EMRAH YUCEL SETS HIS MIND ON GETTING TURKISH CINEMA INTO HOLLYWOOD

Today’s Zaman
o?load=detay&link=149217&bolum=112
Aug 3 2008
Turkey

Emrah Yucel’s success story begins with his decision to head for New
York after receiving an education in graphic design at the Hacettepe
and Bilkent universities, both in Ankara. Yucel, who while finishing
his doctoral degree, also put his mark on some successful projects
while working in an ad agency, realized that Ankara was not the right
place for him to make his name known. So in 1995, he decided to pack
two suitcases and head to New York City.

At the time, the Internet was just beginning to spread; the number
of Web sites dedicated to design was only three. Yucel went ahead
and set up a Web site in his own name, registering it with providers
such as AltaVista and Yahoo; he then sat back and began to wait. Two
months later, the first emails began to come in to his Web site
from his first customers. Yucel at this point did some business for
a Japanese company hoping to break into the American market as well
as a CD cover for a hip-hop group. He also designed a Broadway poster.

At the end of his third year in New York, Yucel sent samples of his
work to companies that work as headhunters for quality assistants,
asking them to help him market himself. Then, the offer he had been
waiting for came in. One of the largest ad agencies in the US, the
Seiniger Advertising Group, asked him whether he was interested in
Hollywood and offered him a job in Los Angeles at the salary he had
asked for. Yucel accepted the offer, and went on to work for the next
three-and-a-half years as a creative director at this agency.

While there, he designed posters for films such as "Vertical Limit,"
"What Women Want," "The Barber," "28 Days," "24 Hours," "Kill Bill"
and "Frida." At the same time, Yucel also designed personal Web
sites for such famous Hollywood names as Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks,
Kirk Douglas and Helen Hunt. In fact, he became so well known for
his work with film posters that people started referring to him as
"the Hollywood poster guy."

Yucel, who was in Turkey recently as the guest of BahceÅ~_ehir
University, is these days in the role of a "key man," going beyond
simply designing movie posters. Yucel, who formed the Turkish Cinema
Council, has literally set his mind on getting Turkish cinema into
the Hollywood market. At the same time, he is also preparing to start
up a far-reaching Web site that will help talented youth in Turkey
enter the sector. We spoke with Emrah Yucel about some of his projects.

Does it bother you these days that despite the fact that you are
involved in lots of different businesses in the US, you are still
widely known as "the Hollywood poster guy"?

Yes, well it sometimes appears that I don’t do anything else. People
think I am only a poster designer. We are currently running a campaign;
sometimes our ads are on DVD covers, sometimes they are on billboards
and sometimes they are in The New York Times. But I am sort of spoiled
in complaining about this. After all, I arrived at this point by way
of poster design.

You also designed posters for Turkish films. Hollywood cinema is
a producer-based sector, while Turkish cinema is more dependent on
directors. What are the differences between the two?

In Turkey, directors are unable to produce as many alternatives as
in the US because of more limited budgets. The budgets here are
one-fifth of what they are there. I am working in my own nation
because it gives me a unique sort of pleasure. But no matter where
I am, I try to do quality work.

What is the contribution made to cinema by film posters?

There are three important facts behind why people decide to see
a movie. Previews, posters and things they have heard about the
film. Many films in America open at the box office on weekends. They
try to open up on Fridays at as many cinemas as possible. That way,
even if people don’t like the film, they still make money, around
$30-40 million. In the US, films actually don’t make much money;
everyone either buys or rents DVDs, and that’s where the real money is.

Is the cost of a film poster in proportion with the film’s overall
cost?

No, the cost of a poster is basically clear before you begin. I
mean, if you’re designing something for "Spider-Man," that’s major,
but if you are putting together something for a more basic film,
it will cost far less.

What determines the style you use? The actors, the screenplay?

It’s all part of a whole. I mean, if you are designing something for
a comedy or for a horror film, the direction you are going to take
is clear. The details are determined by the strategic decisions you
then make. Of all the posters I have made for films though, there are
some that are different than the others. Those are the posters I made
for Yılmaz Erdogan — because this man is mustached. This made these
posters unique, but this difference didn’t come from me, of course.

What was your purpose in forming the Turkish Cinema Council in America?

While working on the poster for "Cold Mountain," stills from the film
began to come to us while it was still being shot. Despite the fact
that the film was entirely based on the Civil War in America, the film
was shot entirely in Romania. When I looked into it, I understood
that the Romanian government had offered a 30 percent tax break to
foreign filmmakers filming in that country. This is in fact a law
that is implemented in many countries around the world. For example,
there was one US state which saw its profits from cinema rise from
$8 million in 2005 all the way to $247 million the next year, in 2006.

If Turkey, a nation with enormous historical and geographical
possibilities, were it to get $247 million in cinema profits, giving 25
percent of this back in tax breaks, it would have no problems. This
is simply a mathematical formula. I put together a draft of this
law together with the Tax Council and we presented it to Culture
and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay. At this point, it is headed to
Parliament under the authority of the Labor General Directorate.

