The founder and CEO of Calinos Entertainment spoke to ttvnews at Mip Cancun, where the distributor showcased its latest hit drama, Farah, and shared a preview of Love with Lavender Scent, its new Romanian drama and the first of many to follow.
*By Luis Cabrera and Ana Paula Carreira, from Cancun, Mexico
Present at Mip Cancun in Mexico, Calinos Entertainment met with colleagues, friends and the press to celebrate a major milestone, as the Turkish distributor is this year celebrating 25 years in business.
“We celebrated 25 years,” started in dialogue with ttvnews Firat Gulgen, founder and CEO at Calinos Entertainment. “When I set up the company in 1999, my first deal was acquiring a telenovela from TV Azteca. And when I bought this title in 1999, my goal was to one day sell my own product in Latin America. And now, Turkish dramas are almost in every country in Latin America and they are watched worldwide. We are happy and proud of it,” he said.
As the latest in its long list of Turkish dramas that have reached Latin America audiences, Farah, the Turkish remake of Argentine series La chica que limpia, was recently sold in Panama, a territory the executive believes will open doors for the drama in other places in the region.
“We started to distribute Farah last year. As you know, with Turkish dramas, networks wait to see how the series does in terms of ratings and how the story evolves. Farah is a big example of that type of test period that’s been surpassed. When the show started, the story started with a cleaning lady who witnesses a murder, and then later the mafia finds out she’s the witness and want her to be silenced. They appoint someone to make sure the job is done, but he falls in love with her.”
“So everyone in the beginning thinks it’s a mafia story, but it’s not, it’s a big love story, because the guy is going to protect and fight for her. It’s the love story that’s the focus,” he explained.
“Everywhere where the story has been sold, they’ve loved it. In Latin America, the series just aired last month in Panama. I had a meeting yesterday with our clients there and they are so happy with the results. And now, other markets are showing interest. I think Farah‘s journey in Latam will begin next year and we will have good results with several networks,” he revealed.
In addition to Farah, during their screening on Wednesday, Calinos also presented a sneak peak of Love with Lavender Scent, a new drama from Romania, which the executive states is another major trend and possibly the next big wave following Turkish dramas.
“Love with Lavender Scent is a miniseries from Romania. Two and a half years ago I went to Romania and I met with one of the top producers there to ask about producing something there, but in Turkish style. The first show we remade was the Turkish drama That’s My Life. Under the local title Adela, it was a great success in Romania. And Adela was sold in multiple territories worldwide. So this is a new production. Love with Lavender Scent was the highest-rated show in Romania on Antenna, making it the number one channel. So we launched it here and in Miami we will launch another one called Anna”, he explained.
“We believe Romanian shows will be the next big trend following Turkish drama,” he added.
This trend of producing local adaptations of Turkish dramas extends further than Romania, already reaching other key territories for the Hispanic market, such as Spain and Latam. “We’re also producing our stories as remakes in other countries. Like I mentioned with Romania, we are also going to produce That’s My Life, Second Chance and other romantic comedies in Spain as Spanish series,” he said. “And now we are discussing the option of remaking some of our dramas in Latin America or Greece.”
“So when I look at my company and how we are going to extend this around the world, we will continue to tell stories to everyone around the globe”, he concluded.
