José Luis Gascue, EVP, Head of Worldwide Sales at Calinos Entertainment, spoke to ttvnews about about the international success of Woman and Forbidden Fruit, and the distributor’s catalog for Miptv, led by new titles like Deeply and Yesilcam.
Calinos Entertainment’s recent deal with RTL-owned M6 Group in France will see the highly popular drama Woman become the first Turkish series to be broadcast in the French company’s linear channels, an unprecedented fact that might be able to pave a road of continued success for Turkish dramas in the French market, similar to the one they have already built in Spain.
Woman, a title that Calinos Entertainment has distributed all over the world, was also a key player in the expansion of Turkish content in Spain, so the company is confident of its potential impact on the new territory: “We believe in this product as we have sold it worldwide with excellent performance everywhere where it has been exhibited,” explains José Luis Gascue, Executive Vice President, Head of Worldwide Sales at Calinos Entertainment. “It is a proven brand”.
Woman
While Woman has been one of the most successful titles of the past years, the distributor is always looking forward, and for Miptv 2022 their catalogue will be highlighted by original titles from the streaming platform BluTV, like the romantic drama Deeply and the 60’s movie industry drama Yesilcam.
Alongside them, Calinos keeps on finding territories for some of their stronger traditional dramas, like the before mentioned Woman and Forbidden Fruit, the show that Gascue foresees will monopolize the screens during 2022.
What are the main titles that the company will be bringing to Cannes? We are bringing two shows that originated in BluTv, Deeply, with the well-renowned Ozge Ozpirincci, from our hit Woman, and Yesilcam, a moving story about a movie producer in Istanbul of the 1960’s. The main character Semih Ates is also very well-known by his performance of our other hit show, The Secret of Feriha. We are also bringing Adela, now in its third season, with excellent ratings in its native Romania.
Yesilcam
The sale of Woman to M6 Group in France is a milestone. What do you expect from the title in the French market? Can you see it following a similar trajectory to the one it had in Spain? Yes, we do believe in this product as we have sold it worldwide with excellent performance everywhere where it has been exhibited. It is a proven brand. You will see more sales in significant territories soon.
Can you give us a general overview of Calinos’ penetration in Europe, including the success in Spain? What territories do you see growing during 2022? Calinos, as the first international Turkish distributor, has a vast presence in Europe. Woman’s trajectory in Spain was an amazing experience, because not only the ratings were very high, but it also became a trend in social media due to the great job of Antena 3. There are a few countries in Europe following the trend, which is moving now on to France.
What other recent sales would you like to highlight? 2022 is the year of Yasak Elma (Forbidden Fruit) that has been very successful in Mexico and Panama. We have closed deals now in Spain, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and Chile. Other countries will surely follow in Latam very soon.
Forbidden Fruit
Among all the changes that the last couple of years have brought to the industry and, we presume, to distribution strategies, which ones do you assess are here to stay? Even though these last couple of years have been different and somewhat difficult, our distribution strategies have not changed that much, except that we mostly meet via Zoom. We are now seeing the markets coming back and see that all distributors and clients are eager to have face to face meetings again.
TWO NEW HITS FROM BLUTV
The two shows that highlight Calinos Entertainment’s offering at Cannes originated in the streaming platform BluTV: Deeply and Yesilcam. Deeply (8 x 60’, original title İlk ve Son) follows the love story of Deniz (Özge Özpirinçci) and Baris (Salih Bademci), a couple whose unbridled love spans over ten years. Their relationship started as youngsters in their mid-20s and evolved through a decade of sunny and stormy times.
The narratives follows offers a beautiful luck and the ups and downs of romance. In Yesilcam (10- x 60’), meanwhile, the Turkey of the 1960s steals the show, with a story about an ambitious producer (portrayed by Çağatay Ulusoy ) who is blinded by cinema and whose passion for movie making –and his desire to rekindle the love with his ex, the actress Mine Cansu (Selin Şekerci)- will lead him into all kinds of trouble.
Deeply
CALINOS DISTRIBUTES LAWLESS LOVE FROM FOX TURKEY
At the end of last year, Calinos Entertainment acquired the international distribution rights to the FOX series Lawless Love, starring Ugur Gunes, Esra Bilgic and Necip Memili. The series is produced by Gold Film, one of the top producers in Turkey behind proven series such as Daydreamer, No 309, Iffet, Dila, Never Let Go and Mr. Wrong. Shot in a remote Black Sea town in Northern Turkey, the show premiered last September on FOX Turkey.
Lawless Love takes place in a 1939’s mining town and tells the story of the miners’ riot against the established order. Davut (Ugur Gunes) and Gulfem’s (Esra Bilgic) relationship starts with hate, but eventually they fall in love and decide to get married. Malik, Gulfem’s father and Davut’s boss, has no intention of letting this happen.
Lawless Love
