Madd Entertainment Unveils Sales, Production Pacts With Paramount, Cris Morena, The Mediapro Studio, Globo, Secuoya (EXCLUSIVE)
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Five years after the launch of sales company Madd Entertainment as a partnership between Turkish TV giants Medyapim (“Mother”) and Ay Yapim (“Endless Love”), Madd is at Mipcom not only as Turkey’s top content exporter but also as an innovative industry driver thanks to a raft of deals that take the country’s booming TV business in new directions.
The combined firepower of Medyapim that comprises several subsidiaries and partners including MF Yapim, Madd, and Mednova and has a library of more than 10,000 hours of TV content spanning from dramas and sitcoms to feature films and game shows, and Ay Yapım which produces a slew of Turkey’s most beloved dramas, accounts for over 400 hours of original programming per year.
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They have a major impact on Turkey’s linear prime time and streaming programming. But now, thanks to Madd, they are broadening their horizons.
The five pacts known to Variety see Madd Entertainment taking or sharing internal rights to three Spanish-language series, its first. That is a milestone, which takes Madd to another level where it is able to bring to the table a far broader range of longer format shows, not only to free to air broadcasters but also global SVOD platforms that are seeing huge returns, in the case of Netflix on such titles as Colombian 92-episode “Cafe con aroma de mujer.”
Turkish shows, or their remakes, are now occupying prime time berths in Spain, Argentina and Chile, held decades back by top U.S. fare, and blowing the opposition out of the waters.
At the Madd announcements, Secuoya Studios Stories’ head Eduardo Galdo praised the universality of Turkish stories: “There are so many similarities to our culture. Right now, we have other deals on the way in Latin American countries.”
On Tuesday evening at Cannes’ Mipcom trade fair, Madd looks set to announce a raft of deals which, in those known to Variety, take in Paramount Southern Cone, which includes leading broadcasters Telefe and Chilevisión, the No. 1 commercial network in Argentina and No.2 in Chile, purchased by Viacom in 2016 and by ViacomCBS in 2021, respectively.
Another deal is with L.A. and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios, producer of “Zorro,” which Mediawan premiered as a Mipcom opening series on Sunday, and The Mediapro Studio, H.Q.-ed in Madrid, whose CEO, Laura Fernández Espeso, announced start of production in November of “The Head” Season 3, set in a lawless part of the Sahara, at the climax of a Media Mastermind keynote on Tuesday.
Further deals take in Brazilian media giant, the biggest media company in Latin America and its biggest telenovela powerhouse, and Globo legendary Argentine songwriter- producer Cris Morena, behind iconic massive hits such as kids/teen targeting tiles “Chiquititas,” “Rebelde Way” and “Floricienta” which generated huge audiences in Argentina and international sales and format deals, as well as musicals, live concerts and music deals.
At the Mipcom presentation red carpet, Paramount and Madd Ent. execs talked up a new and expanded three-year volume deal between Madd and Paramount South Cone.
“We fashion these volume deals in a creative way to protect our clients. Nobody wants the negative sides of a traditional VD. Ours is a flexible and a win-win approach, designed together with our clients,” said Ateş İnce, managing director of Madd Entertainment.
This is Madd’s third volume deal in Latin America and dramatically enhances their profile in the region,” Ates told Variety.
The deal was set to be announced at the presentation by Mercedes Feu, acquisitions senior director, Southern Cone (Telefe and Chilevisión) and Özlem Özsümbül, head of sales, Madd Entertainment.
“We realized that Turkish content has a very similar flavor to Latin America. These actors look like us, the landscapes are marvellous, the topics are straight from classic telenovelas. In Europe, they never wanted to put these shows on prime time. And now?” asked Darío Turovelzky, VP, Broadcast & Studios, Paramount Global, Latin America.
“This agreement reinforces our alliance and allows us to bring more hours of high quality content to each country, but also provides us, among other things, the first option to acquire the most successful stories while maintaining the flexibility to work with our other partners in Turkey,” Feu told Variety.
Ay Yapim is co-producing a Spanish version of hit series “Brave and Beautiful” with Secuoya Studios via its new unit Secuoya Studios Stories, fruit of a new alliance inked by the partners several months ago. Nominated for an International Emmy for best telenovela in 2018, “Brave and Beautiful’s” makeover, described as a romantic, action-packed melodrama adaptation, will air in Spain through Atresmedia, while Madd Entertainment will distribute international rights.
“As for the script, after meeting with Ece Yorenç, who created the original format, a large team led from Spain by Lele Portas is working on the adaptation screenplays,” said Eduardo Galdo, head of Secuoya Studios Stories.
“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 primetime, 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.”
Medyapim and The Mediapro Studio, who created a joint venture with the aim of producing content in Spanish for the global market, have announced the co-production of a Spanish version of the classic Turkish drama “Feriha’s Secret,” revealed by The Mediapro Studio CEO Laura Fernández Espeso in her Mipcom Media Mastermind keynote on Tuesday. Madd will handle distribution in the international market.
“I hope it will be very successful both in Spain and the whole world as a Turkish original,” observed Fatih Aksoy, chairman of board at Medyapim.
“We are very happy to establish a joint venture with a leading production house, Mediapro. I hope our first production in Spain, ‘A Girl Named Feriha, will be very successful in both in Spain and the whole world as a Turkish original,” he added.
Furthermore, Madd will distribute “Margarita,” a new 40-episode family dramedy from Cris Morena, which is also a spin-off of “Floricienta,” her biggest hit.
“‘Margarita’ will hopefully inspire new generations, as we did with ‘Floricienta’ more than 15 years ago,” she said.
“It’s an honor to be Madd’s first third-party distributed series with HBO Max. Combining Madd’s strength with my uber-talented mother – with such a unique and compelling project as ‘Margarita’– it’s a dream come true!” said associate producer – and son – Tomás Yankelevich, formerly EVP and chief content officer of general entertainment for Latin America and U.S. Hispanic at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) though to this June, when he resigned.
Ay Yapim has also acquired adaptation rights for Globo’s “Brazil Avenue,” 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.
“‘Brazil Avenue’ is one of the world’s biggest telenovelas and the Ay Yapim’s version will be amazing. They have a similar storytelling style to Globo and it will be the next Turkish hit,” said İnce.
“Five years ago, Ay Yapım and Medyapım, two of the companies that made Turkish drama so popular around the world, came together to create Madd. Anyone who knows Turkish drama knows that these two companies are the best.”
Nick Vivarelli contributed to this article.
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