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 juggernaut “Euphoria,” has stated that television is entering a golden age of global drama. Speaking at this year’s Canneseries festival, Leshem—whose credits include “Valley of Tears,” “No Man’s Land” and “Bad Boy”—contended forcefully that independent creators and cross-border narratives hold the key to reinvigorating dramatic television. As streaming platforms increasingly retreat into domestically-oriented programming and broadcasters play it safe, Leshem remains bullishly optimistic about the future, backed by his own collection of expansive global initiatives spanning Brazil, Australia, Europe and France. His belief comes at a pivotal juncture when international drama risks being reduced to little more than a cost-effective option or exotic niche rather than a creative force transforming the medium.

The Case for Courageous, Convention-Challenging Storytelling

Leshem’s primary argument questions the dominant risk-aversion in contemporary television. Rather than reverting to safe formulas, he contends that international storytelling offers something the industry desperately needs: real unpredictability. When television channels and digital platforms play it safe, commissioning only established formats and conventional stories, they surrender the medium’s core strength to engage and challenge. Leshem believes this juncture demands the reverse strategy—creators must embrace the unfamiliar, venture into untested territories, and have faith in viewers to accompany them into uncomfortable, unexpected places. The Israeli original “Euphoria” exemplified this principle, introducing genuine rawness and cultural specificity to a story that surpassed its origins to become a worldwide success.

The economics of global production, Leshem stresses, truly emancipate rather than constrain creative ambition. Whilst American television increasingly demands considerable spending to justify production approvals, cross-border ventures can achieve similar quality standards at reduced financial outlay. This financial flexibility paradoxically enables more adventurous creative choices. Creators operating in international settings aren’t bound by the same business imperatives that force American networks toward lowest-common-denominator storytelling. Instead, they can champion distinctive voices, non-traditional storytelling, and the kind of ambitious creative risk that ultimately produces the most enduring and culturally important content.

• Global storytelling opens doors to unexplored territories, setups and narrative journeys
• Independent production companies can deliver high-end drama at substantially lower costs
• International narratives attracts audiences tired of formulaic television
• Cultural particularity creates genuine appeal that surpasses geographical boundaries

Breaking the Safe Model

The television industry’s present risk aversion represents 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 genuinely dangerous, ethically nuanced, and culturally grounded. Global drama, by its inherent character, resists the standardising tendency that dominates mainstream American television. When creators work across different cultural contexts and production ecosystems, they’re forced to approach things anew, to challenge conventions, to move past the well-worn paths that have become entrenched as industry convention.

Leshem’s personal production company, Crossing Oceans, embodies this philosophy through its deliberately international slate. From “Paranoia” in Brazil to “Revolution,” a France Télévisions collaboration with Iranian filmmakers, his projects intentionally court artistic tension and cultural collision. These aren’t vanity productions intended to accumulate festival laurels; they’re strategic wagers that audiences globally hunger for stories that challenge, disorient, and ultimately reshape them. By embracing the unknown rather than shying away from it, Leshem suggests, television can restore its position as the platform where genuine artistic risk-taking still matters.

From Israeli Heritage to International Goals

Ron Leshem’s progression from Israeli television to global recognition exemplifies the transformative power of stories deeply embedded in place. His initial projects in Israeli drama positioned him as a unique artistic perspective, willing to confront complex moral and social themes with unflinching honesty. This base proved essential in shaping his later approach to global production. Rather than setting aside his cultural distinctiveness for expanded commercial viability, Leshem has continually drawn upon his Israeli perspective as a creative asset, proving that profoundly rooted narratives possess universal resonance. His trajectory demonstrates 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 outfit based in Los Angeles but functioning mainly across international markets, constitutes a intentional move away from Hollywood-centric production models. Working alongside longtime collaborators Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Leshem has built a slate deliberately designed to foreground creative authenticity over commercially proven templates. His active ventures span Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France in collaboration with Iranian filmmakers—a geographical and creative diversity that would have been inconceivable in traditional television hierarchies. This international presence isn’t merely ambitious; it’s a deliberate statement that the direction of television storytelling lies in dispersed creative systems where local knowledge and worldwide vision intersect.

