şokopop#
may 2019 – december 2022
şokopop tackles complex political and social topics in turkish history, making research and archives accessible through engaging visual storytelling. the series covered lgbtq+ history, political movements, cultural criticism, and popular culture.
read more about şokopop →
projects I was involved with#
2019#
2020#
2021#
2022#
250k youtube subscribers | 18m+ total views | viral political content shared widely across turkish social media | brand partnerships with digital platforms (mubi, blutv, gain)
my role: senior editor & researcher - end-to-end content production from research to viral distribution, archival investigation and fact-checking, interview methodology, script development, video editing and audience development.
links: youtube channel | instagram
ebru gündeş: the young princess of fantezi music march 2021 • 5 episodes • 136 minutes total • 1.93 million views
the story of singer ebru gündeş was interesting for several reasons: her name was in an international money laundering case through her sensational husband reza zarrab. she was from a working-class background, loved by millions, especially after her public brain hemorrhage on live tv, and after this marriage she was shied away from the public eye, except for 1-2 concerts a year.
...
sezen aksu vs yıldız tilbe: blood feud february 2021 • 5 episodes + 1 bonus • 130 minutes total • 4 million views
this was a passion project of mine that i dreamt of for years during my teens. for me, it was about a political and sociological story which showcased the emergence of the turkish pop music industry, the liberalization of the 1990s, and entertainment industries changed by emerging technologies and liberal laws - shown through the lives of 2 icons of turkish pop music, who were not talking to each other for years despite their intimacy and connection before.
...
new year specials 2020
these new year specials investigated the old new year celebrations in turkish tv channels. since they are so different from present day turkey, with their explicit nature and liberal atmosphere, they were quite fascinating to many people. below are the ones that i worked on.
this one investigates new year celebrations of private tv channel star tv in 1991 and its competition with state channel trt. star tv, as turkey’s first private channel, challenged trt’s broadcasting monopoly with more liberal and westernized programming that included explicit content unthinkable on state television.
...
about şokopop praised for its unique style, intensive archival research, captivating narration, and deep historical context, şokopop was founded by ekim acun in summer 2018. he was soon joined by a small collaborative team to produce content about turkish popular history and culture.
our mission the 90s and 2000s saw tremendous changes due to information technologies and the transformed economic and political landscape of turkey. sometimes going as far back as the late ottoman period, şokopop investigated these changes through popular stories and figures.
...
gain projects 2020-2021
for the newly founded digital platform gain, we did our first budgeted projects. this was a depressing time for me due to my disalignment with the platform, but they were still received well.
because it’s behind a paywall, i can’t share our several short contents that we produced for them. they were about basic, easy to digest topics such as history of some legendary songs, forgotten celebrities, one hit wonders, stolen hits etc.
...
nez: the real turkish delight march 2020 • 3 episodes (2 deleted) • (was) over 1 million
shunned by my conservative parents, nez was a huge star when i was a kid, and her relentless sexuality captured the imagination of many teens, especially her belly dancing and the shots of her butt from a music video, “sakın ha”. however, her fame only lasted a few years, and then she almost disappeared from the public eye.
...