Turkey´s movie industry seeks firm foothold

Turkey’s rapidly growing movie sector should be considered as a “strategic industry” in economic and socio-cultural aspects, according to a survey released Friday.

Academics from Istanbul’s Galatasaray University revealed the survey, funded by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, at a press conference. The event on the “Position and Targets of the Turkish Movie Industry” report was also attended by Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.

Turkey’s movie industry has a tumultuous past, which includes its highly political period in the early 1970s, the “sex movie craze” in the late 1970s, a period of decline in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup and an ongoing revival that started in the mid-1990s. Figures show that as of the second half of the 2000s, the domestic industry has reached a level that can compete with Hollywood movies.

“Domestic movie production has accelerated considerably in the past few years,” Günay said. “I believe that the sector has entered a phase of maturity. It is now time to open up to the whole world. As the minister, I believe that this industry provides a great opportunity in promoting the country to the world.”

Günay said a 2005 law that regulates government support to the industry has “increased the importance attached to the movie industry.”

Boom in movie going

While only 75 domestic films were featured in Turkish theaters between 2000 and 2005, this figure increased to 287 between 2005 and 2010. The spread of shopping centers across Turkey is also seen as a factor in the rise in interest toward movies.

“Different institutions of the industry should come together in an intellectual and physical union. I strongly support the establishment of a Turkish Cinema Institution. This should be an autonomous body in which the ministry would also be represented,” Günay said.

According to the study, the industry earned 380.8 million Turkish Liras from ticket revenue in 2010, which encouraged both investors and producers. Meanwhile, Turkish soap operas extended their reach to the Balkans and Middle East countries. A total of 58 TV series have been exported since 2001.

An increasing number of Turkish films collecting awards in international festivals also plays a great role in promoting Turkey, according to Günay.

However, the survey also took note of long working hours in the production of TV series, which has prompted protests from actors and writers. Two TV watchers out of every three say they find the duration of soap operas too long, according to the survey. “We all know that the reason is TV ads,” said Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, the Galatasaray University academic who conducted the research. “However, I have bad news for advertisers. Our survey shows that 63 percent of people do not watch TV ads.”

The survey was conducted with 2,000 people in 12 city centers.

Source: here

Turkish movie industry one of few in the World, which can compete with Hollywood. Such that number of domestic movie goers are more than those who prefer Hollywood movies despite the fact that number of Hollywood produced movies being shown in movie theaters are much more in number compared to those produced domestically.