As Turkish dramas continue to strengthen their presence across international markets, MENA remains a key territory where established audience connections create opportunities for both new titles and long-term partnerships.
At DICM, the focus is on bringing stories with strong emotional foundations to regional buyers, with FERDA and the second season of Deep in Love taking centre stage.
While FERDA explores family loyalty, female solidarity and the struggle for personal freedom, Deep in Love builds on the international appeal of Turkish drama through its continuing success. Yet the opportunities in the region extend well beyond finished-content sales. Arabic adaptations, format licensing and creative partnerships are increasingly part of the conversation as buyers seek stories that can resonate with local audiences while retaining their universal appeal.
We spoke with Ekin Koyuncu Karaman, Global Distribution & Partnership Director at OGM UNIVERSE, about the regional potential of its latest productions, the changing expectations of international buyers, and the strategies shaping the company’s expansion across MENA and Africa in 2027.
What are your main objectives for DICM this year? Is your priority to reach new buyers, strengthen existing partnerships, or explore new business models in the region?
MENA is one of our key markets, and our priority at DICM is to strengthen established relationships while connecting with new partners whose programming needs suit our catalogue. These conversations increasingly extend beyond an individual acquisition to how we can work together across several titles over time.
Our main focus this year is FERDA, alongside the second season of Deep in Love. Both are produced by OGM Pictures: Deep in Love continues its record-breaking run on TRT 1, while FERDA is our new drama for Kanal D. We are also presenting our wider catalogue, including Six of Us, The Fall of the King, Lost in Love, Reborn and Broken Destiny.
Finished-content licensing remains the foundation of our business. Alongside that, we are interested in format sales, local adaptations and, where the right opportunity exists, broader creative partnerships.
Do you see FERDA’s themes as particularly appealing to MENA audiences? What kind of initial feedback have you received from buyers in the region?
We believe FERDA has strong potential in MENA because its central conflicts bring together family loyalty, love, injustice and the desire to determine one’s own future. These are themes that have helped Turkish drama build a lasting connection with audiences in the region.
Tokat gives the series a distinctive setting, but the emotional connection begins with Ferda herself. She returns to a place where everyone believes she is dead and discovers that her sisters remain trapped within the same system she escaped. Her decision to stay gives the story a purpose beyond personal revenge. Her relationship with Kahraman, a member of the family she has every reason to distrust, adds a deeply conflicted romance.
It is still early to give a definitive picture of the regional response. Our confidence in the title comes from that combination of female solidarity, family conflict and an emotionally complex love story, which we believe offers buyers a compelling proposition.
Are you seeing growing interest in stories that explore women’s roles within the family and society? How do you balance local sensitivities with universal appeal?
Female-led narratives are an important part of our conversations with international buyers. What makes them compelling is the depth of the character: her relationships, contradictions and the consequences of her choices.
Ferda’s struggle is personal, but her decision to protect her sisters gives it a wider significance. She is trying to reclaim her identity while confronting the expectations that continue to shape the lives of the women around her. Her feelings for Kahraman make that journey even more complicated, bringing love into direct conflict with distrust and family history.
From a distribution perspective, understanding each market is essential. We work closely with local partners on suitability, positioning and presentation. A culturally specific story can travel very well when its characters are portrayed with emotional honesty and audiences can understand what is at stake for them.
How does OGM UNIVERSE view Arabic adaptations and regional production partnerships? What models are you looking to explore beyond traditional licensing?
We see potential in Arabic adaptations, particularly where a story’s central relationships and emotional conflicts can take on a meaningful new life in a local setting. The right adaptation needs to feel authentic to its audience while preserving what made the original story compelling.
Our close relationship with OGM Pictures gives us a valuable connection to the creative process behind many of our titles. That understanding can contribute to discussions about which elements should remain at the heart of an adaptation and where the story can evolve.
Beyond finished-content licensing, we are open to format sales, local adaptations and selective development or co-production opportunities. We are particularly interested in partners with strong local knowledge and a clear creative vision. Any collaboration needs a shared understanding of the audience, the project and the commercial structure from the beginning.
How is the growth of digital platforms affecting your sales strategy, and are changing expectations influencing how you package international rights?
Our conversations with buyers increasingly involve flexibility around duration, rights and release windows. Long-running Turkish dramas remain valuable because they build audience loyalty through rich character development, while digital productions offer opportunities for more compact storytelling, different genres and contemporary themes.
We assess those needs title by title. There is no single preferred season length or episode format across platforms, and the right package depends on the story, the audience and how the partner intends to release it.
Linear television and streaming can also complement each other. Depending on the territory, carefully structured windows or non-exclusive agreements can extend a title’s reach and commercial life. Our role is to define rights, timing and positioning clearly so that each partner has a strong proposition for its audience while preserving the title’s value across its international journey.
What distinguishes DICM from other markets? Are there opportunities beyond MENA, and what outcomes would you like to achieve?
DICM gives us an opportunity to focus closely on regional programming needs. Being in Dubai allows us to spend time with partners discussing their audiences, schedules and acquisition priorities in greater detail. That understanding is particularly useful when deciding which titles from a broad catalogue are best suited to each buyer.
It is also a valuable meeting point for conversations extending beyond MENA, including Africa, where we already have a presence and see opportunities to develop further relationships. Our approach is specific to each territory, taking into account language, localisation and viewing habits.
By the end of DICM, we would like to have moved acquisition discussions forward, identified clear opportunities for FERDA and Deep in Love, and developed wider catalogue conversations with both existing and new partners. For potential adaptations or creative collaborations, a concrete next step with the right partner would also be a meaningful outcome.
Will your growth strategy focus on more territories or deeper partnerships? What role will MENA play in your plans for 2027?
Both are important to our growth. Our catalogue has been licensed in more than 110 countries, and we want to build on that reach through successful launches and relationships that continue across multiple projects.
In established markets, deeper partnerships allow us to understand programming needs earlier and contribute more closely to how a title is selected, positioned and introduced. At the same time, we are continuing to develop opportunities in Western Europe, Asia and Africa.
MENA will remain a key part of our plans for 2027. We want to strengthen our relationships with broadcasters and platforms, expand opportunities across the catalogue and explore adaptations where there is a strong creative and commercial fit. As an independent distribution company powered by OGM Pictures, our ambition is to connect compelling stories with partners who can help them build lasting audiences around the world.
