InterMedya 30th Anniversary Supplement

The rise and rise

Aweek is a long time in television, so 30 years must feel like a lifetime, particularly if you think back to what the industry was like when independent Turkish producerdistributor Inter Medya first opened its doors in 1992.

“Inter Medya’s business has changed dramatically since the beginning,” says CEO and founder Can Okan. “The company was distributing

Inter Medya founder and CEO Can Okan and president and COO

Ahmet Ziyalar look back on the growth of the company over the past 30 years, explore how the industry has changed and look ahead to what the future might hold.

international content into Turkey back then, but in 2009, we started distributing Turkish telenovelas, series and films outside Turkey.”

The huge growth in demand for Turkish content since then is well documented and Inter Medya was one of the pioneers of that trend, winning awards from the Turkish Exporters Association. What began 16 years ago in places like Kazakhstan and the Balkans soon spread to the Middle East and, later, Latin America and then major markets like Europe

Africa is also a growing market, so we are now covering the entire globe.

“With solid market demand, both locally and internationally, accompanied by strong governmental support, the Turkish film and television industry developed more and gained further stature. Inter Medya has become an international company distributing content across the globe. We are proud that we now distribute Turkish content to more than 150 countries.”

geographically located in the middle of everything. We have neighbours in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Asia. Over the centuries, our culture has been influenced by so many different cultures and that’s why everyone can find something that belongs to them in a Turkish story,” says Ziyalar.

“After the boom in demand in 2009 and 2010, Turkish content reached high levels in terms of international sales and global viewers. Over time, our dominant market has changed and now there is very high demand for Turkish content from the US and Latin America, where they already have a telenovela culture,” recalls Okan. “Now we are entering the Asia markets and have been successful in CIS and Central and Eastern Europe.

For Ahmet Ziyalar, president and chief operating officer, the distribution side of the business has a more cultural role: “We also see ourselves as a cultural bridge, so to speak, since Turkish content is now travelling around the world, even into countries far from Turkey, like Latin America and the Far East. This gives us another responsibility and we see ourselves as ambassadors for our country and our culture.”

2009 and 2010, Turk reached leve internationa viewers our and hi Turkis U America, alre telenovel Ok are enter su CIS Eastern

“The second reason is there has been a great competition in Turkish broadcasting. This lifted the production quality of our programmes and created a major difference between Turkish products and, for example, Latin telenovelas. We invest more in production so that made us known globally.”

This means Inter Medya’s sales team are busy catering to this demand. “Our company attends 11 or 12 markets and events around the world every year,” says Okan. “At Mipcom in October, for example, we will have more than 20 people, selling and acquiring content.”

“

As to why Turkish content is in such high demand around the world, it’s a question the Inter Medya chiefs have been pondering. “There are lots of answers. For me, the main reason is the fact Turkey is

Over the centuries, our culture has been influenced by so many different cultures and that’s why everyone can find something that belongs to them in a Turkish story.

Ahmet Ziyalar

Alongside the boom in Turkish content, the Inter Medya duo have also witnessed the explosion in streaming. “Even 10 years ago, these digital platforms weren’t in our lives, but now OTT platforms are popping up every day,” says Okan. “And the FAST channels business has become a very hot part of the industry.”

“The biggest change over the past 30 years has certainly been the move to digital,” agrees Ziyalar. “That has been the biggest change, but thanks to t of that trend, winn from the Turkish Association. Wh t soon to the Latin A and the US.

of Inter Medya

our younger team members, we are adapting.”

All these new platforms need content and such is the demand these days that Inter Medya can find itself selling the same show three times in the same market. Top titles from the company’s slate are dramas Endless Love, Black Money Love, Bitter Lands and The Ambassador’s Daughter “Those four have been the bestselling titles for Inter Medya in recent years,” says Okan.

These series all have more than 150 episodes each, with Endless Love topping 244. But thing are changing. The Inter Medya duo say the rise of streaming has led to a change in demand for drama formats. For example, there has been a move to miniseries. This represents a major break from traditional Turkish TV series, which can have over 100 episodes running up to two hours each.

This boom in demand for miniseries, particularly from streamers, has prompted Inter Medya to launch its own production company, Inter Yapim, to cater to the demand. Ziyalar is co-founder and CEO of the firm alongside his role at Inter Medya (see page 10).

