The North Road Company has inked a deal with the Israeli-based film and television company Sipur for “Bad Boy,” a drama series hailing from “Euphoria” creator Ron Leshem and director Hagar Ben-Asher.
The crime drama series, which began principal photography in January, follows Dean, a successful comedian whose stint in a juvenile detention facility as a teenage threatens to shatter his career and life when information regarding his past resurfaces. While in jail, as Dean bonded with a mysterious teenager convicted of murder, he learned to harness his creativity and intelligence — traits Dean still holds with him years later.
The collaboration marks North Road’s first international co-studio deal since its formal launch in July 2022, and North Road and Sipur, formerly Tadmor Entertainment, are co-financing the series alongside Israeli platform Hot and Tedy Productions.
“The North Road team is thrilled to work with the incredibly talented Ron Leshem and Hagar Ben-Asher and the teams at SIPUR, HOT and Tedy to bring this exceptionally compelling and poignant story to life and launch our promising foray into international co-productions,” North Road International Film & TV President Kristin Jones said in a statement.
Leshem and Ben-Asher created the series alongside Daniel Chen, Moshe Malka and Roee Florentin, with Leshem’s partners Amit Cohen and Daniel Amsel also serving as creators.
“We brought the next big project from the brilliant creative minds of Ron and Hagar to Peter Chernin’s highly impressive North Road team, which instantly recognized the project’s massive global potential. We love this show and are confident viewers worldwide will share in our passion — and we could not ask for better local partners than HOT and Tedy to bring this series to life,” SIPUR CEO Emilio Schenker said.
Creators Leshem, Ben-Asher and Chen will executive produce alongside Jones and Schenker. North Road President Jan Frouman will also executive produce for North Road while Michael Schmidt and Gideon Tadmor serve as EPs for Sipur. Guy Levy, Mirit Toovi and Ori Gal executive produce for Hot and Tmira Yardeni and Meital Cohen for Tedy.
“Hagar, the most brilliant, admired filmmaker to come out of Israel, agreed to create this one with us, which was a dream come true,” Leshem said. “For us, this is our next ‘Euphoria,’ backed by the creative team that made the original ‘Euphoria’ possible, Hot and Tedy Productions. We are most grateful for our partners who brought this journey to life as a high-end international drama, Emilio Schenker, SIPUR and The North Road Company, for their trust and wisdom.”
“We are happy and excited about this new collaboration with SIPUR and North Road,” Hot said in a statement. “Hot, Tedy and Ron are the trio that brought forth one of the most captivating and successful shows to come out of Israel, and we are certain that this new project will be an enthralling and riveting endeavor. We will continue to create quality content that brings pride to Israel across audiences and borders,”.
Tedy Productions founder and owner Yardeni also expressed pride in the collaboration, saying, “We are proud to once again partner with Hot and Ron, and together with Hagar, bring the next big television event to the world.”
Leshem, Ben-Asher and Cohen are repped by CAA and Kneller Artists Agency. Negotiations for the deal were led by North Road’s Frouman and Sipur’s Schmidt, with Ziffren Brittenham’s Pam Black and EBN & Co.’s Lior Oren representing North Road. Longarzo’s Jeff Freid from Longarzo, Vance Klevan Freid LLP, Dr. Zohar Kadmon and Dana Lerner represent Sipur in the deal.
