Türkiye emerges a ‘global film production hub’

ISTANBUL

Hosting a total of 223 foreign productions last year, Türkiye has become a preferred destination for foreign film sets, thanks to the incentives provided to global producers, the Culture and Tourism Ministry has stated.

With international shoots seeing a 46 percent increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, the crews of 16 films, 46 series, and 102 documentaries, including Hollywood productions, chose Türkiye for filming, the ministry announced in a written statement on Aug. 2.

The ministry emphasized that the "Foreign Film Production Support" introduced with the new cinema law, along with promotional activities conducted by the ministry and the country's advantages in terms of locations, lighting, and workforce, highlight Türkiye as a prime location for film production.

Türkiye, which has previously hosted productions including Oscar-winning "Argo," "James Bond," "Skyfall," "Charlie's Angels," and "Inferno," continues to host new productions.

As a result of negotiations for various projects, a large number of foreign productions are expected to be filmed in Türkiye in the coming period, the ministry stated.

Most recently, director Guy Ritchie's World War II-themed film, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” was shot in the southern province of Antalya.

A significant portion of the filming took place at a set established in Antalya’s Demre district, while the EXPO Fair Area also hosted part of the production. Approximately $15 million was spent on the film's production in the country.

“Operation Fortune” directed by Ritchie and starring Jason Statham, and “Tiger 3” starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif from Bollywood cinema are among the films recently shot in the country.

In addition to hosting foreign productions, Türkiye has also gained recognition in the industry for its domestically produced series.

In recent years, Turkish TV series have reached record sales not only in the country, but also globally, while exported series gained millions of international audiences.

Fatih Aksoy, chairman of the Entertainment and Cultural Services Committee, recently stated that Türkiye exports series to all the free TV channels in the world, as the price for an episode ranges between $300,000 to $700,000.

“There are also staggering YouTube views of our series. We post the episodes four weeks after they are aired on TV. We usually post them without subtitles as they are targeted at Turkish people abroad, but they also break viewing records in Brazil and Argentina,” he said.