past 15 years.
Aimée’s client roster already boasts big names including the Ideal Home Show, Grand Designs Live, the Southampton International Boat Show, bingo brand Tombola and travel giant Collinson. With a team of just five employees, Klaxonn is already on track to generate revenues of nearly £1,000,000 in its first year, bucking the wider economic trend and performances of many industry contemporaries. Klaxonn is an offshoot of PR agency Ready10, where Aimée was a partner and played a pivotal role in substantially growing the business. This followed stints for Aimée at some of the best-known agencies in London, including Salt, Splendid, Shine and Frank, where she led on award-winning campaigns for several household names, such as Paddy Power, Trainline, Unilever, Coca-Cola and Kimberly-Clark. A “shining example of creativity and entrepreneurship”, the 37-year-old is always keen to give back where she can. She is an industry mentor, a former participant in PR Week’s Women in PR group, has helped to organise charity football matches for former Arsenal player Nwankwo Kanu’s heart foundation and heads up the PR Cup, a cross-industry set of sports tournaments that has raised more than £10,000 for diversity and inclusion charities. A native of Southend, she is also an active member of Welwyn Garden City Synagogue.
Gabriel Pogrund, 29, Journalism
Gabriel Pogrund has enjoyed an electric rise to the very peak of the British media establishment. Undoubtedly one of the leading investigative reporters of his generation, the 29-year-old is currently Whitehall editor at The Sunday Times. Gabriel was named Journalist of the Year at the 2023 British Journalism Awards for his impactful scoops on the government, the BBC, MI5 and MI6.
He also won Scoop of the Year in 2022 at the London Press Club awards after revealing a ‘cash-for-honours’ scandal involving King Charles’ closest aides, as well the Anti-Corruption prize at the British Journalism Awards for his reporting on the Greensill scandal in 2021. Gabriel, who did work experience with Jewish News, has co-authored two bestselling political books, Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn, which was a Times, Telegraph and Guardian book of the year, and recently Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer.
Ben Rebuck, 33, Social Media
Social media star Ben Rebuck has amassed a vast fan base for his quirky vegan dishes. The self-taught vegan chef has a staggering social media following with more than 500,000 people tuning in across his Instagram, TikTok and YouTube platforms.
On Instagram alone, his handle, @BensVeganKitchen, boasts 380,000 followers and has featured hundreds of vegan dishes. Since turning vegan seven years ago, the 35-year-old has become so recognisable that he was even invited onto Saturday Kitchen Live last year for a special Yom Kippur edition of the flagship BBC show, where he joined executive chef Tomer Amedi, as well as Robert Rinder, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Adam Kay. He presented his preferred foods for breaking the fast: vegan versions of smoked salmon, cream cheese and chopped liver bagels. The ‘salmon’ was made from carrots, the ‘cream cheese’ from tofu and ‘chopped liver’ was made of mushroom. Other notable dishes from his Oy Ve-Gan series, which put a vegan spin on classic Ashkenazi staples, included challah and babka, alongside spinach and cheese borekas. Last summer, he covered the best vegan places to eat in Tel Aviv and connected with Israeli writer and antisemitism activist Hen Mazzig. Praised for boldly “wearing his Jewishness on his sleeve”, Ben has also publicly stated his dislike for comparisons made between industrialised farming and the Holocaust, which have been stated in the vegan community.
Rachel Riley MBE, 35, TV/Film
Best known for taking mathematics mainstream, Rachel Riley’s charming television persona has elevated her into celebrity stardom. Aged just 22, the Oxford maths graduate joined Channel 4’s Countdown as a presenter on the popular number-crunching show and has been a favoured mainstay of the show ever since. Quickly rising to prominence in the media industry, Rachel has used her platform to empower others, particularly women, to pursue STEM subjects, and has visited schools to engage pupils on the topic. She has also co-presented The Gadget Show on Channel 5 and It’s Not Rocket Science on ITV, and has even been a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. The 38-year-old is also one of the community’s leading campaigners in the fight against antisemitism, for which she was recently awarded an MBE.
After encountering antisemitism in the Labour Party in early 2018, she bravely raised the volume regarding her Jewish identity during high-profile media appearances on The Jonathan Ross Show, Peston and Victoria Derbyshire, and has even addressed MPs at a Holocaust Educational Trust reception. She is passionate about countering online hate of all creeds, particularly across social media, and she is an ambassador for the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, which seeks to persuade brands to stop advertising on news websites accused of disseminating disinformation. The campaign has convinced dozens of brands to take action, including big hitters such as Macmillan Cancer Support and Chelsea FC. For the TV star’s efforts, she received the Algemeiner’s prestigious Warrior for Truth award, securing a place on the J100 list.
