Kanal D International, a leading Turkish distributor, continues to bet on digital markets with its fourth participation at Virtual Screenings shows. Attending its second event of its kind, Ekin Koyuncu, executive director, highlights at Virtual Screenings Worldwide (VSWW) several top scripted series for global buyers.
KDI went through the crisis taking advantage of its extensive dramatic library, to which it added new titles that allowed its clients to maintain and gain new audiences. Koyuncu assumed the executive management last May: ‘2020 was a great challenge for everyone, but we were able to see the opportunities quickly and determine our priorities. At first, traditional broadcasters paused their daily productions and shows, which led them to lose advertising revenue and seek new directions’.
The executive brings to VSWW a selection of top Turkish dramas, highlighting two romantic comedies with which Kanal D has made an important differential within the Turkish TV market: Recipe of Love, which premiered on June 7 with world-renowned actor, Kadir Doğulu, accompanied by the talented and beautiful Serra Arıtürk, a name we will hear a lot in the near future.
And Twist of Fate, produced by Love Trap’ ARC Film: ‘It has very impressive settings and an intriguing. Thanks to its rich and diverse cast, I firmly believe that we will talk a lot about this series in the coming months’, described Koyuncu.
She also highlights for VSWW Ruthless City, which reached more than 50 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, CIS, Asia, MENA and Latin America in 2020 and 2021, and the remake of Dr House, Hekimoglu, which had its grand finale after two successful seasons and was named as the “Best remake in the history of television in Turkey” by the local audience on social networks and platforms.
‘Based on our recent sales, we see that the audience is shifting towards more upbeat and enjoyable stories. Romantic comedies became the breaking point of the stresses of our daily life. And with the strong programming of this genre on our broadcaster Kanal D, we are eager to expand our reach around the world’, underlines Koyuncu.
‘Thanks to international sales and worldwide audience, we are the second country after the USA in number of sales of dramas of TV. Our audiences are mainly concentrated in CEE CEI, MENA and Latin America. The Turkish market offers a very competitive environment. The domestic audience is tough and you have many options to choose from. Producers and broadcasters must deliver the best quality production with authentic stories. This equation sets the bar higher for the next title to improve on the previous one: all this effort will continue to be rewarded by the international reach that our productions achieve’, she remarks.
With the new Demirören Media‘s SVOD platform, Dramax, KDI’s goal is to present its series to a ‘much wider’ audience, offering all productions in Spanish and Arabic dubbed and followed by Russian, Urdu and English. ‘As a team, we are very excited to expand our journey into various branches of the business’, Koyuncu concludes.
