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Supply Chains

In a new development for global content, Fremantle’s highly acclaimed drama series, My Brilliant Friend, is set to be adapted for Turkish audiences. This marks the first-ever scripted format adaptation of the series, which is based on Elena Ferrante’s popular Neapolitan novels. The production, a partnership between Fremantle and OGM Pictures, is scheduled to begin later this year, signaling a strategic move to localize successful international formats for new markets.

The collaboration brings together notable figures from both companies. Amac Us, Senior Vice President Distribution for the Middle East, Africa, and South Eastern Europe at Fremantle, has voiced confidence in OGM Pictures’ ability to produce content that resonates locally. Onur Güvenatam, the Founder of OGM Pictures, expressed that adapting Ferrante’s work is both an honor and a responsibility. The original HBO-RAI series was created by Saverio Costanzo and produced by Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment, Wildside, and Domenico Procacci for Fandango, in collaboration with RAI Fiction and HBO Entertainment.

An analysis of Fremantle’s production projects in 2025 reveals a balanced and diversified content strategy. The company’s portfolio is evenly split between scripted and unscripted content, each making up 50% of its total output. Television series dominate the content types, accounting for over half of all projects at 53%. The remaining slate is comprised of movies (22%) and book adaptations (25%), underscoring a commitment to source material from various media.

The data also provides insight into Fremantle’s partnerships as a studio producing for a range of buyers. The distribution of these projects shows a concentration with major US broadcasters and OTT platforms, including The CW and Bell Media, each with 7 projects. Other key partners include ABC with 3 projects, and Prime Video, Netflix, and TVI each with 2 projects. Additional partnerships include M6, Paramount+, Channel 5, and CTV, each working with the studio on one project. 

OGM Pictures has established a strong presence in the Turkish content market, notably as the studio behind the hit series Golden Boy. The show’s success led to its acquisition by multiple players, demonstrating the studio’s ability to create content with significant local and international appeal. Their extensive work in 2024 was primarily with Star TV, followed by collaborations with Netflix and Prime Video for Turkish productions.

Building on this momentum, OGM Pictures has several new projects underway for 2025, which underscores its active role in the industry. The studio is producing the drama series Çarpıntı for Star TV, and is also developing  A.B.I. and creating TV Series “Impossible “ which is a book adaptation based on Otasılıksız. Additionally, OGM Pictures has entered into a production deal with FARO Yapım for the project Halef.

The landscape of content adaptation is seeing a shift, particularly within the scripted segment. A trend analysis of scripted adaptations from 2021 to July 2025 shows a year-over-year decline. This trend may reflect the considerable challenge in translating scripted narratives across cultures. Unlike unscripted formats, replicating the context and cultural sensibilities of a scripted story is a more complex undertaking, requiring greater and more careful consideration.

The global journey of the American series The Good Wife serves as a case study in this challenge. The series has been adapted for audiences in various countries, including Russia, South Korea, India, Japan, Vietnam, and China. While these projects showcase the international appeal of the original concept, the varying outcomes underscore the difficulty of replicating success. The cancellation of the Irish adaptation, for example, highlights the risks involved in ensuring that a scripted narrative resonates with a new audience.

Fremantle’s collaboration with OGM Pictures on the Turkish adaptation of My Brilliant Friend serves as a critical test for the international content supply chain. This partnership, which relies on a local studio to manage the complexities of cultural and contextual adaptation, puts a key model for mitigating risk to the test. The success of this endeavor would not only validate the upstream creative and production supply chain in Turkey but could also forge new downstream distribution pipelines.

However, the track record of scripted format adaptations, as highlighted by the declining trend and varied outcomes of series like The Good Wife, suggests that success is far from guaranteed. For Vitrina’s members, this development is a high-stakes experiment to watch. Will this collaboration set a new precedent for mitigating the risks in scripted formats, or will it instead underscore the persistent challenge of translating complex cultural narratives?