Drama remains at the heart of Inter Medya’s business
Interview with CEO Can Okan
Can Okan, CEO, Inter Medya
Mr. Okan, Inter Medya was founded back in 1992. How has the company welcomed its 27th year of existence and what are your main priorities?
Many new private broadcasters were launching in the early 1990s. In 1992, when the company was established as a content distribution company, the main activity was to supply content to those channels. We started our business by acquiring feature films, predominantly from the United States, and licensing them to Turkish TV channels. In time, also compelled by the economic conditions within Turkey, we decided to broaden our operational area to CEE and CIS territories, where we became an important content distributor.
Towards the end of 2008, due to the recession and in order to minimize our risk, we decided to pull away from our “buyer/reseller” identity and assume a sales agent role. In a period when Turkish TV series were becoming more and more popular around the world, we started to become the sales representative for some of Turkey’s most known producers, whom I also knew personally. At the time, we were undertaking the sales of all of Focus Film’s daily daytime series, Avsar Film’s weekly primetime series as well as all of TMC’s series, which were very successful in Turkey and abroad.
You have an impressive portfolio of TV series, formats and feature films. What are your main highlights for this year’s NATPE Budapest International?
Turkish dramas are very popular everywhere. Following the success in Latin America we are now conquering Western Europe with our series and films. We have closed a number of deals for Black Money Love in various countries. Produced by Ay Yapim and sold in over 140 countries worldwide, we have recently licensed the series to Spain. We are pretty sure that our strong drama title produced by Koliba Film, Broken Wings, will also find its spot in the hearts of European consumers.
What are your latest deals in in CEE? What are your most-popular titles in the region?
Turkish dramas have been on air for more than ten years in this region. Buyers have a high level of awareness about the storylines, casts and performance of all Turkish programs. Since the beginning of their popularity in the international market, there has been strong demand for Turkish series in CEE, especially in the Balkans, where many of our series and feature films have been exported. Meanwhile, the Western European market has become more fruitful for us. Black Money Love is on air on Nova TV in Spain. We believe this success will positively affect the surrounding countries. Turkish dramas have a great potential and the success of our dramas will soon spread to more countries in Western Europe. Our hit series Bitter Lands, produced by TIMS & B Productions, was recently licensed to Bosnia Herzegovina, Hungary and Slovenia.
What are your key territories and where do you see unrealized potential?
Since the beginning, Turkish series have been successfully sold all over Central and Eastern Europe. The Balkan region has been an especially important market for us. Spain has finally accepted Turkish dramas and we are confident that we will continue to sell Turkish series in this region and in other parts of Europe. One of our most popular series produced by Ay Yapim, Black Money Love, was sold to Atresmedia and another hit drama in our catalog, Endlesss Love, to Media Set. These two series attracted millions of viewers per episode across Spain and will open the doors to European Market.
In the past Netflix acquired shows from Inter Medya, including the revived Behzat Ç which you are bringing back together with BluTV. What is your strategy in terms of digital sales and partnerships with VOD services?
Of course, streaming platforms are very interesting to us because they give viewers the opportunity to watch what they want without any time limitations. The future is definitely leaning toward this direction and we see great potential to produce Turkish dramas for VOD platforms around the world we would also like to mention that we cooperate with BluTV, a Turkish streaming platform, announcing our latest production, the long-awaited return of the cult series Behzat Ç. The preparations of the shooting have already started, and the series will air on BluTV in 2019. The first three seasons of the show were a great success and it was only a matter of time before the series appeared on our screens again. Inter Medya will produce the series and distribute Behzat Ç worldwide.
Many new private broadcasters were launching in the early 1990s. In 1992, when the company was established as a content distribution company, the main activity was to supply content to those channels. We started our business by acquiring feature films, predominantly from the United States, and licensing them to Turkish TV channels. In time, also compelled by the economic conditions within Turkey, we decided to broaden our operational area to CEE and CIS territories, where we became an important content distributor.
Towards the end of 2008, due to the recession and in order to minimize our risk, we decided to pull away from our “buyer/reseller” identity and assume a sales agent role. In a period when Turkish TV series were becoming more and more popular around the world, we started to become the sales representative for some of Turkey’s most known producers, whom I also knew personally. At the time, we were undertaking the sales of all of Focus Film’s daily daytime series, Avsar Film’s weekly primetime series as well as all of TMC’s series, which were very successful in Turkey and abroad.
You have an impressive portfolio of TV series, formats and feature films. What are your main highlights for this year’s NATPE Budapest International?
Turkish dramas are very popular everywhere. Following the success in Latin America we are now conquering Western Europe with our series and films. We have closed a number of deals for Black Money Love in various countries. Produced by Ay Yapim and sold in over 140 countries worldwide, we have recently licensed the series to Spain. We are pretty sure that our strong drama title produced by Koliba Film, Broken Wings, will also find its spot in the hearts of European consumers.
What are your latest deals in in CEE? What are your most-popular titles in the region?
Turkish dramas have been on air for more than ten years in this region. Buyers have a high level of awareness about the storylines, casts and performance of all Turkish programs. Since the beginning of their popularity in the international market, there has been strong demand for Turkish series in CEE, especially in the Balkans, where many of our series and feature films have been exported. Meanwhile, the Western European market has become more fruitful for us. Black Money Love is on air on Nova TV in Spain. We believe this success will positively affect the surrounding countries. Turkish dramas have a great potential and the success of our dramas will soon spread to more countries in Western Europe. Our hit series Bitter Lands, produced by TIMS & B Productions, was recently licensed to Bosnia Herzegovina, Hungary and Slovenia.
What are your key territories and where do you see unrealized potential?
Since the beginning, Turkish series have been successfully sold all over Central and Eastern Europe. The Balkan region has been an especially important market for us. Spain has finally accepted Turkish dramas and we are confident that we will continue to sell Turkish series in this region and in other parts of Europe. One of our most popular series produced by Ay Yapim, Black Money Love, was sold to Atresmedia and another hit drama in our catalog, Endlesss Love, to Media Set. These two series attracted millions of viewers per episode across Spain and will open the doors to European Market.
In the past Netflix acquired shows from Inter Medya, including the revived Behzat Ç which you are bringing back together with BluTV. What is your strategy in terms of digital sales and partnerships with VOD services?
Of course, streaming platforms are very interesting to us because they give viewers the opportunity to watch what they want without any time limitations. The future is definitely leaning toward this direction and we see great potential to produce Turkish dramas for VOD platforms around the world we would also like to mention that we cooperate with BluTV, a Turkish streaming platform, announcing our latest production, the long-awaited return of the cult series Behzat Ç. The preparations of the shooting have already started, and the series will air on BluTV in 2019. The first three seasons of the show were a great success and it was only a matter of time before the series appeared on our screens again. Inter Medya will produce the series and distribute Behzat Ç worldwide.