“There is a huge interest in miniseries now because of the number of streaming platforms. So, at Inter Medya and our production arm, Inter Yapim, we have produced some miniseries for a local TV platform. We are distributing more than a dozen miniseries that we call New Generation Turkish Series, because they are shorter, faster paced and bolder than regular Turkish dramas,” says Okan.

Examples of these New Generation Turkish Series from

Inter Medya include the revival of cop drama Behzat Ç and its spin-off series Respect, both produced by Inter Yapim, as well as third-party shows such as Synchronous, Interrupted, Deep, Naked and Chickpeas & Rice

The shows all have different stories and subjects but the thing that unites them is the fact they have all been produced for Turkish streamers rather than broadcasters. Naked, for example, follows the life of a female escort – something that could never air on a free-to-air broadcaster in Turkey.

“But this kind of content can easily be aired on SVoD platforms around the world. Naked was among the top three shows on GloboPlay in Brazil, for example. So those series are appealing to the international streamers. There is now a huge demand for these shows from both local and global OTT platforms around the world. And I believe the companies behind the western European streamers will soon turn to New Generation Turkish Series as well,” says Okan.

Looking ahead, as European markets like Spain and Italy open up to Turkish content, the company’s plans include potentially coproducing some New Generation Turkish Series with European partners for the streaming market.

“We have some series in our development pipeline that

are ready to be produced and we are in negotiations with some streamers and with some prodcos outside Turkey for coproduction,” says Ziyalar, promising details soon.

But it’s not just about drama for Inter Medya these days. Over the past few years, the company has branched out into unscripted entertainment formats. “We do have an inhouse creative team for formats and also are representing some format creators from Turkey and from outside Turkey as well,” explains Okan.

30 years? “Since we’re almost 60 now, we cannot say we’ll still be here in 30 years!” Ziyalar laughs.

“But we have been trying to build a good team; that has been one of our main jobs. I believe we have managed it. We have a really very good, young team. They have 30 more years in this industry, some have 50 more years. When the time comes, the aim is to hand over everything to them and go fishing with Can.”

Can Okan

rom Okan. ent the ny’s include seasons The Power of aka El Poder del Amor) roadcast can US 18 contestants

Recent highlights of the company’s activities in this sector include the production of two seasons of Love (aka for broadcast in eight Latin American countries and the US.

“We brought 18 contestants from those eight countries to Turkey: nine women, nine men,” says Okan. “It was a very successful dating gameshow format and gained huge ratings in the territories it was broadcast. So we are now preparing another one for Latin America and, hopefully, also for some other territories right after that.”

rkey: “It was y successful how format and in erritories was cast. So we are reparing r opefully, for fter that.”

h 30 years behind are Okan iyalar

d to next

With 30 years of Inter Medya behind them, are Okan and Ziyalar looking forward to the next

“ We are distributing more than a dozen miniseries we call New Generation Turkish Series, because they are shorter, faster paced and bolder than regular Turkish dramas.

Meet the team

The

The Inter Medya staff reflect on their time at the company and share some of their favourite memories as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Can you tell us something about your journey at Inter Medya?

Being a Capricorn, I knew I would want to learn more when I first started as a lawyer in 2016. Now, as VP and head of legal and business affairs, I can say that each new role helped me build my knowledge of the company and how it operates. My senior management have been so supportive through my career progression. They have helped me set my goals and chart a plan to achieve them.

Whenever I speak to my family about my career and the culture at

Elena Pak, Sales Executive

I joined the company in 2014 when there was only one salesperson and every working day felt like you were visiting close friends or family and productively spending time together. I love the fact that Can and Ahmet came into my life and created an opportunity for me, and I’ve been using that opportunity to grow with the company, to spread the amazing content, and to get to know more people around the world and build relationships with them.

Erdem Atalmış, Legal and Business Affairs Executive

When I first saw our offices and felt the amazing atmosphere, I really wanted to become a member of this family. I feel very lucky to be here as a young lawyer. We have an innovative team spirit and we have a lot of fun working together with our best friends in a very stylish and fun environment. We will not have our traditional party at Mipcom this year but will celebrate our 30th anniversary with our customers having fun, as befits this family.

