People

• Did you expand your catalogue of new series with recent acquisitions?
Yes, sure. Like every year we have expanded our catalogue with great hits. Recently, we have acquired the distribution rights for this season’s successful titles which are THE TRUSTED, LAST SUMMER and SCORPION. Also RAMO is a strong title that is on it’s second season.

The first series worth mentioning is THE TRUSTED (Marashli). THE TRUSTED is one of the most powerful titles launched in 2021. Produced by TIMS&B Productions, the series tells the story of Marashli, an ex-soldier who left the special forces, and Mahur, the precious daughter of Aziz Turel, one of the most powerful businessmen in Turkey. Mahur’s life is in constant danger after a photo she takes one day, and her fearless persona is almost impossible to contain by anyone other than Marashli who is now employed as her personal bodyguard. From that point on, the destiny of the two characters will be interwoven. Starring Alina Boz and Burak Deniz, is a Turkish drama with a dose of action and a powerful love story at its core.

LAST SUMMER (Son Yaz) tells the story of idealist prosecutor Selim who receives an offer too good to refuse from mob leader Selcuk in exchange for protecting Selcuk’s son Akgun. Now in between his work and family, Selim has to take Akgun where his family resides. Produced by O3 Medya, LAST SUMMER is one of the most successful productions of this season thanks to its appealing storyline and acting performances.

SCORPION (Akrep) is another Turkish drama with a story of betrayal, curse, love, and motherhood. Ferda, the daughter of the famous Perihan Emgen who was abandoned at the age of one, blames her mother’s abandonment for all her troubles. Ferda is determined to take the life that was once taken from her. And while doing so, she accidentally causes her sister’s death. Ferda’s stubbornness and Perihan not wanting her, cause a great war between mother and daughter. Produced by 1441 Production, SCORPION, bringing together a journey of love and revenge, takes the audience into a completely different yet powerful storyline.

RAMO is one of our more male-oriented dramas and distinguishes itself as being the first drama of Turkey’s acclaimed production company, BKM. RAMO is an extraordinary story inspired by a real person that encompasses the deep conflicts of family, friendship and love. Ramo’s deepest wound is the only reason he is ready to fight with everything he has. His war will not only be against his enemies, but also his family, friends and even himself and throughout all these tumultuous events, his biggest test is love as the only woman he will ever love is Sibel, the daughter of his arch nemesis.

• Recently at Natpe Miami you proposed a short innovative series with controversial and young topics the so called “New Generation Turkish Series”, do you want to tell us more?
Following the popularity of streaming platforms, mini-series have been on the rise in general. Mini-Series is our new shining category and we call these mini-series as “New Generation Turkish Series”. We want to create this new generation perception because these series are bringing different and new interpretations to long running, traditional dramas. They are produced more specifically for streaming platforms. They count between 6 and 10 episodes per season, with durations varying between 25 and 60 minutes per episode. In regard of traditional Turkish Dramas, they tell their stories in bolder, edgier and braver ways. They have efficient storytelling and character developments. RESPECT, INTERRUPTED and NAKED are among the great examples of this New Generation Turkish Series that have been changed the game in Turkish production history.


• What are the key territories for you? Is still Latam a good place to be? And Asia? Europe? What kind of titles and what genres?
Turkish content is at the center of the interest of the audiences from all over the World. Currently, we are distributing Turkish content in more than 144 countries worldwide. Latam still has a huge appetite for Turkish content and we can say that the region still leads our business. In the USA, channels broadcasting in Spanish show interest in Turkish content. We still consider Asia as a new and fresh region for us. There is an increasing demand for Turkish content in Central Asia especially and South East Asia. In Asia, rather than strong dramas, dramedies and softer dramas are higher in demand. Specifically, buyers in Asia have also huge interest also in war and action movies. Asia is a huge and varied continent and different regions have different preferences. There is great interest in Turkish TV series in the EU, especially in Spain and Italy. Our contents started to attract attention in Portugal too. I think that soon France and other Western European countries will come. We have strong business relationships in Central and Eastern Europe as well. In EU, the most appealing genre is family dramas. Additionally, we are already in negotiations with several OTT services in Europe for our New Generation Turkish Series. In addition, CIS countries have always had a great interest in Turkish dramas. Recently, Russia has shown an increased interest in our titles. We hope to increase the number of our business partners in Russia in a short span of time. Our goal is to continuously expand to new territories while extending our catalog with new titles.