Beatriz Cea Okan VP and Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Inter Medya talks to Formatbiz about the newly recent acquisition of the series Bitter Lands to Mediaset Italia.
As a TV Series, it is Inter Medya’s first deal in Italy and we are very happy to be a part of the journey of Turkish contents in Italy. In Italy, television consumption is very high and number of audiences are higher than those in many other countries. We can say that television is a major agenda setter in the country. For this reason, the broadcast of BITTER LANDS in Italy means reaching a huge number of audiences. Italy has a very strong television culture. There is a well-established television culture that both viewers and broadcasters are accustomed to. They have really successful local productions and they prefer to broadcast local productions as Turkey. Finding a place in this rooted local industry could be challenging for anyone, but the global success of Turkish content has certainly facilitated this challenge. I believe that the great admiration for Turkish TV series that started in Spain will soon take place in Italy as well and will continue to boom.
Is Bitter Lands a series with a compelling story inside? Do you want to tell us more about it?
BITTER LANDS exhibits all the classic hallmarks of Turkish Drama. The series has a highly talented cast and great production quality. With a heartbreaking romance at its core, BITTER LANDS is truly a very strong title with worldwide appeal. It is an ensemble drama where many character stories flow simultaneously and the story is constantly evolving. At its core BITTER LANDS has a powerful love story that starts so plainly and evolves into a saga. In addition to its gripping story, BITTER LANDS distinguishes itself also with its high production quality. The series shot in a 450 square meter mansion built from scratch with 7 rooms and decorated according to the conditions of the period. Produced by Turkey’s acclaimed production house TIMS&B, BITTER LANDS has taken its place as one of the most expensive and successful series in Turkish television. In Turkey, BITTER LANDS made the audiences stick to their couches with each episode broadcasted and became a Thursday’s night tradition for the audience. The phenomenal drama became a smash hit and topped the rating charts for 4 seasons. The other day, the series made its final in Turkey and earned its place at the top once again. Until today, BITTER LANDS has been licensed in more than 50 countries and the phenomenal drama continues its steady success. BITTER LANDS continues to extend its dominance and success across the globe.
What are the next projects?
As always, we will continue to move ourselves forward in the field of distribution and reach new countries by adding new content to our catalog. Our biggest goal is to leave no place in the world where Turkish content is not broadcasted! In parallel, Inter Yapım started its operations in 2021 as the sister company of Inter Medya. Determined to realize modern, bold and ambitious projects, Inter Yapım will launch exciting projects by taking important steps in the field of production with its experienced team and the solid technological ground it has established. Inter Medya continues to expand the Turkish TV and film industry to foreign markets in a stable and reliable manner by undertaking the international distribution of both the content supplied by other production companies and its own productions.
Which markets are you attending next? What is the most key territory right now?
Actually, we are attending to all the markets. This month we will be attending to NATPE Budapest to meet our partners in Europe. We are so excited for MIPCOM which will take place in October 2022 because we will be celebrating our company’s 30th year anniversary during this year’s MIPCOM. Then we will continue to follow the normal agenda with MIPCANCUN, NATPE Miami, LA SCREENINGS, MIPTV and more. We have been actively participating to the newly emerging markets in the MENA Region recently, and we are strengthening our business partnerships there as well. For the last 2 years, we have always participated in the markets virtually and we are very happy that we are back to the normal.
