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

Ron Leshem, the Oscar-nominated writer and co-creator of the Israeli series that inspired HBO’s cultural phenomenon “Euphoria,” has declared that television is entering a golden age of global drama. Speaking at this year’s Canneseries festival, Leshem—whose credits feature “Valley of Tears,” “No Man’s Land” and “Bad Boy”—contended forcefully 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 ambitious international projects spanning Brazil, Australia, Europe and France. His belief comes at a critical moment when global drama risks being reduced to merely a budget solution or exotic niche rather than a transformative medium transforming the medium.

The Case for Daring, Limit-Breaking Storytelling

Leshem’s core argument challenges the prevailing risk-aversion in contemporary television. Rather than falling back on safe formulas, he argues that worldwide television offers something the industry critically demands: authentic originality. When television channels and digital platforms avoid taking risks, approving only established formats and familiar narratives, they relinquish the format’s core strength to engage and challenge. Leshem believes this point in time demands the contrasting direction—creators must welcome the unfamiliar, explore new spaces, and have faith in viewers to follow them into challenging new territory. The original Israeli “Euphoria” demonstrated this approach, delivering genuine rawness and cultural distinctiveness to a narrative that surpassed its origins to become a international hit.

The economics of international production, Leshem emphasises, genuinely free rather than constrain artistic vision. Whilst American television persistently calls for considerable spending to justify production approvals, international productions can achieve comparable production values at reduced financial outlay. This budgetary adaptability surprisingly facilitates greater creative risk-taking. Creators operating in international settings aren’t bound by the same market demands that force American networks toward safe, accessible content. Instead, they can champion distinctive voices, unconventional narratives, and the kind of daring innovation that finally creates the most impactful and culturally relevant programming.

• Global narratives opens doors to fresh settings, frameworks and narrative journeys
• Independent producers can create high-end drama at considerably decreased costs
• International storytelling attracts audiences fatigued by standard programming
• Cultural distinctiveness generates genuine appeal that goes beyond geographical boundaries

Breaking the Established Model

The television industry’s present risk aversion constitutes a core misreading of viewer demand. Streaming services and traditional broadcasters have become fixated with metrics and algorithmic predictability, leading to an endless parade of retreads and sequels. Yet audiences keep turning toward programmes that catch them off guard—narratives that feel truly transgressive, morally complex, and culturally rooted. Global drama, by its inherent character, resists the homogenising impulse that dominates mainstream American television. When creators operate within different cultural contexts and production ecosystems, they’re forced to think differently, to question assumptions, to move past the well-worn paths that have calcified into industry convention.

Leshem’s own production company, Crossing Oceans, embodies this approach through its intentionally global portfolio. From “Paranoia” in Brazil to “Revolution,” a France Télévisions partnership with Iranian filmmakers, his projects intentionally pursue artistic tension and cultural collision. These are not prestige vanity projects intended to gather festival laurels; they’re strategic wagers that audiences globally hunger for stories that challenge, disorient, and ultimately reshape them. By welcoming the unknown rather than retreating from it, Leshem argues, television can reclaim its position as the platform where real creative risk still matters.

From Israeli Foundations to International Goals

Ron Leshem’s path from Israeli television to international prominence exemplifies the transformative power of locally-rooted storytelling. His initial projects in Israeli drama established him as a distinctive creative voice, willing to confront sophisticated social and moral issues with uncompromising integrity. This foundation proved instrumental in shaping his later approach to international filmmaking. Rather than surrendering his cultural identity for expanded commercial viability, Leshem has continually drawn upon his Israeli perspective as a creative asset, proving that intensely localised tales possess global relevance. His trajectory reveals that the most compelling international television often emerges not from diminishing cultural specificity, but from doubling down on it.

The founding of Crossing Oceans, his production company based in Los Angeles but working chiefly across international markets, represents a deliberate rejection from traditional Hollywood production approaches. Partnering with long-standing partners Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Leshem has built a slate deliberately designed to foreground artistic integrity over market-tested formulas. His ongoing productions span Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France in collaboration with Iranian filmmakers—a geographical and creative breadth that would have been unimaginable in established industry frameworks. This worldwide reach isn’t merely ambitious; it’s a deliberate statement that the direction of television storytelling lies in dispersed creative systems where local knowledge and global aspirations intersect.

The Euphoria Effect

The groundbreaking Israeli series that influenced Sam Levinson’s HBO adaptation became a cultural watershed 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 produced countless international versions, each modified to represent regional cultural nuances whilst maintaining the psychological intensity and genuine emotional resonance of the original vision. This success significantly transformed industry perceptions about international television’s commercial viability. Studios and streaming services that had traditionally overlooked non-English language drama as specialised programming suddenly recognised the profit prospects of culturally distinct narratives executed with artistic integrity.

The HBO adaptation rise to the second most-watched series in the network’s history validated Leshem’s creative philosophy completely. Rather than proving that international drama needed Americanisation to succeed, it showed the opposite: audiences craved 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 rendering it for American sensibilities. This model—respectful adaptation rather than wholesale reimagining—has become growing in importance in how global drama is approached, prompting producers to seek genuine regional talent rather than imposing standardised templates.

• Original Israeli series produced numerous cross-border adaptations across different territories
• HBO adaptation rose to the network’s second-most popular series in history
• Success established cross-border television drama could achieve remarkable commercial and critical acclaim

Building Global Networks: Establishing an International Manufacturing Network

Leshem’s production company, Crossing Oceans, constitutes a deliberate architectural response to the fragmented nature of global television 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 long-standing creative partners Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Crossing Oceans functions as a creative hub where storytellers from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds gather to develop projects with truly international scope. This structure allows Leshem to preserve creative autonomy whilst leveraging the unique production environments, regional expertise, and creative talent pools that different territories provide, fundamentally challenging the notion that high-quality drama must originate from traditional entertainment capitals.

