Can Okan Inter Medya

Can Okan founded Inter Medya in 1992 and initially focused on Turkish feature films, first for the domestic market and later extending into Eastern Europe, Russia and other international territories. Through the years, he expanded into longrunning dramas, Turkish telenovelas, which developed loyal audiences, first in the Middle East and North Africa and then Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. In 2016, Inter Medya began developing and producing entertainment, reality and game-show formats and, more recently, “new generation Turkish series,” shorter-run miniseries. These dramas, which have proven very popular, have allowed the company to reach new platforms and viewers. Okan talks to TV Drama about the strategy behind the new generation series.

By Anna Carugati

TV DRAMA: In the past year, Inter Medya has moved into miniseries. Why was that important?

OKAN: When we decided to move into the production business, we did not want to have a conflict of interest with producers who are our suppliers. So we said, instead of producing traditional long-running Turkish dramas, let’s go into production of titles made for the OTT platforms. We are also going into preproduction on two feature films, where, again, there is no clash or conflict of interest with any third party. That’s how the whole journey started.

These miniseries are much faster-paced than Turkish dramas; they are edgier and even sexier. When Naked started streaming, on its fourth day, it became number one among viewers.

In a country like Brazil, with 300 million people, being number three on its fourth day is a big success. Tainted Love started streaming, which is again a short-form series, and it has been number one on the platform. I’m very proud of it. This means that not only the long-running Turkish series are successful, but the miniseries, the ones that we call “new generation Turk ish series,” are going to be a big success.

TV DRAMA: Have miniseries brought you new clients?

OKAN: We have seen a lot of interest from Western European and Nordic companies, streaming platforms and also from English-speaking U.S. and Canada. These are different territories from Latin America or U.S. Hispanic or Central and Eastern Europe, where Turkish content is already very strong.

TV DRAMA: In May 2022, you closed a co-production deal with Telemundo. How has that been progressing?

OKAN: It’s going very well. In January, we finished the first series, Hicran . We’re handling international distribution, and sales are going quite well. We are in production for the second one, Blue Cage , which started during MIPCOM 2022 and finished at the end of April. Delivery will take place in June 2023, and Telemundo is planning on airing it in the U.S. Things may change, but most probably the first broadcasters of Blue Cage will be in either Israel or the Mid dle East, even before Telemundo.

TV DRAMA: How are you keeping up with rising production costs?

OKAN: It is quite tough. All costs have increased not only because of the inflation rate but also because of the new big international players that entered the market. They overpaid all the talent, writers, directors and crews. Once you reach a certain level, you can’t go back down. But still, with our good relations and amazing team, we can continue to produce. As I said, we are going to begin production on two feature films soon and two miniseries. One will start shooting by the end of summer 2023, and the other one probably by February 2024.

TV DRAMA: What demand do you see in the market? Are buyers being more cautious?

OKAN: In certain territories, some broadcasters that had been weak on the production side have started producing themselves. So, on the one hand, demand in some countries has gone down, but we are still opening up new territories, which balances revenues. Also, in some regions, the economic situation is not that good, and prices go down. While in others, prices go up because of the success of the content and the numbers increase, so again, it balances out. I cannot complain because, in some cases, we are getting less, while in others, we are getting more; so there is always a balance.