Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto on Gains & Growth

Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO of Global Agency, gives World Screen a closer look at the business as it nears its 15th anniversary.

Next year marks a milestone for Global Agency, as 2021 will be its 15th anniversary. Over the last decade and a half, the company has grown immeasurably on the back of a strong format catalog (with several concepts created by Founder and CEO Izzet Pinto himself), as well as a slate of Turkish dramas from some of the country’s top producers. Even with the coronavirus having shaken up the industry this year, Global Agency is still poised for strong growth in 2020—and optimistic about the year ahead. Pinto gives World Screen a closer look at the business at present.

WS: What impact has COVID-19 had on your business, and how has Global Agency been able to help serve broadcasters looking to fill gaps in their schedule?
PINTO: Frankly speaking, due to the pandemic and the lockdowns, the business for canned product has been good for distributors. Of course, I wish we didn’t have this [upside] because of a pandemic, but it’s true that some businesses are affected in a negative way and others in a positive. For example, our format business has been affected very negatively. Around the world, productions stopped for such a long time. Still, in many countries, productions aren’t fully back up and running yet. The format business is down, but for ready-mades, especially the distribution of Turkish dramas, there’s been a positive impact. Broadcasters need stock. Turkish dramas have been in high demand.
In some countries, advertising revenues are down, so they prefer to air reruns or make new deals with us for their existing archive. For example, if a client acquired a series from us but their run has expired, now they are buying extra runs for a reasonable budget.

WS: What are you hearing from buyers about their current needs?
PINTO: In general, buyers are looking for more affordable series. Since advertising revenue is down in many territories, the budgets have shrunk. So, channels are looking for lower-priced projects. B-level series are selling better now. As a premium content provider, we cannot offer our premium content at a discounted rate. We can offer clients some B-category series, perhaps shot at a lower budget or with a less popular cast. Those are more in demand at the moment.

WS: Have you been able to “COVID-proof” some titles in the format catalog, as production resumes in certain markets?
PINTO: Good Singers (Is That Really Your Voice?) has been a nice example for us. That was shot for TF1 during the height of the corona period. They only used 30 people in the audience, and mostly the audience was shot from the back (since they were wearing masks). You still see the crowd. They were very careful during shooting about having the judges sitting far apart. From this, we saw that, carefully, you can shoot even big, studio, shiny-floor shows. Studio-based shows are still better at this time than shooting outdoors. Reality shows are the best at the moment. You can give tests to all the cast and put them in a house together. You can do a cooking show with them, or dating or reality. You can keep them all together in a safely created environment.

WS: What are some of the key titles for the fall/winter 2020 slate?
PINTO: For scripted, Mr. Wrong, which features Can Yaman—who has a crazy fan base all around the world—is a new series that is doing well in Turkey. Already, 11 episodes, for a total of about 40 commercial hours, have aired. For as long as the pandemic allows, the production will continue. The interest has been very high. We already closed many deals for that show. We have some new titles from O3 Medya, one of the leading production companies in Turkey. We are in talks with TIMS Productions, creators of Magnificent Century, to represent their new series. It looks like we will have five strong new scripted titles for MIPCOM.
There will be at least another five brand-new formats on top of that, some cooking, some shopping, some styling. We’ll be focusing on Good Singers. Altogether, we will have ten new titles, which is more than enough right now to create a good vibe. Distributors are benefitting from having a less costly year, with fewer new titles to launch. All of these markets do help us to gain more sales and support our shows, but on the other hand, all these markets throughout the year create such a big cost for the sellers! Reducing costs for the year helps us financially.

WS: What is on the horizon for Global Agency for 2021?
PINTO: Due to the pandemic, we saw an increase in our sales. Originally, I was expecting around 7 or 8 percent growth for the year. But because the demand for product has increased significantly around the world, we will have 15 to 20 percent growth for the year. Demand has increased, and costs are down.
This year, I want to try producing in Turkey for the first time. I have always dreamed about being a producer, but I didn’t want to lose focus on the distribution business. Since everything has been stable with our content and our team, I have the time to try new things. This has been my personal challenge. I’m hoping by the end of the year or early 2021 to produce a show in Turkey and test our capabilities for production.

Next year will be our 15th anniversary, so 2021 is very important for us. I’m hoping that the pandemic will be over and it will be a fruitful year; I hope next year is our best year ever. I appreciate all of the support from our clients and producers, and I look forward to 2021 to celebrate our milestone.