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Exclusive: The Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Series, a hybrid film-series industry strand, returns this year for its sophomore outing with Paper Entertainment CEO and Tehran executive producer Julien Leroux serving as program consultant.

This year’s Agora series program will run for two extended days, starting November 4, with a focus on the creative process of series screenwriting. The schedule will feature a range of masterclass sessions from local and international series professionals. Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa will host a masterclass on the future of storytelling titled From Six Feet Under to the Top: The Evolution of Contemporary Television at the Pavlos Zannas Theatre on November 4. Podeswa — who was recently announced as the lead director of the Blade Runner 2099 mini-series at Amazon — will discuss the evolution of series content throughout the years and his personal journey in the business. Podeswa’s credits include Six Feet Under, Game of Thrones,...

Netflix has unveiled four new Turkish original series and a feature film commissioned and presented at a local event by Pelin Diştaş, the streaming giant’s director of original content for Turkey.

Diştaş during the presentation said that Netflix has now produced “more than thirty original series and films in Turkey, making room for new and diverse stories.”

The new Turkish shows, and the movie, that will start production shortly and plan to premiere in 2024 are:

–”Asaf,” a series created and directed by Özgür Önurme (“Fatma”) about an ordinary Uber driver with strong moral values trying to find a way to get his life back on track after his separation with his wife and son.

– “The Town,” directed by Seren Yüce (“The Club”) and written by Deniz Karaoğlu and Doğu Yaşar Akal. This show centers on two brothers who fell out over the years and reunite after the death of...

Netflix has shared its upcoming slate of Turkish productions, including four new original series and a feature film.

The announcement was made at a preview event in Turkey by Pelin Diştaş, Director of Original Content (Turkey) who said all projects would begin production shortly and hit the streamer in 2024.

The lineup includes the new series Asaf, created and directed by Özgür Önurme, which tells the story of an ordinary Uber driver with strong moral values who tries to find a way to get his life back on track after his separation from his wife and son. One day an unfortunate accident changes Asaf’s life forever as he becomes a pawn to the wrong people. The series will be produced by Idea Film.

Director Seren Yüce and writers Deniz Karaoğlu and Doğu Yaşar Akal will bring their Bir Film-produced series, The Town, to the streamer. According to the synopsis, the...

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Netflix continues to expand its slate of Turkish originals, unveiling four new series and a new film project.

“To date, we have produced more than 30 original series and films in Turkey, making room for new and diverse stories,” said Pelin Diştaş, director of original content (Turkey) at the streamer. “We would like to thank our writers, producers, directors, actors, technical and set teams for their devoted efforts and contributions to our continued success in Turkey. Together, we tell the world the spirit, the depth, the poetry, the music and the humor of Turkish culture.”

Sharing the results of a survey conducted in seven countries, from the U.S. and Spain to Brazil and Saudi Arabia, Diştaş shared that the desire of subscribers watching Netflix productions in different countries to visit Turkey increased by 2.6 times and their desire to learn Turkish increased by 4.6 times.

At a time when global streamers have been pushing local originals overseas, Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to cease all new local fare for HBO Max in the Nordics, Central Europe, Holland and Turkey has come as a rude shock to the international industry.

Variety revealed last week that HBO Max, which began its international rollout in June 2021, is halting all development of originals in the aforementioned territories and removing some locally produced shows from the platform in order to relicense the titles elsewhere. Markets where originals have been spared are Spain and France — the latter where HBO Max has yet to launch.

The pivot, which Warner Bros. Discovery attributes to a companywide 3 billion cost-savings measure, has astonished the industry, mainly because HBO Nordic has been an entrenched and respected brand in Europe for 10 years. What’s more, recent HBO Max international hits such as “Lust” and “Kamikaze” (pictured) originated from Denmark and Sweden,...

The Turkish TV market is being shaken up by the arrival of more U.S. streaming platforms, which are driving up production costs, but also providing a new burst of opportunity for talent, content creators and producers.

Netflix, which launched in Turkey in 2016, is the country’s streaming market leader when it comes to subs — which Netflix says are over 3.5 million — and in terms of its local originals’ output.

Disney Plus, which is expected to bow this summer, is busy mounting multiple Turkish productions that are still being kept under wraps, while HBO Max just entered the market and is also active in production.

Amazon Prime Video is also expected to start churning out Turkish originals in 2023.

“Disney Plus is investing in Turkey like there is no tomorrow,” says Ahmet Ziyalar, chief of Istanbul-based sales and production company Inter Medya.

He adds that the Mouse House is “paying incredible amounts to [Turkish] talent,...

Since mid-January, Pelin Distas, Netflix’s director of original content for Turkey, has happily started going back to work in a physical office in Istanbul. It’s still just a temporary base for the streaming giant, which has plans to launch a proper Turkish outpost in the second half of 2021.

The new Netflix office “will be our commitment to the local creative industry,” Distas says, noting that it’s been “really hard” for her team to manage the 10 Turkish originals that Netflix currently has in different stages of production remotely. Opening the Netflix hub “will be really healthy [for both Netflix and Turkish producers]” as the streamer ramps up plans to “more than double down” on its Turkish output that so far has averaged four or five local shows per year, Distas notes.

But the key aspect of Netflix’s boots-on-the-ground presence in Turkey won’t just be an uptick in content.

“It’s about how...

Netflix added a load of new titles this past week, and just in case you missed some of the highlights, here’s the complete list of every fresh addition to the streaming service that arrived in the last several days. In total, there were 38 movies and TV shows dropped into to the library from Monday, November 9th to Sunday, November 15th.

Of the new films, there were a bunch of Christmas pics as Netflix has started to roll out its holiday season material. This included original production Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey and 1954’s festive classic White Christmas. Family audiences, meanwhile, have animated sequel Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 to enjoy, while horror fans may want to check out the 2008 Prom Night remake. Last but not least, action/superhero lovers can flip on V for Vendetta for an obligatory November rewatch.

Here’s everything that dropped on Netflix...