The distributor will handle international rights to the new drama from O3 Medya, which will make its debut at the event in Cannes.
International distributor Eccho Rights will handle international sales for The Hatmaker (Şapkacı Kadınlar), the brand-new drama series from leading Turkish producer O3 Medya.
The series will launch to buyers for presales at this month’s Mipcom in Cannes, ahead of its planned premiere in Turkey in early 2027.
A sweeping period drama starring Pınar Deniz and Selahattin Paşalı, The Hatmaker is the story of Ayşe, a war veteran seeking a path to independence, while the husband who abandoned her threatens everything she is building.
Pınar Deniz returns to linear TV for the first time since her leading role in the International Emmy-winning Yargı (Family Secrets). Selahattin Paşalı won plaudits for his title role in Ömer, a huge ratings success for Star TV. Earlier this year he led the Netflix series Museum of Innocence (Masumiyet Müzesi), adapted from Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk’s celebrated novel.
Handan Özkubat, Director of Turkish Drama at Eccho Rights, said: “Pınar Deniz and Selahattin Paşalı are two of the most compelling actors working in Turkey today, and seeing them together at the heart of a story this ambitious is genuinely exciting. Ayşe is a heroine of real depth and courage, and I have no doubt audiences around the world will fall for her.”
Saner Ayar, Founder and Managing Partner at O3 Medya, said: “Eccho Rights has been at our side for many years, taking our stories to audiences around the world, and we could not think of a better partner for The Hatmaker.”
Set in the early 1920s, as Turkey undergoes profound change, the series follows Ayşe, whose happy family life is shattered by a brutal attack. In the aftermath, her husband Rıza abandons her. Five years later, hardship drives her to İzmir with her children, sister and mother-in-law. There, in the ruins left by the Great Fire, an unlikely bond with an elderly woman introduces her to the craft of hatmaking. It offers Ayşe the chance to build a livelihood for herself and for other women. But İzmir also brings Ayşe face to face with Rıza, now married into one of the city’s most powerful families. As Ayşe fights to build a future on her own terms, the husband who once abandoned her becomes a powerful threat to her independence.
The Hatmaker is created and written by Necati Şahin, directed by Ömür Atay and produced by Suzan Sümeli for O3 Medya. The series (60 x 45′) is available both as a finished drama and as a scripted format.
The series continues Eccho Rights’ long-standing partnership with O3 Medya, whose dramas have been a mainstay of the Eccho Rights slate. I Am Mother (Sandık Kokusu) and My Sweet Lie (Benim Tatlı Yalanım) in particular have both generated significant international business, with My Sweet Lie also adapted as a format in multiple territories.