Inter Medya, they really can’t say the same about the companies they work for. It’s important to invest in a workplace where I’ll always be able to grow. But we also have fun. At Inter Medya, we try to enjoy ourselves while getting the work done. I am grateful for the success and the wealth and the many amazing friendships that have been created through being at Inter Medya. My colleagues are like a second family to me.

Can you describe a typical day at the Inter Medya offices?

Typical day? I would also include night. With business around the globe, it’s necessary to keep our clients happy and assist them

Gizem Gırlangıç, Team Assistant

I’ve been working at Inter Medya for seven years. This journey seems short but I have had a great time and wish to spend many more years at this company. It has enabled me to change my perspective on my private and business lives in a positive way. A day at Inter Medya is busy but fun and productive.

24/7. Regardless of the hour of day, we are always here to assist.

Can you share an unforgettable memory from your time at Inter Medya?

During my first year, I had a serious health issue. I was surprised by my colleagues arriving at the hospital with a lot of messages, poems, balloons, presents and – of course – my laptop. I insisted on my laptop as, regardless of the situation, being able to continue keeping our clients happy has been the key to the past 30 years.

Hasret Özcan, VP and Head of Legal and Business Affairs

İrem Küçükkutlu, Marketing and PR Executive

My Inter Medya journey started in 2019. In the marketing team, we are constantly striving to improve ourselves, to convey our stories to different countries in the best way. This year, after two years away, we are returning to Mipcom with the whole team. It will be my second Mipcom experience and it means a lot to me. We will honour our 30th anniversary together with all our colleagues.

Melissa Şimşek, Sales Support Executive

I was a fresh university graduate when I first started working at Inter Medya and have had the privilege to learn a lot about business and how it should be conducted. Over the years, I’ve found the key to success and creating long-term business relationships is kindness. It’s definitely been an amazing journey of growth and development, and I have been privileged to be able to interact with so many people all around the world.

Neşet Ersoy, Sales Support Executive

My journey at Inter Medya began during the pandemic, so it was a bit confusing at first. But my colleagues integrated me like family members. An unforgettable memory was actually my first ‘live’ day – after the pandemic when we came back to the office. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming towards me. It didn’t feel like work, and they really helped me adapt.

Can you tell us something about your journey at Inter Medya? It started more than 10 years ago and has been a real challenge. Entering the Latin American market, the home of telenovelas, was one of the biggest challenges of my life. It took some time, but I believed from the beginning that Turkish content could travel the globe and would have a big impact in Lat Am.

How will the company celebrate its 30th anniversary?

We will celebrate our achievements. With the self-confidence of a 30-yearold company, we will work hard and boldly go where no one has gone before! We are so excited for Mipcom. We’re returning to our tent after two years of uncertainty and fear, so there can be no better celebration than being together with our business partners from around the world.

Which territories are you selling to the most, and what are your most popular titles?

I am responsible for sales in Lat Am,

US Hispanic, Spain, Italy and Brazil. Lat Am is where our sales are highest. Despite all the economic and political issues in Lat Am, the storm of Turkish series that has been going on there for years has never stopped. There is huge demand for Turkish content. Some of our best-performing titles in this region are The Girl of the Green Valley, Scorpion, Aziz and The Trusted

Can you share an unforgettable memory from your time at Inter Medya?

I have had many unforgettable moments at Inter Medya, which make me smile when I remember them. But one that always makes me love my job was my first day at my first market. All our marketing materials were stuck in customs and I had a meeting with a client I’d never met before. I was so stressed but it was an amazing meeting; we talked about our lives and I learned that good conversations make for good returns in the future.

Beatriz Cea Okan, VP and Head of Sales and Acquisitions

Nesrin Eyüpoğlu, Marketing and PR Executive

My first impression of Inter Medya was that there was a lot of potential for personal and professional growth and that I was right where I should be. I have learned how to connect with the world and have my work recognised internationally over the years. Having been a part of Inter Medya for the past six years has been a truly fruitful journey. Inter Medya’s success depends entirely on the success of its customers.

