Karga Seven Pictures Names CEO for Turkey, Pacts with Taylan Brothers

Karga Seven Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has appointed Ömer Özgüner as the CEO of its production outfit in Turkey, in addition to scoring a partnership with Durul Taylan and Yağmur Taylan.

Özgüner is a veteran of the Turkish media industry, most recently running Star TV for the past six years. Additionally, the company has secured a new partnership with the Turkish film and TV directors Durul Taylan and Yağmur Taylan, behind such dramas as Magnificent Century and Wounded Love. Based in Karga Seven Pictures’ offices in Los Angeles, the Taylan brothers will develop scripted projects with Karga Seven Pictures for Turkey, the Middle East and the U.S.

Emre Sahin, founding partner of Karga Seven Pictures, said: “We are delighted that Ömer Özgüner has joined us in Turkey to spearhead our Turkish production operations and that we have forged an important new partnership with The Taylan brothers, two of the most successful film and TV directors working in Turkey today.

“With Turkey being the second-largest exporter of television dramas in the world, and with our growing slate of new projects, it is great to have Ömer, Durul and Yağmur join us in this period of rapid growth. As we celebrate our tenth year in business, Sarah Wetherbee, Kelly McPherson and I would like to thank all of our teams in LA and Istanbul, and our network clients and distributors, for their support over the last decade.”

Özgüner said: “I have been impressed with what Emre, Sarah, Kelly and their team have been doing in the US and Turkey over the last few years, and am happy to be joining them at this pivotal time. Karga is the only production company in Turkey that is aiming to grow via international partnerships. We want to produce rich, unique content for Turkish and international audiences, and have everything in place to achieve this, including a strong new team. Our financing strength and backing, and focus on original literary works and creative excellence, means that Karga is well placed to be a key player in the industry.”

The Taylan brothers commented: “We believe that partnerships such as this are vital to diversify content in the Turkish TV industry, which has made a giant leap in the last 10 years and established itself as one of the most prominent television industries in the world. We are firm believers that the best stories are the most universal ones, and it’s always been our biggest desire to bring to the screen the most technically and dramatically coherent examples of such stories. We were very impressed by Karga Seven’s vision, determination and perspective on the creative side, and we think our union with them will bring to life a wide variety of highly watchable projects.”