“Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Global Agency, Izzet Pinto, said Thursday that they began to promote the “Muhtesem Yuzyil (Magnificent Century)” TV series.
Speaking to the AA at a fair on television broadcasting in Istanbul, Pinto said that they would host a party in Cannes for 500 people, including global buyers, in three weeks and begin exporting the “Magnificent Century” to the whole world.
Around 4-5 years ago, I met with the creator of “Will You Be My Bride?” and I entered this sector. The format of this TV program was sold to about 30 countries, Pinto said.
Following the format business, I entered the soap operas sector. Three years ago, I began representing “Binbir Gece (1001 Nights)”. This soap opera was sold to many countries. I sold it to the whole Balkans. The soap opera was liked so much that people began naming their children in Serbia and Croatia as “Sehrazat” and “Onur”, Pinto said.
Later, I began representing the scenario rights of “Ask-i Memnu (The Forbidden Love)”. We have signed a contract with the Italian Berlusconi TV channel for “The Forbidden Love” and are conducting negotiations with the United States and other European countries to market this TV series, Pinto underlined.
Our portfolio includes 26 projects, Pinto said. We have sold “Will You Be My Bride?” to India and the first live marriage took place in our program, Pinto said.
Turkish soap operas and films have millions of watchers in the Balkans. Greece was a country in which Turkish series were not broadcast in the past. Only “Yabanci Damat (The Foreign Groom)” was broadcast as a joint production. However, “1001 Nights” became a phenomenon once it was broadcast in Greece, Pinto stressed.
The TV series market provides a revenue of around 50 million USD to Turkey. In the next 4-5 years, Turkey will earn around 500 million USD from TV series and I expect a 20 percent share in this market, Pinto said.
The greatest impact of TV series is felt in tourism. The number of tourists coming to Turkey from the Middle East went up 100 percent while the number of tourists coming to Turkey from the Balkans went up 200 percent, Pinto said.
We are currently working with 40 countries and are in touch with 100 other countries. Greece’s biggest TV channel ‘Mega TV’ is our world distributor while big producers of TV series in Argentina and Venezuela are distributors in the Balkans, Pinto said.
We are exporting format to China. “Will You Be My Bride?” will soon begin in China. Normally, China copies everything. For the first time in their history, they have actually paid to receive a format, Pinto noted.
Since our business is global, we want everyone to be interested in our projects. We grow by 100-200 percent annually. We have a good trade mark. We want our shares to be traded at the London Stock Exchange in two years, Pinto added.”
