Turkish TV Festival: OGM Pictures’ Erdem Seçkin

The Turkish TV Festival kicked off today with Erdem Seçkin, CEO of OGM Pictures, discussing the importance of Turkey being positioned among the top three exporters of scripted series in the world and how the distribution of these titles remains profitable, considering their high production costs.

“We’re proud of that,” he said in a conversation with Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari, editor of TV Latina, which you can see in its entirety here. “The production of drama series is highly advanced compared to other industries in Turkey,” he continued. “I don’t know of any other industry in the country that ranks among the top three globally in its respective categories. Therefore, we are very proud to be a part of this industry. We are exporting a lot, and we are increasing our production quantity, but this is not at the expense of quality. This is because the productions are made for Turkey, where there are 40 dramas on the air every week, and only 25 percent of them are successful. That’s why low-quality productions are immediately eliminated. So, you can produce something of low quality, but you have no chance of surviving within the Turkish market, and those who fail to survive [in Turkey] have a very small chance of doing so in the international market. Buyers look at ratings in Turkey, and if the numbers are good, you have more chances to export your product. You can try to lower the quality [of production] to increase quantity, but you will be severely punished by the market, facing significant losses. Your product will be discontinued and result in major losses for the producer.”

Seçkin also spoke about the importance of seeking co-production partnerships, working with talent, the value of continuing to conquer new territories and the business opportunities that streaming services are providing.

You can view the complete interview here.

To view all of the interviews for the Turkish TV Festival, please visit www.FestivalTurco.com or www.TurkishTVFestival.com.