Mevlut Akkaya

producer

Mevlut Akkaya is an award-winning producer and director of stage and screen, and an active member of the international entertainment community for over a decade.

Since 1996, Mr. Akkaya has focused on cinema, working in various capacities for several independent films and commercials. He wrote and directed the film A JAZZ STORY, featuring jazz legend Gary Bartz. The film has been shown in many International film festivals, including Kino International Film Festival and The Oceanside Film Festival. KANAKE, shot in Germany, tackles the subject of racism, and screened in such respected festivals as The Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, AFI Film Festival, and Sedona Film Festival.

As a producer, he guided in development of the films FOLLOWING BLISS, REALITY TRAP, LAST LOOKS, and THE DOORMAN. FOLLOWING BLISS has been well received in many international film festivals. Mr. Akkaya has also produced numerous commercials for the DFA, Tulumba, and Cola Turka, the latter staring actor Chevy Chase. He has been a cultural bridge between the United States and Europe, having brought many projects from Europe to the U.S.  Mr. Akkaya was Supervising Producer for the film TOSS-UP, which won numerous international awards, and a record-setting 11 awards at the Antalya Film Festival, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script, and Best Actor. The film was also officially selected to screen at the respected Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Montreal International Film Festival, and the Kiev International Film Festival.

THE DOORMAN, which Mr. Akkaya co-produced, stars Lucas Akoskin and Peter Bogdanovich, is distributed by Gigantic Release and opened on Village East Theater in July 18th 2008. Recently, he directed and produced a documentary about American Stand-up comedy, WHEN COMEDY WENT TO SCHOOL with Jerry Lewis, Larry King, Jackie Mason, Jerry Stiller and many other well known artists. Besides producing NAKED MIND, a full-length documentary about Buddhism's impact on the West, Mr. Akkaya is currently in pre-production for two feature-length films scheduled to be shot in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010.

In addition to directing and producing, Mr. Akkaya also organizes film festivals. He has been personally responsible for the screening of more than 500 films in the United States during the past ten years. These films include some of the most internationally renowned European productions such as DISTANT (award-winner at Cannes Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, and Montpellier Film Festival 2004) and HEAD-ON (Berlin Film Festival winner of 2004). He is also involved with several film festivals as creator, adviser and jury member, including the Brazilian Film Festival, Eureka International Film Festival, and Skip City D-Cinema Film Festival in Japan.

He studied at The Anatolian University in Turkey, Dortmund University in Germany, and Brooklyn College in New York (for Motion Picture Production), where he was awarded a scholarship.