Turkish TV Festival: Inter Medya, TRT & Calinos Entertainment

The first day of the second edition of the Turkish TV Festival featured insights from Inter Medya’s Beatriz Cea Okan, TRT’s Mustafa Ilbeyli and Calinos Entertainment’s Goryana Vasileva.

Cea Okan, VP and head, sales and acquisitions at Inter Medya, spoke with Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari, editor of TV Latina, about the factors that have contributed over the years to the high levels of success of Turkish dramas, as well as the company’s journey from distributing dramas to distributing films, and eventually moving into production and co-production.

“The success of Turkish dramas is based on great storytelling, cinematic production and deep emotional engagement,” Cea Okan said in a Spanish-language interview you can watch in full here. “But at this point, it’s not just about their success—it’s about how they’ve adapted to global television and the way audiences connect with this content. We could also say that what sets them apart is their ability to generate a very deep emotional connection. These are not just stories people watch, but stories people feel: the pacing, the long silences, the raw emotions—everything works together to create a unique experience.”

Cea Okan also highlighted Inter Medya’s film distribution business and its market positioning, the work it is doing with various platforms and the current state of the company’s operations in other territories such as Brazil, the U.S. Hispanic market and more. You can watch the full interview here.

Ilbeyli, head of advertising, merchandising and content sales at TRT, spoke about the development of the company’s business in Latin America, following more than 10 years of Turkish dramas being present in the region.

In conversation with Bowen-Tombari, which you can watch in full here, the executive said: “We started in 2016, and since then we’ve had quite a bit of success in the region. In terms of historical dramas, we have Resurrection Ertugrul, which from 2019 onwards was a big hit for us. In fact, it’s still a successful show for us, and we continue to see reruns either on platforms or various channels across Latin America. Since then, we’ve had at least six or seven other shows that have been truly successful in the territory. So Latin America is very important to us.”

Ilbeyli also explained how, in his view, the industry has changed the perception that Turkish dramas were just a passing trend, the ongoing work they are doing to ensure Turkish dramas remain audience favorites, as well as the growth opportunities he foresees in the coming months, among other topics. You can watch the full interview here.

Meanwhile, Vasileva, sales manager for the U.S., LatAm and Western Europe at Calinos Entertainment, explained how the sale of the drama Woman to Record TV in Brazil helped reopen the market to Turkish distributors after a pause in acquisitions by local programmers.

“Over the past two years, Brazil has been acquiring some Turkish content, acquiring certain series in a very specific way,” she explained in conversation with Bowen-Tombari, which you can watch in full here. “As we know, the country has historically had a different approach to acquisitions compared to the rest of Latin America. Brazil has very strong [local] productions. But when we sold Woman to Record TV in Brazil, it was a tremendous turning point for everyone because the ratings were fantastic, reaching figures two or three times higher than what the channel was recording before [the airing of this drama]. This opened the doors for more channels to express interest in Turkish dramas.”

Vasileva also discussed what programmers are currently looking for, how classic Turkish drama remains a favorite, and how Turkish productions compete with original and local titles in Latin America, among other topics. You can watch the full interview here.

To watch all the interviews from the Turkish TV Festival, please visit www.FestivalTurco.com or www.TurkishTVFestival.com.