Global Drama’s Golden Age: Why Television Must Dare to Surprise

Ron Leshem, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and creator of the Israeli series that inspired HBO’s cultural phenomenon “Euphoria,” has stated that television is entering a golden age of international storytelling. Speaking at this year’s Canneseries festival, Leshem—whose credits feature “Valley of Tears,” “No Man’s Land” and “Bad Boy”—argued passionately that independent creators and cross-border narratives hold the key to revitalising television drama. As streaming services increasingly retreat into domestically-oriented programming and broadcasters take conservative approaches, Leshem remains bullishly optimistic about the future, backed by his own slate of expansive global initiatives spanning Brazil, Australia, Europe and France. His belief comes at a critical moment when global drama risks being dismissed as merely a cost-effective option or exotic niche rather than a creative force transforming the medium.

The Case for Bold, Boundary-Pushing Story Creation

Leshem’s core argument contests the dominant risk-aversion in contemporary television. Rather than falling back on formulaic comfort, he argues that international storytelling offers something the industry critically demands: genuine surprise. When networks and streaming services stick to proven models, approving only proven templates and familiar narratives, they forfeit the medium’s fundamental power to captivate and provoke. Leshem believes this point in time demands the reverse strategy—creators must welcome the unfamiliar, push into untested territories, and believe in audiences to accompany them into challenging new territory. The original Israeli “Euphoria” exemplified this approach, delivering genuine rawness and cultural distinctiveness to a narrative that went beyond its roots to become a global phenomenon.

The economics of international production, Leshem highlights, truly emancipate rather than constrain creative ambition. Whilst American television continually requires massive budgets to justify production approvals, cross-border ventures can achieve comparable production values at significantly lower expense. This monetary freedom surprisingly facilitates increased artistic experimentation. Production teams spanning multiple territories aren’t constrained by the same commercial pressures that force American networks toward formulaic narratives. Instead, they can support original viewpoints, experimental story structures, and the kind of bold experimentation that eventually generates the most memorable and culturally significant television.

• Global storytelling opens doors to unexplored territories, scenarios and narrative journeys
• Independent producers can create premium content at considerably decreased costs
• International narratives appeals to audiences weary of formulaic television
• Cultural particularity establishes credibility that transcends geographical boundaries

Disrupting the Conventional Formula

The television industry’s current risk aversion represents a fundamental misreading of audience appetite. Streaming services and traditional broadcasters have become fixated with metrics and algorithmic predictability, resulting in an endless parade of rehashed content and franchises. Yet audiences keep turning toward programmes that catch them off guard—narratives that feel genuinely dangerous, ethically nuanced, and culturally grounded. Global drama, by its inherent character, resists the homogenising impulse that dominates mainstream American television. When creators work across different cultural contexts and production ecosystems, they’re forced to approach things anew, to question assumptions, to venture beyond the well-worn paths that have calcified into industry convention.

Leshem’s personal production outfit, Crossing Oceans, reflects this approach through its deliberately international slate. From “Paranoia” in Brazil to “Revolution,” a France Télévisions collaboration with Iranian filmmakers, his works intentionally pursue creative friction and cross-cultural exchange. These are not vanity productions intended to accumulate festival laurels; they’re calculated bets that audiences globally hunger for stories that provoke, unsettle, and eventually transform them. By welcoming the unknown rather than shying away from it, Leshem argues, television can restore its position as the platform where real creative risk still counts.

From Israeli Heritage to International Goals

Ron Leshem’s journey from Israeli television to worldwide success exemplifies the far-reaching influence of stories deeply embedded in place. His initial projects in Israeli drama marked him as a distinctive creative voice, willing to confront intricate ethical and cultural questions with uncompromising integrity. This foundation proved instrumental in shaping his subsequent methodology to worldwide content creation. Rather than setting aside his cultural distinctiveness for broader commercial appeal, Leshem has repeatedly utilised his Israeli perspective as a creative asset, proving that profoundly rooted narratives possess worldwide appeal. His trajectory demonstrates that the most compelling international television often emerges not from weakening cultural distinctiveness, but from doubling down on it.

