Kevin Turen
Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage
Kevin Turen, producer on HBO Euphoria And The idol and that of Ti West X, pearl And MaXXXine, is dead. He was 44 years old.
A spokesperson for Penske Media Corporation, the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, confirmed Turen’s death. No further details were immediately available.
“Despite his many accomplishments 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, were determined that their children would grow up with great values and ensured that they would make a difference in the world at large. Our collective heart breaks for them and we all feel a deep sense of loss. Kevin will be missed so much, and this city lost one of its brightest rising stars today.
Turen was closely associated with Sam and Ashley Levinson. The trio co-founded Little Lamb Productions, which produced the highly influential HBO drama series. Euphoria, who was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and won nine. Turen and the Levinsons also produced the famous film The idol for HBO and the feature film Pieces of a Woman (2020), which earned star Vanessa Kirby an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. He also had a close creative relationship with filmmaker Ti West, producing X (2022) and pearl (2022), the first two parts of his critically acclaimed work X trilogy with Mia Goth and the third film to come MaXXXine.
Turen was born in New York in 1979. He studied at Columbia University and earned a degree in English and Critical Film Studies.
Working in the film industry, Turen first worked at Capital Entertainment, which became First Look Studios. He started as creative director at First Look, then became president of production and helped the company grow from four employees to more than 150. During his tenure at First Look, Turen acquired and distributed more than 100 films, including Proposal, The dead girl (2006) and A American Crime (2007).
He then joined Infinity Media, serving as president of production before becoming director of Treehouse Pictures. At Treehouse, Turen made a name for himself producing Nicholas Jareki’s film Arbitration (2012), with Richard Gere and JC Chandor All is lost (2013), with Robert Redford. For the company he also produced 99 houses (2014), At all costs (2012) and This awkward moment (2014).
In 2014, David S. Goyer hired Turen as president of his production company Phantom Four, where he produced the Netflix feature film. tau (2018) and Sam Levinson’s 2018 dark 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. So far, two seasons of Euphoria were produced, and its frank and realistic portrayal of teenage life and drug addiction made it a social media sensation and a critics’ darling. A third season of Euphoriawith Turen as executive producer, is expected to begin production in December following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Turen and the Levinsons also produced the HBO miniseries with The Weeknd The idol. Like with Euphoria, The idol caused a stir on social media, albeit for the wrong reasons, as the series was plagued by production rumors and, when it debuted, negative reviews.
Little Lamb also produced the feature films Malcolm and Mary (2021), starring Zendaya and John David Washington and directed by Sam Levinson, the film by John Boyega Breakup (2022) and the HBO miniseries by Olivier Assayas Irma Vep (2022).
Turen’s other notable credits as a producer include Trey’s critically acclaimed drama Edward Shults. Waves (2019), Olivier Megaton’s Netflix action drama The Last Days of American Crime (2020), the comedy by Lena Dunham Pointed stick (2022) and Nicolas Cage by Tom Gormican, with Nicolas Cage THE Intolerable Weight of Massive Talent (2022).