Distributor MADD Entertainment introduced new productions during MIPCOM 2024. The company hosted at a special panel the world premiere of the trailer for “El Turco,” Ay Yapim’s latest premium series. Moreover, it presented “RU,” Medyapim’s premium drama about a young man and his much older lover which premiered this May.
During the presentation of “El Turco,” MADD joined with Variety to discuss how new approaches to storytelling are extending Turkish Drama’s reach – particularly in the English-speaking world. Participants included Ay Yapım CEO Kerem Çatay and Can Yaman who played the title role in “El Turco,” an atypical historical drama featuring an English-speaking cast from nine different countries and an award-winning crew from across Europe and North America.
“We were initially going to shoot in Turkish. Going forward in English was a big decision,” said producer Kerem Çatay, who went well beyond his comfort zone as “El Turco” grew into a passion project. “Everything was so right once we cast Can [Yaman]. He was the right guy for this project and that made it perfect. After he came in, and we assembled this incredible European crew, we just went bigger during pre-production.”
“Everybody wants to have ‘El Turco,’ but we have to have the right partner for each territory,” said Ateş İnce, Managing director of MADD. “Right now more than a dozen countries are in discussions for this show.” İnce added that a key challenge will come from coordinating the global release, which will take place simultaneously in early 2025.
As for “RU,” the eight-episode super series was introduced at a special panel on The Future of Turkish Storytelling held in conjunction with Variety. The story follows a young boy and his romance with a married woman 20 years his senior. These very different series are part of a recent movement taking Turkish storytelling beyond melodrama to explore new genres, new formats, and new platforms. There to discuss the series were Medyapım President Fatih Aksoy and “RU” lead actress Meryem Uzerli as well as MADD Managing Director Ateş İnce.
“This show is great for digital platforms,” said producer Fatih Aksoy. “The Turkish platform [Gain] is very happy with the first season. We are about to produce the second season for them, and we think it will work well abroad.”
Looking ahead, MADD Entertainment’s Ateş İnce believes that these diverse projects will help change the perception of Turkish drama and build bridges to a wider audience. “I think Türkiye is very good at telling love stories in classical Turkish dramas. But RU is much more different than a classical love story. I believe it will open new markets for us, also with the help of Meryem’s distinguishing performance and presence in the series,” he explained.