Pelin Koray, Sales Executive

I was initially part of the gameshow format team and later moved to sales. In both positions, I improved my creative side. We are very happy to be back at on-site markets with our whole team and it feels so good to be celebrating our 30th year with our clients. Israel is one of the countries in which Turkish content is highly popular, and we have recently extended our business activities into Asia.

Sinem Aliskan, Sales Executive

At Inter Medya, our plan is to be the best version of ourselves, to reach every single country, to widen our world and to expand our catalogue not only with Turkish series but also with New Generation Turkish series and new copros. I’m in charge of CEE, where Bitter Lands, The Ambassador’s Daughter and The Pit are our best-selling series right now, while Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hungary and Macedonia are licensing the most content.

Tutku Tüzüner, Business Development & Research Executive

One unforgettable memory from working at Inter Medya is the day we brought our pet dogs to the office. It was a very soothing and peaceful day. Since our managers are animal lovers, they allow us to bring our dogs to the office a few times a month. Being able to play with my dog in times of stress make me less anxious and I become more productive. I appreciate Inter Medya’s corporate culture that values its employees as human beings.

Happy 30th birthday!

To mark the occasion of Inter Medya’s 30th year in business, some of the company’s programme partners sent in congratulatory messages. They include TIMS&B, the company behind Bitter Lands and The Trusted; O3 Medya, producer of epic drama The Ambassador’s Daughter and Aziz; and BKM, the company behind many successful Turkish feature films.

Zümrüt Arol Bekçe, CEO, BKM

“Inter Medya, which is one of the leading institutions that have pioneered the opening of the Turkish television and film industry to foreign markets over the last 15 years, has been a respected business partner for me and BKM, as well as friends whose insight and experience we have trusted for 15 years. We are always confident and happy to work with Inter Medya in the expansion of BKM productions into international markets.

“It is one of the strongest players in the sector, which contributes to our country’s economy and adds invaluable value to the promotion of the country by bringing our productions together with people from completely different cultures in the farthest corners of the world.

“Leaving behind 30 years full of success and development with its dynamic structure, expert teams in their fields and solution-oriented approaches, we sincerely thank the Inter Medya team for the friendship they have offered as well as the values they have added to our industry.”

Timur Savcı (far left), chairman, TIMS&B Productions

Burak Sağyaşar (left), CEO, TIMS&B Productions

“We’d like to congratulate Inter Medya on its 30th anniversary, as it has played an essential role in the globalisation of the Turkish series and film industry.

“Inter Medya is a significant reason for our presence in world markets, and we wish it many more successful years to come. Here’s to many new prolific and long-lasting journeys we hope to embark on together.”

Saner Ayar, founder and managing partner, O3 Medya

“We will be happy to be working with Inter Medya as it celebrates its 30th birthday.”

New office, new era

What made you decide to expand your offices?

Our team is growing every day; our business volume is growing as well. In parallel, we are expanding our production team. For this reason, it was clear that we needed more space. With my business partner Ahmet Ziyalar, we thought the office structure and location needs of a distribution company and a production company should be different. We wanted to provide the best environment for both of our teams to work at their best and produce to the maximum.

With this motivation, we created a new office for our distribution team in a different office area within the same building, one floor below the production office. Both teams continue to work by coming together frequently as siblings of a family who work in separate rooms. We have transferred both of our offices to an infrastructure with today’s state-of-the-art technology. Each of our systems is at the highest level in terms of infrastructure and technology. And it was a nice coincidence that this move coincided with our 30th anniversary! Celebrating our 30th year in the industry with a growing office and an expanding team has shown us that we are on the right track in this business.

What is it about the new space that appealed to you?

Of course, our first priority was that the place where we would set up our new office was close to our other office. We were lucky

Inter Medya has established elegant and stylish new offices in Istanbul, marking not just the company’s 30th year in business but also a change in its strategy and an expansion into production, says CEO and founder Can Okan.

that we found the location we were looking for in the same building and our beloved architect designed our dream office for us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for making this happen. We can say that we doubled our office size covering more than 1,000sqm working space.

How is the atmosphere in the new office?

Our new office has a calm and peaceful vibe. It offers the best opportunities to work in a concentrated way and to be together with the whole team when we want to. We also have a very pleasant garden. The pleasure of the conversations we have gathered here as a whole team is priceless!