The creation of Crossing Oceans, his production outfit headquartered in Los Angeles but operating primarily across international markets, represents a deliberate rejection from Hollywood-centric production models. Partnering with long-standing partners Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Leshem has developed a portfolio deliberately designed to prioritise creative authenticity over audience-tested conventions. His ongoing productions span Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France in partnership with Iranian filmmakers—a thematic and territorial range that would have been inconceivable in conventional television structures. This worldwide reach isn’t merely ambitious; it’s a calculated claim that the direction of television storytelling lies in distributed production networks where local knowledge and worldwide vision intersect.

The Euphoria Effect

The original Israeli series that inspired Sam Levinson’s HBO adaptation became a defining cultural moment, demonstrating conclusively that non-English language drama could achieve extraordinary international box office success. Leshem’s creation connected so deeply with audiences worldwide that it generated multiple international versions, each modified to represent local cultural contexts whilst preserving the emotional depth and emotional authenticity of the original vision. This success significantly transformed industry perceptions about the commercial potential of international television. Studios and streaming services that had earlier rejected international drama as niche content suddenly acknowledged the profit prospects of culturally distinct narratives executed with creative excellence.

The HBO adaptation emergence as the second most-watched series in the network’s history vindicated Leshem’s creative philosophy thoroughly. Rather than proving that international drama needed Americanisation to succeed, it showed the opposite: audiences desired the psychological complexity and cultural specificity that the Israeli version captured. Levinson’s adaptation succeeded not by sanitising the source material but by respecting its fundamental boldness whilst adapting it for American sensibilities. This model—respectful adaptation rather than wholesale reimagining—has become growing in importance in how global drama is approached, encouraging producers to seek authentic local voices rather than imposing standardised templates.

• Original Israeli series produced numerous cross-border adaptations throughout different markets
• HBO adaptation achieved the network’s second-most popular series of all time
• Success established international drama could achieve unprecedented commercial and critical acclaim

Crossing Oceans: Establishing an International Manufacturing Network

Leshem’s production outfit, Crossing Oceans, constitutes a carefully structured response to the fragmentation of international TV production. Established in partnership with CAA and based in Los Angeles, the company operates as a truly global enterprise rather than a Hollywood-focused venture that periodically expands overseas. Established alongside longtime collaborators Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Crossing Oceans serves as a creative hub where creators with varied geographical and cultural perspectives gather to develop projects with truly international scope. This structure allows Leshem to preserve creative autonomy whilst drawing upon the distinct production ecosystems, regional expertise, and creative talent pools that various regions provide, directly contesting the notion that high-quality drama must originate from traditional entertainment capitals.

The company’s current portfolio demonstrates the breadth of its international reach and the range of storytelling approaches it supports. Projects span continents and cultures, from Brazilian psychological dramas to European co-productions and collaborations with Iranian filmmakers, each bringing distinct perspectives and production methodologies. Rather than applying a uniform creative framework across territories, Crossing Oceans operates as a facilitator of genuine regional storytellers working in partnership with international ambition. This approach produces productions that demonstrate both cultural specificity and universal emotional resonance, proving that truly global drama emerges not from homogenisation but from celebrating distinctive creative visions whilst connecting them across borders.

Working Together Throughout Different Continents

Crossing Oceans’ cross-border partnerships showcase how current world drama succeeds through genuine creative collaboration rather than traditional top-down production models. The collaboration with Iranian filmmakers on “Revolution” exemplifies this principle, introducing creative insights and cultural narratives that conventional industry approaches would commonly ignore. By positioning these partnerships as equal creative voices rather than service providers, Leshem’s company generates projects strengthened by varied cultural insights and creative practices. This collaborative model disputes traditional beliefs about which regions produce quality drama, proving that innovation emerges when multiple creative talents work in genuine partnership toward mutual artistic objectives.

The simultaneous development of projects across Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France showcases how Crossing Oceans operates as a authentically distributed creative enterprise. Rather than centralising decision-making in Los Angeles, the company empowers local production teams and creative partners to drive projects forward within their respective territories. This decentralised approach speeds up production schedules whilst ensuring productions reflect genuine cultural identity and local relevance. By treating different territories as creative equals rather than satellite offices, Crossing Oceans establishes a production model that honours local insight whilst upholding the artistic standards and international perspective required for global commercial success.

