ELİF DAĞDEVİREN
Columnist and producer Elif Dağdeviren is introduced to art world by Ankara. Evaluating the Turkish Movie sector over the last decade, she said “it has been a great success”, referring to such productions as Recep İvedik that had high box-office appeal as “precious” for attracting people to theaters, despite the criticism it received. The famous producer said that she believed that in the future more Turkish movies would appear on the world’s stage.
By Kemal Ali ÖNAY
You are from Ankara; let’s start with the capital.
Ankara is very dear to me, as I was born and raised there. Although it has been 20 years since I moved to Istanbul, when I am abroad and try to tell people “I’m going back to Istanbul next week”, I sometimes find myself saying “I’m going back to Ankara next week.” Firstly, Ankara meant freedom for us, although we were highly disciplined. Let me give a specific example: When we were at TED College, we were not interested in our last names, and so we had no idea who was whose son or daughter. I still think this is not significant, but I learned in Istanbul just how important it was to some. Ankara, on the other hand, taught us about good manners and politeness. In fact, we became familiar with the different cultures in different countries around the world because all the embassies are located in the city.
It is evident capital has a special meaning for you. What have been the positive impacts of Ankara on your career?
In Istanbul, many high-level managers or sector leaders in such areas as media, finance and IT have their roots in Ankara. I do not believe this is a coincidence. Behind such success stories we see the influence of Ankara as the place we grew up and developed according to our inner selves and abilities.
Being so successful in the sector, can you share pros and cons of your work?
Probably the most pleasurable thing about movies is being able to make your dreams come true. By “sending energy to the universe”, it can become real. We think about and create our own world, and so make them real. In this process, you create reality from scratch, and in any minute, one after the other, we face difficulties and problems. The duration may change depending on the scenario and the cost of production, but when we add the preparation phase, it easily averages 1–1.5 months. You need to become friends, to get close and speak the same language as the crowded team. To me, this is the worst.
Can you explain how a script is turned into an understandable scenario for the audience?
Primarily, when a good scenario meets a good producer, it is a ready to shoot scenario. Secondly, moving from the scenario to the picture is a difficult and laborious task. What the author is thinking about in the scenario, what the director envisages in the picture and what the producer brings to this cacophony, all their dreams should be mixed in the same pot. In this phase, another important issue arises with the selection of the right cast. What I mean by the right cast is a cast that will work in harmony and the strategy between them, and that has the ability to work with each other.
PLENTY OF DIRECTORS NO COSTUME DESIGNERS
The most important element in transforming a scenario into a reality working with the right teams. Unfortunately, many of those attending the movie schools in Turkey aspire to be producers; however, the sound and light technicians, costume-designers and every single person on the set is vital for the movie. Yes, nowadays there are many skilled producers in Turkey, but excellent costume designers and experienced director of photography are either non-existent or very few in number.
As a producer, what difficulties did you have to overcome until you were accepted in your line of work?
In Turkey, a producer usually thought of as a “bag of money”, but there is much more to it than that. Recently, like in Hollywood, in Turkey we have also started to differentiate between producers according to their field of specialization, i.e. implementing producer, creative producer, etc. The main producer, however, is no longer regarded as just a “bag of money”, because he or she is involved in all aspects of the movie, starting from the scenario stage to the actual filming, vision, introduction, etc. In fact, the kitchen is also under the producer’s responsibility. Young producers today are now face a more difficult uphill climb, because the sector becoming stronger, but with increased competition. In short, I would advise patience, creating new fields, establishing a good network, watching more and yet more movies, and especially “behind scenes” of such, and carefully follow the storyline and read it if available.
How do you see the women in the social and business life of Turkey, and abroad?
Unfortunately, in spite of several improvements, women must work more than men to be accepted, and should work patiently and anxiously and be prepared to overcome any obstacle. In the business world, doors open easier for men than women. For example, if a new position comes available, men are aware that they will be given priority over women. We need to crawl on our knees to get that position. But even “getting the job” is not enough; we have to be permanent in that position, and for this we need to be the best.
IN THE MOVIES WOMEN ARE ALWAYS SECOND
How do you place women in local productions?
In movies, and especially in TV, is a sector to allow more time for women on the screen. In Europe they have the Bechtel test that measures “How women are presented to the community in movies.”
- Know the identity of at least two women characters.
- Two women should be able to talk for at least 5 minutes without being interrupted by men.
- Two women should be able to talk about things other than the men they love.
