‘Escort Boys' Producer on Taking the Raunchy French Comedy to ‘Darker' Ground in Season 2 and Developing Projects with Amanda Sthers, Olivier Abbou (EXCLUSIVE)
After tackling gender power dynamics in the post #MeToo era, Prime Video's raunchy comedy series 'Escort Boys' is returning for a second season that's several shades darker and is world premiering today at Canneseries.
Adapted from the Israeli show 'Johnny and the Knights of Galilee' ('Milk and Honey') and directed by Ruben Alves, the half-hour comedy series portrays four young men who become escorts to make ends meet and save their family business in a picturesque town in Southern France.
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Boldly addressing timely themes such as romantic love, female sexuality and toxic masculinity, Season 1 was a hit, even luring Wild Bunch TV which acquired international sales (to seasons 1 and 2), and France's leading commercial channel TF1 which bought second-window rights.
Myriam Gharbi-de Vasselot at Mediawan-owned Oberkampf Productions '('Les Papillons Noirs') who produced the series with Charlotte Toledano-Detaille and RTL TVI, said Season 2 is taking a departure from the original format. 'It's a true creation,' she says, and one that reteams Alves with Yaël Lebrati ('Dear You'), joined by Louis Pénicaut ('Le Bureau des Legendes').
Season 2 picks up six months after the end of Season 1 which saw the main characters deciding to stop escorting to start a hotel venture. 'They're forced back into it due to a failed hotel venture which turned into a fiasco: they were ripped off and faced subsequent debt, leading them to lose their domain,' says de Vasselot, who also previously produced a documentary about male escorts which Wild Bunch TV picked up alongside the first two seasons of 'Escort Boys.'
'We're going to look at the consequences and limitations of prostitution, since it's a subject that can't be taken lightly and that we're treating as realistically as possible,' she says, adding that the plot will deal with the 'sex addiction of one of its main characters, Ludo, who is the father figure,' as well as introduces 'a woman who has been beaten by her husband and attempts to overcome her trauma and reconnect with her body with the help of an escort.'
'That's Ruben Alves's signature style, always oscillating between drama and laughter,' she says. While the show will be definitely more dramatic in its second season, she says it will nevertheless boast 'moments of comedy, sometimes burlesque, sometimes funny and touching, with a diverse range of clients, always played by exceptional guest stars.'
These include Josiane Balasko, Marisa Berenson ('Barry Lyndon'), Thibault De Montalembert ('Call My Agent!'), Margot Bancilhon ('Machine'), Cristiana Reali ('Camping 3') and Afida Turner ('LOL'), who will star alongside the key cast of Guillaume Labbé, Thibaut Evrard, Simon Ehrlacher, Corentin Fila and Marysole Fertard.
Prime Video will premiere the series on June 13 in France, followed by Italy, Spain, Germany and the U.K.
De Vasselot is also developing a raft of internationally driven projects with different partners and talent, including Olivier Abbou with whom she previously collaborated on the Netflix serial killer thriller 'Les Papillons Noirs.' She's teamed up with Nathalie Perus at Atlantique Productions, another Mediawan label, to acquired rights to a bestselling U.S. book whose adaptation is being penned by Abbou and Laura Fontaine ('Research Unit').
She's also working with 'Vortex' co-creator Sarah Farkas and Marjorie Bosch ('Sam') on a female-led series project in advanced development at a streamer, and 'Holy Lands' filmmaker-screenwriter Amanda Sthers' first series which will be based on an original story revolving around two journalists hired to create fake news.
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