The Euphoria Phenomenon

The original Israeli series that inspired Sam Levinson’s HBO adaptation became a defining cultural moment, establishing definitively that non-English language drama could achieve remarkable worldwide commercial success. Leshem’s creation resonated so profoundly with audiences worldwide that it produced countless international versions, each tailored to capture regional cultural nuances whilst preserving the emotional depth and genuine emotional resonance of the original vision. This success dramatically shifted professional attitudes about the commercial potential of international television. Studios and digital platforms that had earlier rejected international drama as niche content suddenly recognised the market potential of culturally distinct narratives executed with creative excellence.

The HBO version ascent to become the second most-watched series in the network’s history confirmed Leshem’s creative philosophy thoroughly. Rather than proving that international drama needed Americanisation to succeed, it demonstrated 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 more impactful in how global drama is approached, prompting producers to seek original indigenous perspectives rather than imposing standardised templates.

• Original Israeli series generated numerous cross-border adaptations across different territories
• HBO adaptation rose to network’s second most-watched series of all time
• Success demonstrated cross-border television drama could achieve unprecedented commercial and critical acclaim

Building Global Networks: Building a Global Production Network

Leshem’s production company, Crossing Oceans, represents a deliberate architectural response to the fragmented nature of global television production. Founded in collaboration with CAA and headquartered in Los Angeles, the company functions 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 functions as a creative centre where creators with varied geographical and cultural perspectives converge to develop projects with genuinely global ambition. This structure allows Leshem to maintain artistic control whilst drawing upon the distinct production ecosystems, regional expertise, and creative talent pools that different territories provide, directly contesting the idea that high-quality drama must emerge from established entertainment hubs.

The company’s existing slate demonstrates the extent of the international reach and the diversity of storytelling approaches it champions. Projects stretch across continents and cultures, from Brazilian psychological dramas to European collaborations and co-productions with Iranian filmmakers, each bringing distinct perspectives and production methodologies. Rather than imposing a standardised creative template across territories, Crossing Oceans functions as a facilitator of authentic local voices working in partnership with international ambition. This approach produces productions that possess both cultural specificity and universal emotional resonance, proving that truly global drama emerges not from homogenisation but from celebrating distinctive creative visions whilst linking them internationally.

Partnerships Across Different Continents

Crossing Oceans’ global collaborations illustrate how contemporary global drama flourishes through authentic artistic partnership rather than hierarchical production structures. The collaboration with Iranian filmmakers on “Revolution” exemplifies this philosophy, offering creative insights and cultural narratives that Western-centric production models would commonly ignore. By positioning these partnerships as equal creative voices rather than external vendors, Leshem’s company produces works enhanced through diverse perspectives and artistic traditions. This partnership approach disputes outdated assumptions about the source of quality television, demonstrating that excellence arises when multiple creative talents work in genuine partnership toward shared artistic vision.

The parallel development of projects across Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France showcases how Crossing Oceans operates as a truly distributed creative enterprise. Rather than centralising decision-making in Los Angeles, the company enables local production teams and creative partners to propel work within their respective territories. This locally-focused structure speeds up production schedules whilst ensuring productions preserve local character and local relevance. By treating different territories as equal creative contributors rather than satellite offices, Crossing Oceans pioneers a production model that values regional expertise whilst preserving the artistic standards and international perspective necessary for global commercial success.

