Ay Yapım, the Istanbul-based producer behind Kara Sevda and Yargı, has signed a development and writing agreement with Chilean screenwriter Pablo Illanes for a new original drama series.
The company is not yet revealing the title, format or target broadcast window. Under the deal, Illanes will write and develop the project as its author, working directly with Ay Yapım’s creative team and its Ibero-American division.
From exporting formats to writing from the inside
The signing extends Ay Yapım’s push into Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets. The company says it is developing original content for those territories alongside its existing catalogue of international formats. That investment became visible in February when it hired former Mega content chief Iñaki Vicente as chief content and strategy officer for Spanish and Portuguese markets.
“Our stories have been watched in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets for years, and now we want to create for those audiences from the inside,” said Kerem Çatay, founder and CEO of Ay Yapım.
For buyers, that distinction is important. A format can travel, but a local-language original is built for a specific market first and can still be remade or licensed elsewhere later. It is a deeper bet on local commissioning, not just global distribution.
Why Illanes is the face of that bet
Illanes brings a rare mix of broadcast, premium and streaming credits. He wrote Prófugos, HBO’s first original series produced in Chile, and created or wrote series including Fuera de Control, Machos, Dónde está Elisa?, Alguien te Mira and Perdona Nuestros Pecados. His streaming work includes Fake Profile for Netflix, and he is due to deliver the fourth season of La Reina del Sur for Telemundo and Netflix in 2027. He has also published six novels.
That CV spans Chile’s traditional broadcasters Canal 13, TVN and Mega, as well as HBO, Paramount, Telemundo and Netflix. It is the kind of profile a global producer needs when it wants to sell into both open TV and streamers across Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Vicente, now Ay Yapım’s content chief for those markets, framed the deal as a way to combine local insight with global production discipline. “Partnerships like this one combine the best of both sides to develop content with real emotional connection and the ability to travel,” he said. Illanes called it “a beautiful challenge.”
What to watch next
- Ay Yapım is moving beyond Turkish-format exports into original Spanish- and Portuguese-language development.
- The undisclosed title and window make this a talent signal, not a schedule commitment yet.
- Illanes’ streamer credits position the project for both broadcast and global platform sales.
Ay Yapım’s catalogue already includes Kara Sevda (Endless Love), Yargı (Family Secrets), Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), Kuzey Güney, Medcezir, Fatmagül, Çukur and Cesur ve Güzel (Brave & Beautiful). The company won the International Emmy Award for best telenovela with Kara Sevda in 2017 and again with Yargı in 2023.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the practical move is to track how Ay Yapım packages this first Ibero-American original. If it lands a strong local broadcaster and a global streamer, it will be a useful test of whether star local writers can speed up a producer’s entry into new language markets.
Source: C21media