Zoom Rockman, 23, Graphics/ Animation
An illustrator extraordinaire, Zoom Rockman has built a stellar reputation as one of the nation’s top political cartoonists. At the age of 12 he became the youngest-ever artist to have a comic strip printed in Beano magazine, quickly followed by similar accolades for Private Eye (age 16) and The Sunday Times (age 21). Until recently, Zoom worked for Private Eye, where he sketched 137 cartoons and picked up numerous awards, including political cartoon of the year at the Political Cartoon Awards 2023 for his drawing on antisemitism entitled You can’t do anything these days without being seen as an antisemite. The 23-year-old recently quit the magazine after it failed to acknowledge an online threat against him. Last year, Zoom ran a very successful first major London show at JW3 entitled Jewish Hall of Fame, where he exhibited a series of 10 fully interactive, life-sized portraits of Jewish icons.
Alex Segal, 38, TV/Film
Alex Segal is the youngest-ever managing director of InterTalent, one of Britain’s leading entertainment talent agencies. Since taking over the reins in 2020 aged just 34, he has revolutionised the company, introducing highly successful NFT, digital, gaming, comedy and brand divisions to keep InterTalent at the forefront of culture and media, all while overseeing the agency’s day-to-day operations, creative vision, acquisitions and partnerships.
The 38-year-old personally represents stars including Ross Kemp, Scarlett Moffatt, Steven Bartlett, Eamonn Holmes and Vinnie Jones. After a stint producing theatre in the West End, Alex moved into talent management at Curtis Brown before spending nearly four years at ARG, where he worked with their high-profile actors. Praised for his fantastic combination of “friendliness, steel, creativity, personality and pragmatism”, Alex is undoubtedly one of the most impressive leaders in the talent industry.
Stacey Solomon, 34, TV/Film
Superstar TV personality and singer Stacey Solomon remains one of Britain’s most beloved celebrities. Since appearing as a contestant on ITV’s popular signing competition The X Factor in 2009, where she finished in third place, Stacey has built an enormous fan base with a staggering six million followers on Instagram. The 34-year-old’s remarkable career includes being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m a Celebrity (ITV), appearing as the face of supermarket chain Iceland, and even releasing her debut album Shy, which hit number 45 on the UK Albums chart.
Still a regular on television screens, Stacey is a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women and hosts her own award-winning show on the BBC, Sort Your Life Out, for which she travels around the UK to revamp cluttered homes. It recently won a Royal Television Society award for best formatted popular factual show. Alongside her creative endeavours and being a mother-of-five, Stacey is an entrepreneur, having launched a homewear collection with Asda, clothing ranges with Primark and a jewellery collection with Abbott Lyon.
Olivia Ter-Berg, 28, Social Media
Talented harpist Oliva Ter-Berg has amassed an impressive social media following in just four years. The 28-year-old regularly captivates her nearly 200,000 followers with videos showcasing how the harp can be used in pop music.
Since picking up the harp aged just eight, her music career has reached remarkable heights, which includes performances at the BBC Proms in 2016 as a member of The Roundhouse Choir and performing on the BBC at the Great Yorkshire show. Olivia has also recorded her own original tracks with D/A Music group, with her rendition of Let Me In being played nationally across all 40 UK BBC local radio stations and twice on BBC Introducing for York and North Yorkshire. The University of York Music Department graduate has also been selected as Artist of the Week on BBC Music Introducing.
Outside of music, Olivia is an award-winning senior social content executive, having grown Cineworld Cinemas’ TikTok channel to more than 350,000 followers by producing 150 videos with more than 70 million organic views. She won Rising Star at the UK Content Awards and can regularly be found interviewing actors such as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Jeff Goldblum on the red carpet. Currently a BBC Open Music Trainee within the 2023/2024 cohort, Olivia hopes to become a presenter within the music industry as the next step in her already impressive career.
Jessie Ware, 39, Music
Singer-songwriter Jessie Ware has achieved extraordinary success as an international pop sensation. Bursting onto the music scene with her debut studio album Devotion in 2012, which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, Jessie was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and has not looked back since.
Over the past decade, the 39-year-old has achieved six BRIT Award nominations, including winning Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2014 BRIT Awards, and grown a huge fan base with more than 600,000 YouTube subscribers. She has supported Harry Styles on tour and even performed to massive crowds at São Paulo’s Primavera festival. Jessie is also a successful broadcaster, having launched the food-centric podcast Table Manners with her mother Lennie, which for 15 series has featured high-profile individuals from Sam Smith and Nigella Lawson to Sir Keir Starmer talking about food. A proud Jew, Jessie realised her ambition to have a batmitzvah in 2022 and enjoys family Friday night dinners whenever possible.
Click here to see entries 21-60
Click here for an intro from the judges
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