I met with the president of the famous American MGM
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) film company, which is planning to shoot a
film at Topkapı Palace, and Gunay said this new law would pass
before 2009. We want this film to be shot in Turkey, not in the
Czech Republic. If we miss this opportunity, as we did with "Troy,"
it will be a great loss for Turkey. A German commission is also
lending encouragement to this film. We want to see as many of the
movie’s scenes shot here as possible. As you know, Hollywood is an
important power. It would allow us to be known better across the world.

Have we missed a lot of opportunities?

Yes, of course. For example, one night I was sitting next to the
CEO of the Golden Media company and I tried to sell him the idea of
filming in Turkey. He said to me: "We thought a lot about Turkey for
‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ because there are a lot of Turkey-related
themes in the film. But because of the absence of these laws, we
decided instead to shoot in New Zealand." Whichever country makes
the best offer, that’s where the films are shot, regardless of how
far away that country may be. This was the case with "King Kong" and
"The Lord of the Rings." Everyone just loves Turkey, but they can’t
carry on business with it. We need to think more intelligently, more
strategically and then take steps accordingly. There are lots and
lots of companies that would actually like to shoot films in Ä°stanbul.

Alright, but if this new law passes, what will it bring to Turkey?

When a film is going to be made in a country, lots of people, from
cameramen to costume designers, are hired in that country. In that
way, general information about all this increases in the country,
and better-trained assistants are available. This naturally leads
to an increase in overall quality. This will all happen over time,
but I would imagine that in one year, two or three films will be
shot. This is as important as tourism. In the US, there are some
interesting statistics: When Americans come to Turkey as tourists,
it is generally for the second time, the first time having been as
passengers on cruise tours, when they just passed through. They cannot
believe what they see of Ä°stanbul, it is so dramatically different
from the images they have in their minds. On their second visits here,
they come to only stay in Ä°stanbul. They mostly still have in their
minds an image of a country where camels roam around. We need in
particular to make some investments on the Hollywood front. Here’s
what I said to one director: Had the Prophet Muhammad been alive
during this era, he definitely would have been in Hollywood because
it would have been the best place from which to make his words heard.

Do you think it is only Ä°stanbul that would be important for
Hollywood? Where else in Turkey can be marketed?

There are two dimensions here. The first is that we need to pay
Ä°stanbul its proper tribute. Ä°stanbul is an incredibly mystical
city. It has many opportunities, but requests to shoot films here
should not be interpreted like touristic requests. A filmmaker who
wanted to make a movie about the war in Iraq came to us and said,
"Can you find a place with streets that resemble Iraq’s and with
a palace like Saddam’s?" We sent him photographs of Mardin, and
of course he adored it. The very sites in eastern Anatolia which
we aren’t even aware of ourselves are perfectly tailored spots for
moviemakers. The majority of the requests we receive are for places
like deserts, lakesides or places like Cappadocia. We have already
started on projects to better introduce Ä°stanbul to Hollywood as
part of its 2010 European Capital of Culture status.

Is there no state support or larger organization behind the Turkish
Cinema Council?

This council has nothing to do with the government. We are a civil
organization. We don’t want to receive financial support from the
government. But there are people from the government on the council. I
provide the financing for this council.

Couldn’t it be the hesitation over films that would be shot to Turkey’s
disadvantage here that has held these laws back?

Of course, encouraging tax benefits would only be accepted after the
screenplay is approved. After all, when people want to make a film,
you can’t stop them. Only two or three minutes of "Midnight Express"
were filmed in Turkey. It is not easy to stop these things from
happening. For example, there is a film about a love story which takes
place in 1905 during the Ottoman era. The screenplay talks about the
so-called Armenian genocide. What do the filmmakers say? "We don’t
want to talk about genocide allegations, we want to show everything
for what it really was." We of course want for them to talk about
history accurately. In a sense, this is a bit like lobbying. If we
had dealt with the Armenian matter more sensibly in Hollywood, maybe
we wouldn’t have arrived at this point. The Americans made the film
"Ararat" about Armenian matters, but Turkey has never produced a film
about its own realities. This is our own weakness.

You are also planning on setting up a Web site for young and talented
Turkish people.

We are still in the planning stages for this. What we are planning
is a database where everyone will be able to create their own talent
profile. This will be a site where you can upload everything: from
your music, your roles, your videos, your posters to the costumes you
have designed. There will be 16 different sections and you will even
be able to post your scripts there. If we can really put together
an Internet platform like this, we will be able to reach lots of
places. We will place ads for this site in important magazines. It
will be a site that people in Hollywood can use, too. People who are
planning on shooting films in Turkey will first look there.

What is your "300 Key Men" project?

There are 300 men in Hollywood who determine where films are to be
shot. We want to work with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, inviting
groups of 60 to Turkey to spend five nights or so in great places,
holding dinners for them, to show them what a dependable and safe
country Turkey is. I am also using this organization to promote short
films about Ä°stanbul. Another project under way is to take 10-15
(Turkish) films and hold an awards ceremony in Los Angeles with an
American jury. So with this, we would see Turkish cinema crowned
in the same hotel where the Golden Globes are held. In this way,
we plan to gain some star power.

–Boundary_(ID_nWtZ654rjCKfbS3XNPu4RQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress