Muge Akar, head of Sales, spoke to ttvnews at one of their busiest Mipcoms, where the Turkish distributor has hosted special events and presentations to showcase its catalog of new hits from Turkey.
Produced by Luis Cabrera, from Cannes, France
One of the main protagonists of the Turkish wave taking over Cannes this week, ATV Distribution has had a busy Mipcom, with an agenda full of meetings and presentations, and even their own special dinner, which they hosted on the first night, to showcase their powerful dramas to the international market.
“We’ve had very positive feedback from all the clients. All of our meetings were filled up, and everyone enjoyed the events and the trailers,” said Muge Akar, head of Sales at ATV Distribution, at the event in Cannes.
The main goal behind this busy schedule was to showcase all of the new titles that ATV has added to its catalog, with four new dramas with proven success and another one on the way for later this year.
“We have a lot of new shows and a huge lineup on air, so we have a lot to present,” she summarized.
First on the lineup is Queen of Tears, the adaptation of the Korean original. In the story, Selim, the legal director of Aksel Group, is married to Meyra, the company’s future heir. While he endures the weight of power struggles and family pressure, Meyra hides her loneliness and fragility behind her strong exterior. As emotional distance grows between them, Selim considers walking away, until he discovers Meyra’s life-threatening illness.
It is headlined by Hande Erçel and Barış Arduç, two of Turkey’s most celebrated talents, the series combines star power with a timeless narrative arc.
“The other title is Stranger in the Mirror, which is also very successful, it just started in Turkey”, she added. The story follows Azra and Emirhan, who seem like the perfect couple, but Emirhan’s obsessive love soon turns her life into a prison. When she tries to escape with her daughter Leyla, tragedy strikes, and Leyla is lost. Desperate, Azra undergoes plastic surgery to return to the Karaaslan mansion under a new identity. But complications erase her memory, and she becomes “Defne”. Drawn back into the mansion as a maid, Defne slowly uncovers dark secrets, reconnects with Leyla, and ultimately realizes the shocking truth: she is Azra, Leyla’s mother, and the key to it all.
“Stranger in the Mirror is a prime time series on Saturdays. We only have two episodes, because it started two weeks ago and it opened quite well in terms of ratings”, she explained. “The clients really liked it. It’s internationally appealing because you have a desperate mom who wants to save herself and her daughter’s lives. You have a psychopath husband and a very handsome surgeon who is helping the mom. You have all the elements there and I think it’s going to work quite well.”
Third on the list is Waves of Love, “a very classic Turkish drama”, the executive noted. In Waves of Love, a principled sea captain, Azil, returns home from a long voyage-only to be pulled into a deadly web of power, betrayal, and buried bloodlines when he unknowingly disrupts his half-brother Mehmet’s criminal operations and comes face-to-face with the powerful father, Osman, who once abandoned him-and Gunes, the woman he has fallen for, who now belongs to the very family he never knew he was part of.
“The last is the new season of The Ottoman, which begins with a new era. It’s another period in the formation of the empire”, she explained. The Ottoman: Orhan, is a continuation of The Ottoman, with a new chapter that focuses on Orhan, the son of Osman, navigating the immense challenges of leadership during the empire’s founding era. Rich in history and drama, it expands the global appeal of Turkish period storytelling.
“The Ottoman is a very unique title”, she highlighted. “In the Middle East and North Africa you have the whole region asking for it. Two platforms have the title on their catalog. We have Russia and CIS, which are also having simultaneous broadcasts. The Ottoman, the first one, started in Spain last month.”
“So if you’re looking for historical titles, we have those. Something modern, we have that as well. It’s a huge variety,” she said.
Last but not least, the executive shared that ATV is about to premiere a new title later this year, which is currently “in the process of preparation and casting”, with Afra Saraçoğlu, star of Golden Boy. “We are very excited for this series,” she concluded.
