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 influenced HBO’s cultural juggernaut “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”—contended forcefully that independent producers and international storytelling hold the key to reinvigorating dramatic television. As streaming platforms increasingly retreat into domestically-oriented programming and broadcasters play it safe, Leshem stays firmly confident about the future, backed by his own collection of expansive global initiatives spanning Brazil, Australia, Europe and France. His conviction comes at a critical moment when international drama risks being dismissed as merely a budget solution or exotic niche rather than a creative force reshaping the medium.

The Case for Courageous, Convention-Challenging Story Creation

Leshem’s primary argument contests the widespread timidity in modern television. Rather than reverting to safe formulas, he argues that global drama offers something the industry desperately needs: authentic originality. When television channels and digital platforms play it safe, commissioning only time-tested formulas and conventional stories, they forfeit the medium’s essential ability to engage and challenge. Leshem believes this point in time demands the reverse strategy—creators must welcome the unfamiliar, push into new spaces, and have faith in viewers to accompany them into uncomfortable, unexpected places. The original Israeli “Euphoria” embodied this approach, introducing raw authenticity and cultural specificity to a tale that transcended its origins to become a international hit.

The economics of international production, Leshem highlights, truly emancipate rather than constrain imaginative drive. Whilst American television increasingly demands substantial financial investment to justify green-light verdicts, international productions can achieve comparable production values at a fraction of the cost. This financial flexibility surprisingly facilitates increased artistic experimentation. Production teams spanning multiple territories aren’t constrained by the same market demands 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 finally creates the most memorable and culturally significant television.

• Global storytelling opens doors to fresh settings, setups and dramatic trajectories
• Independent production companies can create premium content at substantially lower costs
• International content attracts audiences weary of conventional TV
• Cultural distinctiveness creates authenticity that surpasses geographical boundaries

Disrupting the Conventional Approach

The television industry’s present risk aversion constitutes a fundamental misreading of viewer demand. Streaming services and traditional broadcasters have grown obsessed with metrics and algorithmic predictability, leading to an endless parade of retreads and sequels. Yet audiences continue gravitating toward programmes that catch them off guard—narratives that feel truly transgressive, ethically nuanced, and culturally rooted. Global drama, by its very nature, resists the homogenising impulse that dominates mainstream American television. When creators work across 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 personal production outfit, Crossing Oceans, reflects this approach through its deliberately global portfolio. From “Paranoia” in Brazil to “Revolution,” a France Télévisions partnership with Iranian filmmakers, his works intentionally court artistic tension and cross-cultural exchange. These are not prestige vanity projects intended to gather festival laurels; they’re calculated bets that audiences worldwide hunger for stories that challenge, disorient, and ultimately transform them. By welcoming the unknown rather than retreating from it, Leshem suggests, television can reclaim its standing as the medium where genuine artistic risk-taking still matters.

From Israeli Heritage to Worldwide Ambitions

Ron Leshem’s path from Israeli television to worldwide success exemplifies the transformative power of stories deeply embedded in place. His early work in Israeli drama positioned him as a unique artistic perspective, unafraid to tackle sophisticated social and moral issues with unflinching honesty. This foundation proved instrumental in shaping his later approach to global production. Rather than setting aside his cultural distinctiveness for broader commercial appeal, Leshem has consistently leveraged his Israeli perspective as a artistic resource, proving that intensely localised tales possess global relevance. His trajectory demonstrates that the most compelling international television often emerges not from diminishing cultural specificity, but from intensifying it.

The creation of Crossing Oceans, his production outfit based in Los Angeles but operating primarily across international markets, constitutes a deliberate rejection from conventional studio-led frameworks. Working alongside longtime collaborators Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Leshem has constructed a slate intentionally crafted to emphasise genuine creativity over audience-tested conventions. His current projects span Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France in partnership with Iranian filmmakers—a creative and geographical breadth that would have seemed impossible in conventional television structures. This global footprint represents far more than ambition; it’s a calculated claim that the direction of television storytelling lies in dispersed creative systems where regional expertise and worldwide vision intersect.

The Euphoria Trend

The original Israeli series that influenced Sam Levinson’s HBO adaptation became a defining cultural moment, demonstrating conclusively that non-English language drama could achieve remarkable worldwide commercial success. Leshem’s creation struck such a powerful chord with audiences worldwide that it spawned numerous international versions, each tailored to capture local cultural contexts whilst preserving the emotional depth and emotional authenticity of the original vision. This success dramatically shifted market views about the commercial potential of international television. Studios and streaming services that had previously dismissed international drama as niche content suddenly recognised the profit prospects of culturally specific storytelling executed with creative excellence.

The HBO version rise to the second most-watched series in the network’s history vindicated Leshem’s creative philosophy entirely. 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 embodied. Levinson’s adaptation succeeded not by sanitising the source material but by honouring its fundamental boldness whilst rendering it for American sensibilities. This model—honourable reimagining rather than wholesale reimagining—has become more impactful in how global drama is approached, prompting producers to seek genuine regional talent rather than imposing standardised templates.

• Original Israeli series spawned multiple international adaptations in various regions
• HBO adaptation became the network’s second-most popular series of all time
• Success established international drama could reach remarkable commercial and critical acclaim

Crossing Oceans: Establishing an International Manufacturing Network

Leshem’s production outfit, Crossing Oceans, represents a carefully structured response to the fragmented nature of global television production. Established in partnership with CAA and based in Los Angeles, the company functions as a truly global enterprise rather than a Hollywood-centric operation that occasionally ventures abroad. Established alongside long-standing creative partners Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel, Crossing Oceans serves as a creative centre where storytellers from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds converge to create productions with genuinely global ambition. This framework allows Leshem to maintain artistic control whilst drawing upon the unique production environments, local knowledge, and creative talent pools that various regions offer, fundamentally challenging the notion that quality drama must originate from established entertainment hubs.