Empathy as the Core Mission

At the heart of Leshem’s perspective for international storytelling lies a fundamental belief in television’s ability to foster empathy across cultural divides. Rather than approaching global narratives as a commercial strategy or financial expediency, he positions it as a moral imperative—a medium through which audiences across the globe can engage with different viewpoints and develop deeper understanding of distinct cultures. This conceptual approach raises international storytelling beyond entertainment into something far more significant: a tool for bridging the psychological distances that separate nations and communities. By centring empathy as the central principle, Leshem argues that television can achieve what political discourse often cannot: fostering authentic human bonds across cultural divides.

The growth of locally created content on global streaming platforms has somewhat counterintuitively created both opportunities and challenges. Whilst audiences now discover stories from previously marginalised territories, there remains a danger of treating such productions as cultural oddities rather than universal human narratives. Leshem’s commitment to emotionally intelligent narrative directly counters this performative representation. His projects intentionally resist reductive stereotypes or superficial representation, instead crafting narratives that reveal the shared vulnerabilities, ambitions, and moral complexities that unite humanity. This strategy converts audiences into genuine participants in other people’s emotional landscapes, fostering the form of intercultural comprehension that has become ever more essential in an interconnected yet polarised world.

• Universal human narratives go beyond geographical and cultural boundaries
• Empathy-driven narrative prevents exoticisation of international productions
• Shared emotional moments foster genuine cross-cultural understanding
• Television’s power resides in rendering distant lives seem intimately close

Theatre as a Means for Understanding

Television drama, when executed with genuine creative vision, functions as a uniquely powerful medium for building empathy. Unlike documentary formats that preserve a detached perspective, drama draws audiences into the inner emotional lives of characters whose situations may diverge substantially from their own. This immersive nature enables viewers to occupy unfamiliar social environments, family structures, and moral dilemmas with an intimacy that builds understanding rather than superficial knowledge. Leshem’s output regularly exploit this potential, building stories that push audiences to examine their own assumptions whilst acknowledging the core humanity in characters whose circumstances initially seem unfamiliar or bewildering.

The impact of this approach becomes particularly evident in programmes tackling conflict, trauma, and social division. Series like “Valley of Tears” and “No Man’s Land” purposefully situate viewers within contested territories and broken communities, demanding that spectators navigate moral ambiguity without straightforward conclusions. Rather than providing soothing accounts of triumph or redemption, these series present the messy, complicated reality of how people survive and occasionally flourish within untenable situations. By resisting oversimplification, Leshem’s work teaches spectators that comprehension doesn’t require agreement—it requires only the willingness to truly hear with stories profoundly distinct from one’s own.

What Creates a Series Gain Traction

In an era saturated with content, the difference between programmes that merely exist and those that genuinely resonate hinges on a willingness to take creative risks. Leshem argues that global drama’s greatest asset lies not in its production budgets but in its potential to venture into storytelling ground that cautious American television increasingly avoids. When digital services favour algorithmic predictability over artistic boldness, standalone creators operating across continents possess the freedom to pursue stories that truly disturb and push audiences. This fearlessness—the resistance to sand down rough edges for mass appeal—transforms television from background viewing into something far more impactful: a medium capable of deepening understanding.

The international works that achieve commercial success invariably share an steadfast commitment to their source material’s emotional and cultural authenticity. “Euphoria’s” Israeli original version thrived not because it pursued American tastes but because it proved firmly committed to its particular setting, ultimately establishing that distinctive detail rather than homogenised appeal creates genuine worldwide resonance. Leshem’s current slate of projects—from “Paranoia” in Brazil to partnerships with Iranian filmmakers—embodies this conviction that the most globally compelling narrative work emerges when creators place emphasis on their creative vision’s authenticity over organisational demands to dilute distinctiveness. Such boldness, paradoxically, functions as the pathway to international success.

• Authentic storytelling grounded in distinct cultural settings resonates universally
• Artistic bold choices sets apart memorable television from disposable programming
• Refusing commercial compromise often yields stronger financial returns
• International television flourishes when artistic vision supersedes algorithmic predictability