Making Empathy Our Primary Focus

At the heart of Leshem’s perspective for global drama lies a fundamental belief in television’s capacity to foster empathy across cultural boundaries. Rather than treating international storytelling as a commercial strategy or financial expediency, he positions it as a moral imperative—a medium through which audiences worldwide can engage with different viewpoints and gain greater insight of different societies. This conceptual approach elevates global drama beyond entertainment into something more consequential: a means of closing the psychological distances that divide different populations. By placing empathy at the centre as the central principle, Leshem argues that television can accomplish what political discussion frequently fails to do: fostering authentic human bonds across difference.

The proliferation of locally created content on international streaming platforms has somewhat counterintuitively created both opportunity and risk. Whilst audiences now encounter stories from previously marginalised territories, there persists a danger of regarding such works as cultural oddities rather than universal human narratives. Leshem’s commitment to empathy-driven storytelling directly challenges this performative representation. His projects intentionally resist cultural stereotyping or performative diversity, instead constructing stories that reveal the shared vulnerabilities, ambitions, and ethical dilemmas that unite humanity. This approach transforms viewers into genuine participants in other people’s emotional landscapes, cultivating the form of intercultural comprehension that has become increasingly vital in an digitally connected but deeply divided world.

• Timeless human narratives go beyond geographical and cultural boundaries
• Empathy-driven storytelling avoids exoticisation of foreign productions
• Common emotional experiences foster authentic intercultural understanding
• Television’s power lies in making distant lives seem intimately close

Drama as a Tool for Understanding

Television drama, when crafted with genuine artistic ambition, operates as a uniquely potent form for cultivating empathy. Unlike documentary approaches that preserve a detached perspective, drama pulls audiences into the inner emotional lives of characters whose situations may diverge substantially from their own. This absorbing quality permits audiences to enter unfamiliar social contexts, family structures, and moral dilemmas with an closeness that generates understanding rather than superficial knowledge. Leshem’s output regularly exploit this potential, creating narratives that push audiences to confront their own assumptions whilst recognising the fundamental humanity in characters whose circumstances initially seem unfamiliar or bewildering.

The efficacy of this strategy becomes notably evident in programmes addressing conflict, trauma, and community fragmentation. Series like “Valley of Tears” and “No Man’s Land” intentionally situate spectators within conflicted areas and fractured communities, demanding that viewers navigate moral ambiguity without straightforward conclusions. Rather than offering soothing accounts of triumph or redemption, these series present the complex, nuanced reality of how communities survive and occasionally flourish within impossible circumstances. By refusing simplification, Leshem’s work teaches viewers that comprehension doesn’t require agreement—it requires only the readiness to genuinely listen with stories markedly unlike one’s own.

What Makes a Series Gain Traction

In an era brimming with content, the difference between programmes that merely exist and those that truly connect hinges on a commitment to take creative risks. Leshem argues that global drama’s greatest asset lies not in its financial limitations but in its ability to venture into narrative territory that conservative American television increasingly avoids. When streaming companies favour algorithmic predictability over artistic boldness, freelance production companies operating across continents possess the freedom to pursue stories that genuinely unsettle and test audiences. This fearlessness—the unwillingness to sand down rough edges for palatability—transforms television from background viewing into something far more significant: a medium equipped to deepening understanding.

The international productions that achieve commercial success invariably share an uncompromising commitment to their original material’s emotional and cultural authenticity. “Euphoria’s” initial Israeli adaptation thrived not because it pursued American sensibilities but because it stayed firmly committed to its specific milieu, ultimately establishing that particularity rather than universal blandness generates genuine broad appeal. Leshem’s present collection of works—from “Paranoia” in Brazil to collaborations with Iranian directors—embodies this conviction that the most widely captivating storytelling emerges when filmmakers place emphasis on their creative vision’s authenticity over institutional pressure to standardise. Such boldness, paradoxically, serves as the pathway to international widespread recognition.

• Genuine storytelling grounded in specific cultural contexts resonates universally
• Creative risk-taking distinguishes compelling shows from disposable programming
• Rejecting market pressures frequently generates stronger financial returns
• International television flourishes when creative direction supersedes formulaic patterns