EXCLUSIVE: Rafał Zawierucha (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Mauricio Ochmann (Non Negotiable) are strapping on their chaps and cowboy hats for a six-part comedy series from Diamond Moving Pictures.
Rode Hard will go into production this spring in the U.S. and Poland as the latest indie-financing TV series. Diamond Moving is fully financing the show and will retain the IP, joining a 2025/26 slate that also includes crime comedy Amateurs and feature film I Hate You More.
Half-hour comedy Rode Hard will follow American ranchers who end up in the middle of a small Polish village, teaching a group of mostly female locals old-school cowboy skills and shaking up tradition along the way.
Diamond Moving co-founder Bill Diamond (Murphy Brown), who wrote the scripts, will showrun and direct. He will also executive produce alongside his Diamond Moving co-founders Sheri Rosenberg Kelton and Randy Mendelsohn. Berlin-based music supervisor Kathleen Wallfisch (Gladiator II, Napoleon) and Poland- and Spain-based composer Łukasz Rostkowski (L.U.C., The Peasants) will work to deliver a cross-cultural soundtrack.
Zawierucha, who portrayed Roman Polanski in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will be paired with Latin American actor Ochmann, the popular Mexican actor known for telenovelas such as Amarte Asi, El Chema and El Clon, in the lead roles.
Besides Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Zawierucha is known for Polish films such as Bartkowiak, Porady na Zdrady 2 and Too Old for Fairy Tales 2, and TV shows such as Netflix’s Project UFO and Tajemnice Polskich Fortun and Polsat Box Go’s Domek na Szczescie.
“I’m so excited to be part of a project that brings Hollywood to Poland, literally,” said Zawierucha. “Rode Hard isn’t just a comedy, it’s a truly hilarious, wonderfully absurd and joyfully human series that will be wildly entertaining and a wonderful showcase for my country.”
Ochmann’s roles include Telemundo’s International Emmy-winning crime drama El Señor de los Cielos and its spin-off El Chema, which was major hit among younger adult audiences in the U.S., and features such as A la Mala and Friends Till Death. In 2021, he struck a first-look deal with ViX predecessor Pantaya. Last year, he starred in Netflix’s Mexican comedy feature Non Negotiable opposite Leonardo Ortizgris and Tato Alexander.
“Families are the same everywhere – Mexico, America, Poland,” he said. “We’re all a bit nuts, a little all over the place, but in the end, we love and take care of each other and that’s what’s at the heart of this show. I can’t wait for audiences around the world to feel that connection.”
“Rode Hard is a universal story about a family of characters, American and Polish, finding common ground despite their differences,” added Diamond. “From the start, I wanted it to be more than just funny. Hopefully, the audience will find it’s as much about love, friendship, and seeing the world through other people’s eyes. Because Rafal and Mauricio bring so much heart, humor, and authenticity to everything they do, I can’t imagine better cowpokes to have on board.”
Last month, Deadline was first to report on Diamond Moving, which Diamond, Kelton and Mendelsohn had quietly launched after building a slate of TV shows and features. Former Paramount Global exec Roxanne Pompa joined to lead a push into international distribution, particularly in global scripted and formats. Rode Hard is the first of “several cross-border” projects the company plans to own outright.
“Our intention is to scale with full and flexible rights,” said Mendelsohn. “We’re inspired by people with both experience and vision, and we approach everything in an inclusive, positive way. Rode Hard is bighearted, culturally rich, and built for a global audience.”