What does the new office say about Inter Medya in terms of profile, prestige and status?

Our new office has a simple, elegant and modern design. This fits the character of Inter Medya very well. We are a company that has the discipline of doing anything without exaggeration, calmly and with pleasure. Our office design mostly reflects this aspect of us.

On the other hand, our production office has many colourful designs and entertainment corners, which encourage imagination, creation and production.

Our production office reflects the brave, creative, adventurous and colourful spirit of our production team. Our production office, which has a more industrial style of design, can be thought of as a representation of our production team’s readiness to produce beautiful works!

With global demand for Turkish content soaring in recent years – a trend that Inter Medya has played no small part in establishing – the reason why the distributor has set up a production company is perhaps obvious.

“The rapidly increasing value of high-quality content in the global market made us take this step,” says Inter Medya president and chief operating officer Ahmet Ziyalar. “It seemed like an opportunity for us to produce content for the emerging digital platforms, both in our country and around the world. We realised there would always be a shortage of high-quality content for these streamers, especially in Turkey.”

That hunch proved correct, as the new company, Inter Yapim, has certainly hit the ground running. Its first production, the revival of cop drama Behzat Ç, was a hit for Kanal D-backed Turkish streamer BluTV in 2019. The 9x60’ series follows a maverick cop who gets suspended from the force and goes missing.

A year later, Inter Yapim’s spin-off drama Respect also delivered audiences for the same streamer, so much so that it was renewed for a second season in 2021. The show, centring on the sociopathic villain from Behzat Ç, who is obsessed with the idea of respect, extends to two eightepisode seasons.

“All of our productions were highly appreciated by the audience and the positive feedback we received was a good motivation for us to move forward,” says Ziyalar, who is CEO of Inter Yapim.

As the new company’s business expands, so does the team. Recently, Sarp Kalfaoglu,

The path to production

After years of distributing third-party content and building demand for Turkish content worldwide, Inter Medya launched a production company Inter Yapim. Here, president and chief operating officer Ahmet Ziyalar explains why.

one of the most experienced names in the industry, joined as general manager. Kalfaoglu was previously producer of originals at BluTV and later its head of drama. “We are recruiting experienced names in this field as well as young talent with high enthusiasm and creativity to our team,” explains Ziyalar.

Regarding the relationship between Inter Medya and the prodco, Ziyalar explains: “We have designed Inter Yapım as an independent production company rather than being Inter Medya’s production arm. Inter Medya continues to expand the Turkish TV and film industry to foreign markets in a stable and reliable manner by undertaking the international distribution of both the content supplied by other production

companies and Inter Yapım’s productions.”

As for the kind of content Inter Yapim will focus on, Ziyalar is unequivocal. “Our vision is to produce only for local and international streamers, not for mainstream broadcasters. We have no intention to produce long ongoing drama series since they need special expertise and there are already some very experienced larger production houses doing this in Turkey.”

Instead of the telenovelastyle dramas found on Turkish terrestrial broadcasters, the focus is on shorter miniseries favoured by global streamers, shortform projects for AVoD and podcasts. Miniseries like Behzat Ç and Respect, for example, not only have fewer

episodes but are also edgier than ongoing dramas on the mainstream broadcasters.

“We named these kind of projects as ‘New Generation’ Turkish series. Determined to realise modern, bold and ambitious projects, Inter Yapım will launch exciting projects by taking important steps in the field of production with its experienced team and the solid technological ground it has established,” says Ziyalar.

“Inter Yapım also develops its own stories internally. Every project and story we come across has value for us. With the 30 years of experience of Inter Medya, we believe we have the knowledge and power to produce any kind of project.

“As well as local productions, Inter Yapım also works hard for productions to be developed jointly with major prodcos abroad. We are also open and looking for coproductions with foreign production companies for bigger-scale projects.”

Declining to give details of Inter Yapim’s upcoming projects, Ziyalar instead hints at one with interest from Netflix and another in development with a globally recognised international cast. “I hope to be able to share more detailed information about our upcoming projects in the near future. For now, I prefer to end by saying: stay tuned!”

Ahmet Ziyalar (right) with Inter Yapim’s recently appointed general manager Sarp Kalfaoglu