CANNES, FRANCE – October 14th, 2019 - Marking their fifth deal together, Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV), the leading commercial broadcaster network and production powerhouse in Japan, announced today that MF Yapim, one of the leading production companies in Turkey, has acquired the scripted format rights to its leading one-hour drama series Abandoned. The company will be remaking the series in Turkish. This deal follows the four prior announcements between the companies including the Turkish remakes of Nippon TV’s scripted formats Mother(Anne in Turkey) which airs in almost 40 countries around the world, Woman – My Life for My Children – (Kadin in Turkey) which airs in over 30 countries globally, and My Son (Turkish title TBD) and OASIS – a love story –(Turkish title TBD). The announcement was made jointly today by Mr. Atsushi Sogo, President of International Business Development for Nippon TV, and Mr. Faruk Bayhan, CEO of MF Yapim.
This new deal marks the second format deal for Abandoned which was previously sold to JSLGlobal Media in Thailand. The touching series featuring innocent small children abandoned by their parents streamed on LINE TV across Thai from May 2019, receiving tremendous acclaim especially from the young demographic and creating immense feedback on social media. The Thai adaptation recently won the award for “Best Drama for Family and Society” at Thai’s prestigious Maya Awards 2019.
“We are delighted to be working once again with Mr. Bayhan and his amazing team. The success they have achieved in Turkey with the previously announced scripted formats has been nothing short of extraordinary as evidenced by Woman – My Life for My Children – (Kadin) kicking off its highly anticipated third season on FOX Turkey this month, winning against all other stations and receiving top ratings in all categories on the season premier. This groundbreaking achievement of a third season is a first for a Japanese series,” commented Mr. Sogo. “Abandoned is an amazing script that has garnered rave reviews in Japan, as well as in the Asian countries that have aired the original versions. With MF Yapim’s keen eye for great scripts, they have swiftly noticed our latest format and I have no doubt that they will achieve a similar if not greater level of success in Turkey and the various countries that will air their Turkish versions,” added Mr. Sogo.
“Since the beginning of our cooperation with Nippon TV for over 3 years, we have achieved very successful results from the productions that we adapted from Nippon TV’s outstanding drama formats,” commented Mr. Bayhan. “Our adaptations which have been produced with the collaboration between MF Yapim and our partner Medyapim, have received significant appeal not only in Turkey but also in many other countries where they have been sold. We are hoping and aiming to reach the same success too-if not better- with Abandoned. We believe such fruitful and harmonious cooperation with Nippon TV has the potential to evolve in different areas as well. The continuation of this cooperation between Nippon TV, MF Yapim and Medyapim for many years to come is my biggest wish,” added Mr. Bayhan.
Abandoned is a touching drama seen through the eyes of children facing the harsh reality of life in an orphanage. While facing many challenges, these young children long to be adopted. Only after agreeing to become a member of a new family, the orphans learn of their past given names. Are innocence and happiness lost forever when abandoned, or will these children ultimately find their place in the world? This series will take the viewers into the hearts of children while displaying what it means for them to love and be loved. http://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2014/01/abandoned.html
ABOUT MF YAPIM
Founded in 2012 by the partnership of Faruk Bayhan who is experienced for over 40 years in Turkish media industry and MEDYAPIM which is one of the leading production companies in Turkish television sector.
MF YAPIM is very successful in format adaptations as well as original productions and adapted many formats from South Korea, Italy and Japan so far. For that matter it is the first production company adapting the Korean drama formats in Turkey.
While producing many programmes to various tv channels since its start, MF YAPIM co-produce some of the projects together with MEDYAPIM as well. In such co-productions, apart from the synergy of the joint forces of MF YAPIM and MEDYAPIM, the mentality and the working principles of Faruk Bayhan and Fatih Aksoy who are in the television sector for many years manifest themselves. Trying to pick the plots different then the ones that are produced in Turkey so far, MF YAPIM continues its investments on the future projects together with MEDYAPIM.
ABOUT NIPPON TV
Nippon TV is Japan's viewer ratings champion, topping all timeslot categories for five consecutive years and garnering the largest profits in the country's broadcasting industry. One of the biggest successes for the nation's finest producer of all genres of programming is Dragons' Den, a globally successful business show format that has more than 35 versions in territories across all continents of the world. The Emmy Award-winning version, Shark Tank, airs in the US. Following closely are the successes of scripted formats Mother and Woman -My Life for My Children-, whose Turkish versions have become mega-hits that have gone on to sell in nearly 40 territories around the world. As formats, Mother has also been sold to South Korea, Ukraine, and France, while Woman has likewise been acquired in France. With well-established businesses that span VOD / live-streaming engineering, animation, movies, events, fitness clubs, eSports, android creation, and digital mixed reality, Nippon TV is leveraging its coveted platform to revolutionize digital media in an ever-changing industry. Launching a channel in Southeast Asia named GEM through a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television Networks and leading the Japanese digital content market through its subsidiary Hulu Japan, Nippon TV is steadily solidifying its presence and brand as a global media powerhouse.
