Aysegul Tuzun de Mistco
Turkish distributor Mistco enters the co-production business with its own project and with US Yapim, creator of hit dramas like Hold My Hand and Melek, as executive producer. The co-production, Bahar (100×45´), will be ready for broadcast in the first quarter of next year.
“Since we have a strong experience for distributing Turkish content and we believe that we have enough knowledge, this 2022 we decided to create different arms into our company, including the production arm (…) We believe in our partner’s US Yapim know-how on producing good dramas, so we decided to combine our powers in terms of producing international IP,” said Aysegul Tuzun, CEO of Mistco.
Bahar is the story of a young woman who witnesses the murder of her father and tries to prove that the killer was her stepmother, who is a woman that will do whatever it takes to win over the man Bahar has fallen in love with. “We can say that it is again the Cinderella story. When talking about Turkish drama, you automatically imagine a love triangle, filled with tears and drama. And although different genres have been produced in Turkey in recent years, there is still a demand for traditional Turkish dramas like Bahar.”
She added that, in addition to seeking for the necessary financial investment to produce this series, the main objective with this project is to create an international IP with co-producers from different regions and territories; and perhaps put in place a different business model to produce with other players in the market.
Tuzun —who has more than 20 years in the industry and has been in charge of Mistco since its creation in 2015— is not only responsible for Mitsco sales (regional vendors report to her), but also for the production team.
Mistco, as the exclusive agent for the distribution of Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) content, has been in international markets screening the new seasons of several of the network titles: the historical drama Alparslan, whose first season was sold in more than 40 countries; the medical drama The Town Doctor; and The Shadow Team, whose new cast includes actor Murat Yıldırım (from the Aziz series).
The distributor company is also a representative of third-party titles including Golden Cage of Star TV.
Regarding Latin America, Tuzun commented: “It is a good market for us but I cannot say it was an easy process entering the Latin America market. I find Latin American customers a little bit conservative in terms of opening their doors for newcomers, but we’ve spent huge efforts to enter the last four years and now it’s time to collect the results of our efforts. When we started, our library consisted mostly of historical dramas like the global phenomenon title Resurrection: Ertugrul, it was kind of local content but it became a very big international brand later, and after our genres changed and this made it easier to enter the Latin American market. In fact, our first deal was for Hold My Hand, a modern day Cinderella story.”
They even managed to enter the US Hispanic market through Pasiones TV and in Puerto Rico with WAPA TV.
Some time ago, Mistco hired a Mexican executive to serve Latin America, María Fernanda Espino. “In many parts of the world English is the common language for all of us, and one does not need to know the native language. But Latin America is a niche and special market, so having a native speaker who has the culture of the region is very beneficial and puts us a step ahead,” concluded Tuzun.
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