Five years after its establishment, MADD Entertainment, the sales company founded in partnership with Turkish TV giants Medyapım and Ay Yapım, took the stage at MIPCOM not only as Turkey’s largest content exporter, but also as a signatory to a series of deals that are taking the country’s burgeoning TV industry in new directions.
MADD Entertainment, has scored a host of new content deals and partnerships with Paramount, Secuoya Studios, Cris Morena, Globo and Meldiapro Studio.
Three Year Deal: Paramount’s Telefe and Chilevision
The company signed a new three-year deal with Paramount-owned Telefe and Chilevisión, marking its third volume deal in Latin America. According to the agreement, Telefe and Chilevisión will buy Turkish films produced by Ay Yapım and Medyapım for three years.
Managing Director of company Ateş İnce said: “Paramount is a huge player in Latin America, and they’re a big part of MADD’s success. We have been working very intensely with Telefe ever since MADD was established, and that relationship has flourished over the past five years. The addition of Chilevisión to the Paramount banner makes this an even bigger deal.”
The agreement was announced in a presentation by Mercedes Feu, senior director of acquisitions at Southern Cone (Telefe and Chilevisión) and Özlem Özsümbül, sales manager at MADD Entertainment.
Secuoya Studios Partnership
In another deal, Secuoya Studios Stories and Ay Yapım will co-produce an adaptation of Brave and Beautiful, which was nominated for an International Emmy for best telenovela in 2018. The adaptation will be the first project from the Secuoya Studios Stories division, a new entrant to the team. Brave and Beautiful makeover, described as a romantic, action-packed melodrama adaptation, will air in Spain through Atresmedia, while MADD Entertainment will distribute international rights.
“The main idea behind this partnership is to bring long-running dramas back to Spanish primetime,” admitted Kerem Çatay, Ay Yapim’s CEO. “Turkish dramas have proven themselves in prime time, to the point where Atresmedia is running them three evenings a week. Our series work in Spain, so an adaptation like this only makes sense.”
HBO Max’s ‘Margarita’
MADD also acquired HBO Max’s upcoming series Margarita, a spin-off of Floricienta, from Argentinean producer Cris Morena. It will distribute the 40-episode dramedy to the international market.
Cris Morena said: “I’m thrilled to introduce Margarita, our new family dramedy, through MADD, our worldwide distribution partner. Margarita will hopefully inspire new generations as we did with Floricienta more than 15 years ago.”
Globo: ‘Brazil Avenue’
In another agreement, MADD Entertainment will distribute the international adaptation of the Brazilian telenovela Brazil Avenue. Globo sold the format to Ay Yapım for the first adaptation. Brazil Avenue is known as a jewel in Globo’s crown which ranks as its biggest telenovela hit in recent years. This will be the first international adaptation of the Emmy-nominated drama. MADD will be distributing globally.
Ateş İnce said: “MADD already has a proven track of powerful titles that drive audiences to all screens. And now, with the Turkish adaptation of Avenida Brasil, we will have more to offer. It will bring much excitement to the market. Being part of such a big partnership between Globo and Ay Yapım is also a privilege for us.”
Mediapro Studio: ‘The Girl Named Feriha’
In addition, Medyapım and The Mediapro Studio, which have formed a joint venture to produce Spanish-language content for the global market, announced the co-production of a Spanish-language version of the classic Turkish drama The Girl Named Feriha. The announcement, made by Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of The Mediapro Studio, at the MIPCOM Media Mastermind keynote on Tuesday, also revealed that MADD will distribute the series in the international market.
New Horizons…
Comprised of various subsidiaries and partners such as MF Yapım, MADD and Mednova, Medyapım has a library of over 10,000 hours of TV content ranging from TV series to sitcoms, feature films to game shows, and Ay Yapım produces some of Turkey’s most popular TV series. These two companies, which have had a major impact on Turkey’s linear prime time and streaming programs, are now opening new horizons with MADD.
Variety described MADD Entertainment’s first-ever acquisition of domestic rights to three Spanish-language series as a “milestone” and said the company’s deals put it in another league where it can offer a much wider range of long-form series to global SVOD platforms.
