Yahoo Sports Peter Chernin’s North Road Company Makes First Major International Acquisition With Turkish Film & TV Firm Karga Seven
EXCLUSIVE: Peter Chernin’s North Road Company has completed its first major international acquisition, Karga Seven Pictures, one of Turkey’s leading film and TV producers.
Istanbul and LA-based Karga Seven is best known for English-language period piece Rise of Empires: Ottoman and Turkish-language time travel drama Midnight at the Pera Palace, both of which were made for Netflix and reached number one in Turkey and charted on the streamer’s Global Top 10. The company also produces hit Turkish dramas such as Hekimoglu, adapted from the U.S. series House.
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Financials were not disclosed.
Karga Seven received majority investment from Red Arrow back in 2015. North Road acquired Red Arrow’s U.S. assets last year in a deal pegged around $200M. This is a separate deal, which marks North Road’s biggest overseas investment yet.
Karga Seven’s founders, Emmy-nominated producers Sarah Wetherbee, Emre Sahin, and Kelly McPherson, will remain in leadership roles. Wetherbee and Sahin will serve as Global Co-CEOs with McPherson as Head of English-Language Content, alongside industry veteran and newly hired Ömer Müjdat Özgüner serving as Turkey CEO.
According to Chernin, the plan is for the Karga Seven leadership team to be supported with North Road’s resources and infrastructure to continue to grow the company.
Sahin and Wetherbee will report into North Road President Jan Frouman, who led the deal for North Road.
Karga Seven initially made its mark via factual content in the U.S. before switching focus to scripted film and TV. Upcoming titles include a Morocco-based docu-drama for Netflix, currently in post-production, and a drama for Hulu based on a controversial New York Times article about mind control. The company is helped by the fertile ground at home: Turkey has become one of the international sector’s biggest content producers and exporters.
Stated Chernin: “Given its sheer volume of globally relevant and high-quality content, Turkey is a perfect fit with North Road’s broader international strategy, and the addition Karga 7 to our studio is a significant accomplishment. In a short time, Sarah, Emre and Kelly have established Karga 7 as the most compelling premium player in the region, and Jan, the team and I are incredibly excited about our partnership and collective plans to aggressively expand the business.”
Stated Sahin: “Producing both in Turkey and internationally, our passion has always been finding ways to bridge our two worlds. From the types of stories we are drawn to, to discovering new regional talent with a fresh POV, to creating a global creative hub in the region, there is and always has been incredible potential in Turkey. We couldn’t be happier to join the North Road team and work with Peter, Jan and their impressive group. They instantly recognized the vision and saw the potential of this partnership. With their support and global expertise, we are beyond excited to embark on this next chapter together.”
North Road’s London-based international unit is led by Frouman and President of International Film & TV Kristin Jones. The portfolio includes Chernin Entertainment, producer of Ford Vs Ferrari, Hidden Figures and New Girl; unscripted group Red Arrow Studios, known for Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum; and nonfiction division led by Words + Pictures. North Road’s recent releases include Netflix’s Luther, starring Idris Elba, and the final season of Apple TV+’s Truth be Told, starring Octavia Spencer.
Chernin was President and COO of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Chairman and CEO of the Fox Group between 1996 and 2009. Last year, his new studio North Road was believed to have a valuation north of $1BN. The firm has dozens of productions in development.
In March of this year, the company struck its first international co-production deal, backing Euphoria creator Ron Leshem’s latest drama Bad Boy, which Leshem described as “the next Euphoria.” North Road joined with Israeli producer Sipur to co-finance the crime drama alongside original Euphoria backers Hot and Tedy Productions. Leshem is creating with Bosch director Hagar Ben-Asher.
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