The parallel in the level of drama between these two shows is somewhat intentional. In a new story published in The New Yorker, A24’s head of television, Ravi Nandan, recalled a dinner he had with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson early in the development process. Levinson had previously pitched the series, which had already been picked up by HBO, as one that showed “empathy for drug addicts” as Levinson had previously struggled with addiction himself. At the dinner, though, he further laid out his vision. “I want this to be No. 1,” Nandan remembers the writer saying. “So, what works on HBO?”
At the time, it was Game Of Thrones. “There’s a ton of nudity. There’s a lot of internal family drama. There’s a lot of social, political drama between everyone backstabbing each other and trying to fuck each other over. And there’s violence. I’m just gonna do all of that, with teen-agers,” Levinson explained. Nandan recalls thinking, “That is insane.” (The New Yorker‘s emphasis.) But at the same time, he thought, “O.K.! I want to go on that ride with you!”
It was a big swing that paid off in spades. In 2022, the A24 and HBO co-production became HBO’s second-most watched show since 2004—second only behind (you guessed it!) Game Of Thrones. The show also catapulted many of its young leads to superstardom, with multiple appearing in other A24 projects throughout the years. (Jacob Elordi starred in Priscilla, Hunter Schafer will appear in David Lowery’s Mother Mary, etc.) It’s currently gearing up for its long-gestating third season.
Of course, Euphoria isn’t the only production the studio has applied this sort of “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” methodology to. “There are a lot of companies that are good at, you know, optioning a book with no one attached and saying it’s an open writing assignment and ten people are gonna pitch. We’ve tried that—it’s never worked,” Nandan said. “We’re much better at fostering an original idea in someone, and that just takes time.” You can read more about A24’s unique approach in the full New Yorker article.
