HBO Max Orders French Medical Drama ‘Rush’ Boarded by ‘ER’ Producer Neal Baer

HBO Max is expanding its French originals slate with two new shows, the medical drama “Rush” and police horror-thriller “Bodycam,” both of which will start shooting this fall.

Unveiled Tuesday at the Festival de la Fiction in La Rochelle, the projects follow HBO’s recent French originals, from Marie Monge and Vladimir de Fontenay’s “Privilèges” to Sébastien Marnier’s “Paolo” and “The Seduction,” a prequel to “Dangerous Liaisons” starring Anamaria Vartolomei and Diane Kruger.

“Rush,” an eight-part, 45-minute medical drama, is set within Paris’ emergency medical service and follows three doctors as they respond to emergencies across the French capital. Neal Baer, the veteran producer and writer whose credits include “ER,” is attached as an associate producer. The series was created and written by Nils-Antoine Sambuc, whose credits include “Belphégor” and “En Thérapie.

“Bodycam,” meanwhile, is an eight-part, 30-minute thriller blending police drama and horror. The series begins during a police intervention in which two officers shoot an unarmed teenager and decide to conceal what happened from their superiors. But things don’t go as planned when the wounded teenager disappears with one of their body cameras. Officers to launch a manhunt across the city but are quickly faced with a series of strange attacks. “Bodycam” was created by Timothée Hochet, whose credits include the hit show “Calls,” and Benjamin Adam (“Privilèges”), in collaboration with Mehdi Ouahab.

Clémentine Bobin, director of original fiction for HBO Max France, said both projects reflect an editorial strategy built around genre storytelling with a strong point of view.

“Since its beginnings, HBO has been built around a simple conviction: the most memorable stories are those that take risks, that seize on narratives and genres to offer a singular perspective on society,” Bobin said. “After ‘Privilèges’ and then ‘Paolo’ this year, we have continued writing that story in France. ‘Rush’ and ‘Bodycam’ are fully part of that approach and that heritage,” she continued.

Bobin described the shows as “two ambitious series driven by strong visions” that use genre conventions “to tell something deeply human and contemporary.”

Earlier this week, HBO Max reached an agreement with French guilds to dedicate part of its mandatory investment in French and European content for documentaries and animation, embracing new French sub-quota rules that Netflix, Amazon and Disney are challenging in court.