Kevin Turen, producer at HBO euphoria And The idol and Ti Wests X, pearl And MaXXXine, has died. He was 44.
A spokesperson for Penske Media Corporation, the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, confirmed Turen’s death. Further details were initially not known.
“Despite his many successes in Hollywood, Kevin’s greatest passion was his family and friends,” Jay Penske, CEO of PMC and close friend of Turen, said in a statement. “He was so proud of his children. He and his wife Evelina believed that their children would grow up with great values and that they would make a difference in the world. Our collective hearts break for them and we all feel a deep sense of loss. We will miss Kevin so much, and this city lost one of its brightest rising stars today.”
Turen was close with Sam and Ashley Levinson. The trio co-founded Little Lamb Productions, which produced HBO’s highly influential drama series euphoria, which was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and won nine. Turen and the Levinsons also produced the much-discussed work The idol for HBO and the feature film Pieces of a woman (2020), which earned star Vanessa Kirby an Oscar nomination for best actress. He also had a close creative relationship with filmmaker Ti West, who served as producer X (2022) and pearl (2022), the first two parts of his critically acclaimed X trilogy with Mia Goth and the upcoming third film MaXXXine.
Turen was born in New York City in 1979. He attended Columbia University and graduated with a degree in English and Critical Film Studies.
On his way into the film industry, Turen first worked at Capital Entertainment, which later became First Look Studios. He started as a creative manager at First Look, eventually rising to production president and helping the company grow from four employees to over 150. During his time at First Look, Turen acquired and distributed more than 100 films including The suggestion, The dead girl (2006) and A American crime (2007).
He then moved to Infinity Media, where he served as president of production before becoming a director at Treehouse Pictures. At Treehouse, Turen made a name for himself producing Nicholas Jarekis arbitrage (2012) with Richard Gere and JC Chandor All is lost (2013) starring Robert Redford. He also produced for the company 99 houses (2014), At all costs (2012) and That embarrassing moment (2014).
In 2014, David S. Goyer hired Turen as president of his production company Phantom Four, where he produced the Netflix feature film dew (2018) and Sam Levinson’s 2018 black comedy film Assassination Nation (2018).
In 2018, Turen and the Levinsons founded Little Lamb Productions. euphoria, an adaptation of the Israeli miniseries of the same name, was Turen and the Levinsons’ first foray into television. I know how to do two seasons euphoria were produced, and its frank and realistic portrayal of teenage life and drug addiction has made it a social media sensation and a critics’ favorite. A third season of euphoriaThe film, which Turen will serve as an executive producer, is expected to begin production in December after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Turen and the Levinsons also produced the HBO miniseries with The Weeknd The idol. Like with euphoria, The idol It was a social media sensation, but for all the wrong reasons, as the series was plagued by production rumors and, when it debuted, negative reviews.
Little Lamb also produced the features Malcolm and Mary (2021) starring Zendaya and John David Washington directed by Sam Levinson, the John Boyega film Break (2022) and the HBO miniseries by Olivier Assayas Irma Vep (2022).
Turen’s other notable producing credits include the critically acclaimed Trey Edward Shults drama waves (2019), Olivier Megaton’s Netflix action drama The Last Days of American Crime (2020), Lena Dunham’s comedy Sharp stick (2022) and Tom Gormican’s Nicolas Cage starrer The Unbearable Weight from Firmly talent (2022).