The company’s existing slate demonstrates the breadth of its international reach and the range of storytelling approaches it supports. Projects stretch across 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 functions as a facilitator of genuine regional storytellers working in collaboration 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 championing unique creative perspectives whilst linking them internationally.

Collaboration Across the Globe

Crossing Oceans’ global collaborations demonstrate how contemporary global drama thrives through authentic artistic partnership rather than hierarchical production structures. The partnership involving Iranian filmmakers on “Revolution” exemplifies this philosophy, introducing viewpoints and narrative approaches that conventional industry approaches would generally dismiss. By treating these collaborations as creative equals rather than subcontractors, Leshem’s company generates projects strengthened by varied cultural insights and cultural approaches. This collaborative model questions conventional wisdom about which regions produce quality drama, demonstrating that excellence arises when multiple creative talents work together genuinely toward shared artistic vision.

The simultaneous development of projects across Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France showcases how Crossing Oceans operates as a genuinely distributed creative enterprise. Rather than centralising decision-making in Los Angeles, the company supports local production teams and creative partners to drive projects forward within their respective territories. This decentralised approach speeds up production schedules whilst maintaining productions preserve local character and local relevance. By treating different territories as creative equals rather than satellite offices, Crossing Oceans pioneers a production model that values regional expertise whilst maintaining the artistic standards and international perspective essential to global commercial success.

Empathy as Our Central Purpose

At the heart of Leshem’s vision for international storytelling lies a core conviction in television’s ability to cultivate understanding across cultural divides. Rather than approaching global narratives as a commercial strategy or budgetary convenience, he frames it as a moral imperative—a platform by which audiences across the globe can inhabit unfamiliar perspectives and develop deeper understanding of distinct cultures. This philosophical framework raises international storytelling beyond entertainment into something far more significant: a means of closing the psychological distances that separate nations and communities. By placing empathy at the centre as the guiding principle, Leshem argues that television can achieve what political discourse often cannot: fostering authentic human bonds across cultural divides.

The proliferation of locally created content on international streaming platforms has somewhat counterintuitively created both opportunities and challenges. Whilst audiences now access stories from historically underrepresented territories, there persists a danger of regarding such works as cultural oddities rather than universal human narratives. Leshem’s insistence on empathy-driven storytelling directly challenges this performative representation. His projects deliberately avoid cultural stereotyping or performative diversity, instead constructing stories that uncover the common fragilities, ambitions, and ethical dilemmas that bind humanity. This method converts audiences into authentic stakeholders in the emotional worlds of others, nurturing the kind of cross-cultural understanding that has become increasingly vital in an interconnected yet polarised world.

• Universal human narratives go beyond cultural and geographical boundaries
• Empathy-based storytelling avoids exoticisation of foreign productions
• Common emotional experiences foster authentic cross-cultural understanding
• Television’s strength lies in making faraway lives feel intimately close

Theatre as a Method for Learning

Television drama, when executed with genuine artistic ambition, functions as a uniquely powerful medium for building empathy. Unlike documentary approaches that maintain observational distance, drama pulls audiences into the inner emotional lives of characters whose circumstances may differ radically from their own. This immersive nature permits audiences to enter unfamiliar social contexts, familial arrangements, and ethical quandaries with an depth that creates understanding rather than simple awareness. Leshem’s productions consistently exploit this potential, constructing narratives that compel audiences to examine their own assumptions whilst acknowledging the fundamental humanity in characters whose lives initially seem unfamiliar or bewildering.

The impact of this strategy becomes notably evident in productions tackling conflict, trauma, and community fragmentation. Series like “Valley of Tears” and “No Man’s Land” intentionally situate audiences within conflicted areas and broken communities, demanding that viewers navigate moral uncertainty without straightforward conclusions. Rather than offering soothing accounts of triumph or redemption, these programmes present the complex, nuanced reality of how communities survive and occasionally flourish within insurmountable conditions. By refusing simplification, Leshem’s work teaches viewers that insight doesn’t require agreement—it requires only the openness to genuinely listen with stories fundamentally different from one’s own.

What Drives a Series Gain Traction

In an era saturated with content, the difference between programmes that merely exist and those that authentically engage hinges on a willingness to take artistic chances. Leshem argues that global drama’s greatest asset lies not in its financial limitations but in its potential to venture into narrative territory that cautious American television increasingly avoids. When streaming companies prioritise predictable algorithms over creative innovation, independent producers operating across continents possess the ability to pursue stories that authentically provoke and test audiences. This fearlessness—the refusal to sand down rough edges for commercial viability—transforms television from mere entertainment into something far more significant: a medium able to deepening understanding.

The international works that gain widespread market traction invariably exhibit an uncompromising commitment to their original material’s emotional and cultural authenticity. “Euphoria’s” original Israeli iteration prospered not because it pursued American sensibilities but because it stayed firmly committed to its particular setting, ultimately establishing that distinctive detail rather than universal blandness creates genuine universality. Leshem’s present collection of works—from “Paranoia” in Brazil to partnerships with Iranian creative practitioners—reflects this certainty that the most widely captivating narrative work emerges when filmmakers prioritise their creative vision’s authenticity over structural pressure to dilute distinctiveness. Such artistic bravery, paradoxically, serves as the means of achieving international widespread recognition.

• Genuine storytelling grounded in distinct cultural settings appeals across audiences
• Creative risk-taking sets apart compelling shows from disposable programming
• Refusing market pressures frequently generates greater commercial success
• Global drama flourishes when artistic vision overrides formulaic patterns