Barbora Suster, Sales director at Eccho Rights for Latin America, spoke to ttvnews about the distributor’s “advanced negotiations” to adapt Turkish dramas in Latin America.
After several years talking about the possibility, co-productions between Latin America and Turkey finally became a reality in 2019, with several projects in the works.
In almost every case, they are Turkish dramas being adapted in Latin America, with budgets coming from both regions. And now, a new player is about to enter this arena: Eccho Rights, which is now in advanced negotiations with a major company in the region to adapt a Turkish drama.
“In Latin America, we are negotiating formats with several clients. We are in advanced negotiations with one, almost closing the deal, and still in talks with others”, Barbora Suster, Sales director at Eccho Rights for Latin America, said to ttvnews.
“The most advanced are two Turkish formats, to series scripts. We’ve been in negotiations for a year and I hope to be able to announced the most advanced one at Natpe. It will be a beautiful collaboration and the beginning of a fruitful long-term relationship,” she added.
The executive also revealed the request for Turkish drama formats has grown in Latin America, a trend that’s seemingly just beginning and has plenty of room to grow.
“There has been growth in terms of format adaptations and the need to look for content from other territories. For us, the format has always been interesting in Latin America. However, the conditions we negotiated weren’t 100% to our liking. I now see a trend towards being more flexible, clients aren’t as rigid as they used to be. It’s now easier to reach deals,” she explained.
The deals they have announced are mostly for their new Turkish series, which Eccho Rights recently sold to Mediaset in Spain: Everywhere I Go and My Sweet Lie, the latter also sold to Digitalb in Albania.
The will both be part of the distributor’s catalog for Natpe, along with titles like The Promise, Wounded Birds and Elif.
“One of the titles we’ll be pushing most in Miami is The Promise, our daily drama airing on Kanal 7, which is now working great in its time slot. It has upped the network to third place. It’s a huge success and we hope to land the first deals for it at Natpe. Production has begun on its second season and a third one is already confirmed. It’s a classic love story,” she said.
“We are also presenting Wounded Birds, Elif’s successor which comes from the same executive producer and has the same values. So we expect many of our clients who are finished with Elif to pick up this title. Elif is in its fourth or fifth season in most territories, so this is a safe bet to move forward,” she added.
Everywhere I Go, meanwhile, aired this past summer in Turkey with an 80-episode run. My Sweet Lie, also premiered this summer, is still on air with great results.
“These are lighter contents compared to the traditional fall dramas. They are appealing for Latin American audiences for the type of story and there are territories that are looking for this type of content,” she explained.
The list of new Turkish dramas is completed with North Star, “a pure comedy about a couple who meet after 20 years. It’s very funny, with a universal type of humor. Considering its story, I believe it can break the barrier for comedy in Latin America,” she said.
Titles from Portugal and Scandi-Romance Series
In addition to Turkish products, Eccho Rights has been diversifying its offer with contents from other regions.
In this regard, the distributor is presenting titles from Portugal, which combine classic stories with high production values and a European look.
“At Natpe we will be presenting Portuguese series Water Mirror and Heart and Soul, which considering Turkish content’s success, have the potential of being an alternative from another country. Buyers who are now open to new content will see these two have all the qualifications necessary for a telenovela to air in Latin America,” she said.
All this, in addition to a series of Swedish productions under the Scandi-romance genre, an alternative to the classic Scandi-Noir series.
“We are creating a new genre we call Scandi-Romance, the next step after Scandi-Noir. We are presenting Swiping and Love Me,” she explained.
“Swiping is a story of a mother who’s looking for love and Love Me is a love story told in three generations. They’re short, premium series, with 12 episodes. Swiping is produced for SVT and Love Me for ViaPlay,” she added.
The company is also adding to its international catalog with series from Korea, a genre that’s still hard to sell in Latin America, but is slowly finding its place in the region.
“This is a marathon. It’s true we are taking small steps. We have 10 episodes of Korean drama. We’ve offered them to clients in Latin America and we have three or four potential costumers. I hope that between MipCancun and Natpe, we’ll be able to close the first deals,” she said.
“They are working very well in Turkey. There, a lot of Asian content in general is adapted, from Korea and Japan,” she added.
Eccho Rights’ international catalog is closed with the Chilean-Finnish series, Invisible Heroes, which is ideal for OTT platforms and pay TV platforms, and has already been sold to Filmin in Spain.