We tend to think of Europe as having better women’s rights and equality between men and women, but even in Europe, only 3 percent of movies were able to pass the test. Consequently the male character is always at the forefront, while female characters either do not exist, or are not even noticed by the audience.
In Turkey for example, there are TV series in which the idea of a bigamist man is seen as normal. Although the author of such TV series are female, decisions on whether or not such series will be aired are made by males. On the other hand, the managers of the leading Turkish companies that finance such TV series through advertisements could be an unaware female manager. They spend millions on their advertising spots within such series without even looking at the story, just as long as the ratings are high enough.
Who, then, is protesting? What large company owner would say “In this series, the woman is shown as a material or is humiliated,” and so re move the company’s support. If one company or organization took the lead in this, others would follow, and we would hear and see less news of “another woman has been murdered.”
How would Elif Dağdeviren define success? Would she consider herself successful? What plans would she make for the future to continue her success, or even increase it?
Without upsetting your nearest and dearest, and without excessive working, if you are on the right track in your work and if you love what you do, to me this means you are successful. I have been a movie producer for 15 years, and it has given me the opportunity to reach vast amounts of people, to explain people’s feelings and thoughts, to make people laugh, to make people think and to see people evaluate life positively. This is why I want to produce more movies in the future.
RECEP İVEDİK IS SIGNIFICANT
Where do you place Turkish productions to date? What “do’s & don’ts” would you suggest to help Turkish productions gain more global appeal?
Ten years ago, one could not even imagine the box office takings we are seeing today for Turkish movies, and this has stimulated competition, and has resulted in better works. We also see the Recep İvedik-type movies that came under a lot of criticism, but I find such works to be very valuable due to the role they play in attracting people to the theaters. It is because of such movies that people who would not normally go to the cinema became regular movie goers. I feel rather justified in this belief, as pictures of different genres have started recording good box office figures. I envisage that we shall have more powerful and diverse productions from now on, due to the fact that producers now realize that they can make money even from these types of movies.
In the last decade, especially with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, we have seen a rise in high quality art house-type movies, with deep meaning. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s pictures are becoming well known in Turkey and abroad, and I attach extreme importance to the door that he has opened. I hope that the names of such valuable producers as Reha Erdem, Derviş Zaim and Semih Kaplanoğlu, as well as representatives of the younger generation like Kaan Müjdeci, Pelin Esmer, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, and of course Tolga Karaçelik, who received an award at the Sundance Film Festival with his movie called “Butterfly”, will make their way onto the list of the world’s most distinguished producers.
Do you have any future projects that you plan to realize in Hollywood?
We already made an experimental movie called “Living & Dying” in Hollywood. It was a B-class video-movie, but the main reason we entered that picture as co-producer was to grasp and learn the dynamics of Hollywood. This was highly beneficial. I have a project that I have been working hard on for the past 15 years, and I am hoping that it will be a great Hollywood movie. The scenario is almost completed, and it looks as if we found part of the budget. If God is with me, I will achieve my most precious ambition – to see this movie on the screen in 2019.
In the meantime, as a result of network I have developed in Los Angeles over the last decade, I believe there may be more projects in the pipeline. Particularly with the new platforms like Netflix and Amazon, films have become more producible and distributable throughout the world, and the dependency on Los Angeles for worldwide production is diminishing. The opportunity to delve into large productions is arriving through various alternative means.
PERCEPTION PROBLEM IN TURKEY
Historically speaking, Anatolia has always been a cradle of cultures. Why and where are our artists failing to gain worldwide fame?
Especially in Los Angeles, in all the meetings I attended, I say the same things: “In your scenarios, you came to us and used European stories. You came to our Eastern borders and used the stories of the East, but you have not yet discovered Anatolia. Once you do, you will have stories to last you for at least 50 years.” Now, the thing is we do not have such a perception in Turkey. Turkey cannot explain herself in many issues, and the movie sector is no different. In other words, we need a strategy as a state policy, as that would allow us to explain ourselves better. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to realize this. Numerous ministers have focused on this subject with the best intentions, but the subject gets forgotten. Either the minister changes, or the Committee dissolves or falls apart.
You launched the very first Turkish Portal on the net. How do you see social media?
The Internet is so widespread, and humanity is now advancing at such a speed that we do not know what type of technology and development we will encounter next. Social media, however, has brought us a completely different lifestyle, and it continues to change and develop. On the other hand, we face difficulties in perceiving the pros and cons of new developments. There is no point in being afraid or trying to turn the clock back, because it’s already too late. It will not be abolished, it can only develop further.