The company’s existing slate demonstrates the breadth of its international reach and the range of storytelling approaches it champions. 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 authentic local voices working in collaboration 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 championing unique creative perspectives whilst linking them internationally.

Partnerships Between Different Continents

Crossing Oceans’ international partnerships demonstrate how modern international television thrives through real creative teamwork rather than hierarchical production structures. The work alongside Iranian filmmakers on “Revolution” exemplifies this approach, introducing perspectives and storytelling traditions that conventional industry approaches would commonly ignore. By establishing these relationships as creative equals rather than subcontractors, Leshem’s company produces productions enriched by multiple cultural viewpoints and artistic traditions. This collaborative model disputes traditional beliefs about the source of quality television, establishing that creativity develops when diverse creative voices collaborate authentically toward mutual artistic objectives.

The concurrent development of projects across Brazil, Australia, Europe, and France demonstrates how Crossing Oceans operates as a authentically distributed creative enterprise. Rather than centralising decision-making in Los Angeles, the company supports local production teams and creative partners to propel work within their respective territories. This distributed model speeds up production schedules whilst maintaining productions maintain cultural authenticity and local relevance. By treating different territories as equal creative contributors rather than satellite offices, Crossing Oceans introduces a production model that values regional expertise whilst maintaining the artistic standards and international perspective required for global commercial success.

Empathy as the Core Mission

At the heart of Leshem’s perspective for global drama 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 ethical necessity—a medium through which audiences across the globe can inhabit unfamiliar perspectives and develop deeper understanding of distinct cultures. This conceptual approach elevates global drama beyond entertainment into something far more significant: a tool for bridging the emotional gaps that separate nations and communities. By placing empathy at the centre as the guiding principle, Leshem argues that television can accomplish what political discourse often cannot: creating genuine human connection across difference.

The growth of locally created content on international streaming platforms has paradoxically created both opportunities and challenges. Whilst audiences now access stories from previously marginalised territories, there persists a danger of regarding such works as cultural oddities rather than universal human narratives. Leshem’s insistence on emotionally intelligent narrative directly challenges this performative representation. His projects intentionally resist reductive stereotypes or superficial representation, instead constructing stories that uncover the shared vulnerabilities, ambitions, and moral complexities that unite humanity. This method converts audiences into authentic stakeholders in other people’s emotional landscapes, fostering the form of intercultural comprehension that has become ever more essential in an digitally connected but deeply divided world.

• Timeless human narratives transcend cultural and geographical boundaries
• Empathy-based storytelling prevents exoticisation of foreign productions
• Common emotional moments foster genuine cross-cultural understanding
• Television’s power lies in rendering faraway lives feel intimately close

Drama as a Tool for Understanding

Television drama, when crafted with genuine artistic ambition, functions as a uniquely powerful medium for fostering understanding. Unlike documentary formats that preserve a detached perspective, drama pulls audiences into the inner emotional lives of characters whose circumstances may differ radically from their own. This immersive quality enables viewers to occupy unfamiliar social contexts, familial arrangements, and ethical quandaries with an depth that creates understanding rather than superficial knowledge. Leshem’s output regularly exploit this potential, building stories that compel audiences to confront their own assumptions whilst identifying the fundamental humanity in characters whose lives initially seem unfamiliar or bewildering.

The effectiveness of this method becomes notably evident in programmes exploring conflict, trauma, and community fragmentation. Series like “Valley of Tears” and “No Man’s Land” intentionally situate spectators within conflicted areas and broken communities, demanding that audiences navigate ethical complexity without straightforward conclusions. Rather than delivering reassuring narratives of triumph or redemption, these programmes present the intricate, messy reality of how individuals persist and periodically prosper within insurmountable conditions. By rejecting reduction, Leshem’s work shows viewers that comprehension needn’t demand agreement—it requires only the openness to truly hear with stories profoundly distinct from one’s own.

What Drives a Series Achieve Success

In an era saturated with content, the distinction between programmes that merely exist and those that genuinely resonate hinges on a commitment to take bold creative steps. Leshem argues that global drama’s greatest asset lies not in its production budgets but in its ability to venture into storytelling ground that risk-averse American television increasingly avoids. When streaming companies prioritise algorithmic formulas over creative innovation, independent producers operating across continents possess the liberty to pursue stories that authentically provoke and challenge audiences. This fearlessness—the resistance to sand down rough edges for commercial viability—transforms television from passive entertainment into something far more consequential: a medium equipped to broadening perspectives.

The international projects that break through commercially invariably demonstrate an uncompromising fidelity to their original material’s emotional and cultural authenticity. “Euphoria’s” Israeli original version prospered not because it pursued American preferences but because it proved firmly committed to its specific milieu, ultimately establishing that particularity rather than universal blandness produces genuine worldwide resonance. Leshem’s existing portfolio of works—from “Paranoia” in Brazil to collaborations with Iranian creative practitioners—reflects this belief that the most globally compelling storytelling arises when creators give precedence to their artistic vision’s honesty over organisational demands to standardise. Such creative courage, paradoxically, serves as the means of achieving international commercial success.

• Authentic storytelling rooted in specific cultural contexts resonates universally
• Artistic risk-taking sets apart memorable television from forgettable content
• Refusing market pressures frequently generates greater commercial success
• Global drama thrives when artistic vision supersedes algorithmic predictability