Notizie

Turkish TV dramas continue to make inroads around the world, primarily in linear and pay-tv slots congenial to these sophisticated soaps, which are generally sold in packages of 100 commercial hours per show. But bolder new titles in six-10 episode formats are increasingly being made for streaming platform play.

“The market is hot: we are producing like crazy despite the pandemic,” says Ahmet Ziyalar, chief of Istanbul-based sales and production company Inter Medya, who notes “it’s really hard to find available talents.”

Prices for Turkish product dropped some in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, he points out, “because traditional broadcasters lost their advertising revenues.”

But ad intake is now starting to pick up. “We are signing more contracts,” says Ziyalar, who adds that due to lower prices “his revenues are the same” as before the coronavirus crisis.

Inter Medya’s top-selling shows include global hit “The Ambassador’s Daughter,” centering...

When straight-a student Jacob (Antoine L’Ecuyer) starts hearing voices and howling wolves in his head, he blames it on a bad trip. However, he and his family are quickly forced to accept a diagnosis of schizophrenia, an uncertain future.

“Mon Fils” (“Son of Mine”), one of the shows on display in the Series Market Selects section of the Berlinale this week, puts schizophrenia and mental illness front and center. The Quebecois mini-series was co-created by Anne Boyer and Michel D’Astous and first season aired its six episodes almost a year ago in Canada. Its producers are now hoping to drum up interest in the international sales department.

Variety spoke with Boyer via Zoom about the research she carried out and the families she spoke to in order to achieve an honest portrayal of what it’s like to be schizophrenic.

What does it mean for the series to be screening at Berlin?...