5X Media Opens European Hub With Former ‘Queer Eye’ Producer Michael Kaufman
Scott Einbinder’s 5X Media has set its sights on Europe and is tying with ex-Queer Eye and Wife Swap producer Michael Kaufman.
The nascent studio, which is run by Alon Shtruzman and Gil Goldschein, will open in Madrid under Kaufman’s leadership. Among the clients entering the 5X fold with Kaufman are Spain-based Argentinian writer/showrunner Juan Carballo (Netflix’s El Amor Después Del Amor), producer/showrunner Anne Clements (The Kill Room), writers the Lehrer Brothers (Tubi’s The Freak Brothers), producer/writer/director Paul Kampf and 2Team Productions (Come Closer). Clements and Kampf are in production on Undercard, which stars Wanda Sykes and is shooting in Puerto Rico, as well as Harvest, starring Matthew McNulty and Angus Macfadyen and filming in Serbia.
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5X currently has offices in LA and Cape Town, having launched in January 2023, as we revealed at the time. Well-known international TV execs Alon Shtruzman and Gil Goldschien were named co-CEOs of the business in April this year.
Kaufman, who recently closed a first-look writing and producing deal for Carballo at Madrid’s Secuoya Studios, joins 5X following his first-look deal with Moonrise Pictures on a variety of U.S. TV and film projects with writers and directors. He has worked in a number of territories and production credits include Queer Eye, Wife Swap and Bubble Guppies.
He was also an exec for several years, working as VP of Development for Vision Independent Productions, which had a first-look deal with Warner Bros International Television. Other roles included VP of Programming at Al Roker Entertainment and Director of Current Programming for ABC, where he oversaw shows such as Soap Talk.
“The boom in international platforms has created strong demand for the high caliber of creative talent we represent, all of which have established proven track records in these critical markets,” said Kaufman.
5X Co-CEOs Shtruzman and Goldschein, along with Executive Chairman Einbinder, added in a statement: “Michael will play a key role as we continue our rapid global expansion to become a truly borderless production studio, sales and management company.”
The news comes a few weeks after 5X struck a deal with Anthony Kimble and his Arrested Industries banner over international production and talent representation. A week prior, we revealed 5X had signed Makrand Deshpande (Monkey Man), and actor, TikTok and social media influencer Rami Zeinn.
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