Peter Chernin (left) and Ron Leshem
Kevin Winter / Leonardo Cendamo / Getty Images
Peter Chenin’s North Road Company has struck its first international co-production deal – backing Euphoria creator Ron Leshem’s latest drama Bad Boy, which Leshem described as “the next Euphoria.”
North Road will join with Israeli producer Sipur to co-finance the crime drama alongside original Euphoria backers Hot and Tedy Productions. Leshem is creating with Bosch director Hagar Ben-Asher.
Bad Boy tells the story of Dean, who is imprisoned in a cruel juvenile detention facility. While in jail, Dean bonds with Zoro, a grim and mysterious teenage prisoner serving time for murder. He also learns to harness his unique intelligence and creativity and, 20 years later, these traits define Dean as a star comedian, while his time in jail is a secret threatening to resurface and tear his life apart.
Leshem, whose Red Skies drama is in competition at this week’s Series Mania, is co-creating with Ben-Asher alongside Israeli comedian Daniel Chen, writers Moshe Malka and Roee Florentin, and Leshem’s longtime partners Amit Cohen (No Man’s Land) and Daniel Amsel (Euphoria).
Leshem described Bad Boy as “the next Euphoria.” His Skins-inspired teen drama ran for one season around a decade ago while the U.S. version has been a huge hit for HBO, catapulting the likes of Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney to stardom.
“We are most grateful for our partners who brought this journey to life as a high-end international drama, for their trust and wisdom,” added Leshem, who is at Series Mania this week discussing threats to the Israeli TV industry and Israeli democracy as a whole.
Sipur founder Emilio Schenker, whose outfit has a deal with MGM, said North Road “instantly recognized the project’s massive global potential.”
North Road was launched last year by Chernin, a former Chairman and CEO of the Fox Group, bringing together Chernin Entertainment, the U.S. assets of Red Arrow Studios, which includes Love Is Blind producer Kinetic Content, and Connor Schell’s non-scripted business Words + Pictures. Earlier this year, North Road was reported to be mounting a joint bid for ITV Studios with Banijay.
CAA and Kneller Artists Agency represent Leshem, Ben-Asher and Cohen. North Road’s Frouman and Sipur’s Schmidt led the negotiations, with Ziffren Brittenham’s Pam Black and EBN & Co.’s Lior Oren representing North Road, and Jeff Freid from Longarzo, Vance Klevan Freid LLP, Dr. Zohar Kadmon and Dana Lerner representing Sipur in the deal.
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