TV Drama In-Demand: Turkish Drama

This latest In-Demand report spotlights the diversity of the Turkish drama space, highlighting Kanal D International’s Romance Next Door, Global Agency’s Mr. Wrong, ATV’s The Ottoman and Calinos Entertainment’s Forbidden Fruit.

Romance Next Door

Commissioned By: Kanal D International
Produced By: Mia Yapım
Cast: Furkan Andıç, Ezgi Şenler, Yiğit Kirazcı, Nilay Deniz
Writers: Saygın Delibaş, Fethi Kantarcı, Barkın Şenüren
Rights Available: Worldwide, free-to-air, cable and streaming, from Kanal D International.
Description: A love story and also the story of friendship between four young people from different social classes and cultures, whose characters are opposite to each other. They will not only fall in love but also build a strong friendship based on a “cheerful lie.”
Pitch Perfect: “Romance Next Door has the essence of the old Turkish movies,” says Kerim Emrah Turna, executive director of Kanal D International. “It is friendly, romantic and naive… It is not only a rom-com but also a family drama, even a family comedy, which everybody all around the world can find the forgotten social values in—like neighborship, friendship and being part of a huge family.”
Slot Winner: Up to now; the top drama within the rankings.
Sales Contacts: Kerim Emrah Tuna, Executive Director; Mikaela Perez, Sales Executive, LatAm & Spain; Selim Turkmen, Sales Executive, MENA & Western Europe; Ekin Koyuncu, Sales Executive, CEE. sales@kanald.international

Mr. Wrong

Commissioned By: FOX TV Turkey
Produced By: Gold Film
Cast: Can Yaman, Ozge Gurel
Writers: Aslı Zengin, Banu Zengin
Rights Available: All territories available, all rights, from Global Agency.
Description: A lifetime of betrayal destroys Ezgi’s hopes of ever finding Mr. Right, and when she meets the womanizer Ozgur it seems a recipe for disaster, but fate, and nagging mothers, conspire to seek a happy ending.
Pitch Perfect: Ezgi’s surprise party for her lover Soner ends with the trauma of seeing him in the arms of another woman, and her friends berating her choice of men. The handsome and wealthy Ozgur too appears to be Mr. Wrong, racing from fling to fling while Ezgi’s life unravels. But they end up spending the night together after Ezgi is distraught to see Soner propose to another woman in Ozgur’s bar. As their friendship blossoms, Ezgi is destined to be drawn closer to Ozgur, awakening hopes of the happy ending she always desired.
Slot Winner: The series doubled the channel’s average audience share in general, but the third episode almost tripled its audience share.
Sales Contacts: Senay Tas, Deniz Tuzun, Gozde Sergili.

The Ottoman

Commissioned By: ATV
Produced By: Bozdag Film
Cast: Burak Ozcivit, Ozge Torer, Nurettin Sonmez, Ragıp Savas, Saruhan Hunel, Aysegul Gunay, Alma Terzic, Tugrul Cetıner
Writers: Mehmet Bozdag, Asli Zeynep Peker Bozdag, Ozan Bodur, Atilla Engin
Rights Available: All rights available from ATV.
Description: This 85×45-minute historical drama tells the transformation story of the Ottoman Empire and Osman’s journey from a small principality into a world empire.
Pitch Perfect: “The Ottoman is a period drama with superior production elements,” says Müge Akar, content sales deputy manager at ATV. “The main protagonist, Osman, is brought to life by Burak Ozcivit. Osman’s path crosses with a brave woman, Bala Hatun, and they build a new life and a new state together.”
Slot Winner: The Ottoman made a breakthrough start by getting 35 percent share when the first episode was released in Turkey; having four times better results than its closest competitor. It continued to be the ratings leader of Wednesdays in prime time in Turkey for all episodes in the first season.
Sales Contacts: Müge Akar, Europe, Asia, Africa; Emre Görentaş, North & South America, MENA.

Forbidden Fruit

Commissioned By: FOX TV Turkey
Produced By: MEDYAPIM
Cast: Talat Bulut, Şevval Sam, Eda Ece, Onur Tuna, Sevda Erginci
Writer: Melis Civelek
Rights Available: Free to air, pay TV, cable and OTT from Calinos Entertainment.
Description: Yıldız and Zeynep are two sisters whose lives will take an unexpected turn when Istanbul socialite Ender asks Yildiz to seduce her husband. There are 223 hours of this ongoing romance drama currently available.
Pitch Perfect: Forbidden Fruit has been one of the most successful series in Turkey in the last few years; it is now in its fourth season, which in itself is a rare phenomenon within the local market as only a few products make it past the second season. The demand for this series has been great and everywhere it has been broadcast, it has delivered great ratings and reviews.
Slot Winner: Sold to 15-plus countries. Landed in the first place among the 100 programs on Astana TV, Kazakhstan.
Sales Contacts: Jose Luis Gascue, Asli Serim Guliyev, Goryana Vasileva.