Umut Aral (born 26 June 1976) is a Turkish film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Original The Protector.,

Love 101 ''Love 101'' is a 2000 comedy film that was directed by Adrian Fulle. The movie first released to theaters on February 14, 2000 and stars Michael Muhney and Jeff Anderson as two college students that find their friendship threatened by the int ...

and his feature debut on esports 'Good Game: The Beginning'.

Early life

Umut Aral was raised in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He attended

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and studied management at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and two ...

. He began making filmmaking at a young age. Started shooting short films at the age of thirteen. He can speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, French and Turkish.

Career

He is an established director in the commercial world, directed 300+ TV commercials, working for clients such as

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarter ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

Nivea Nivea (, stylized as NIVEA) is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG. The company was founded on 28 March 1882, by Paul Carl Beiersdorf. In 1890, it ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...

, Nestle

Nutricia Nutricia is a Danone brand that specialises in therapeutic food and infant formula, including medical nutrition for babies with specific needs. The former company, N.V. Nutricia., was established in The Netherlands by brothers Jan and Martinus va ...

and

QMobile QMobile (Urdu:) is a Pakistani consumer electronics marketing company which markets smartphones in Pakistan. It is one of the largest smartphone marketing brand in Pakistan with an estimate of one million mobile phones sold monthly. QMobile Phone' ...

. In 2017 Aral directed a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typ ...

for

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

Museum. and also one episode of Turkish streaming platform BluTV original

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...

7 Faces which is currently streaming on

SBS Australia The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

and HBOMax Latam. In 2018, Aral directed the first Turkish language Netflix Series The Protector starring

Çağatay Ulusoy Çağatay Ulusoy (; born 23 September 1990) is a Turkish actor and model who started his acting career in the TV series ''Adını Feriha Koydum'' (2011–2012) as Emir Sarrafoğlu. Since then, he has had further lead roles in '' Medcezir'' (201 ...

, Ayca Aysin Turan, Hazar Erguclu and Okan Yalıbık for 4 consecutive seasons. The Protector became the 6th of most watched ‘Non- English TV shows’ in UK and 10th in US. The same year he also directed the first licensed esports

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Good Game: The Beginning starring

Mert Yazıcıoğlu Mert Yazıcıoğlu (born 10 May 1993) is a Turkish actor. Early life Mert Yazıcıoğlu was born on 10 May 1993 in Istanbul. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education in Istanbul, he enrolled in the Management Departmen ...

, Afra Saraçoğlu and

Kerem Bürsin Kerem Bürsin (born 4 June 1987) is a Turkish actor, known for his role in the TV shows ''Güneşi Beklerken'' (2013−2014), ''Şeref Meselesi'' (2014−2015) and '' Sen Çal Kapımı'' (2020–2021). Life and career Bürsin has lived in numer ...

. In 2020, Aral directed 4 episodes for the second and final season of Netflix Original

a Turkish teen comedy-drama, starring

, Kubilay Aka, Alina Boz,

Selahattin Paşalı Selahattin Paşalı (born 2 February 1990) is a Turkish actor. Life and career Paşalı was born on 2 February 1990 in Bodrum. He joined Darüşşafaka Sports Club at the age of 14 and served as a team captain during his time there. He comple ...

İpek Filiz Yazıcı İpek Filiz Yazıcı (born 19 April 2001) is a Turkish actress. Life and career Her family is from Of, Trabzon. She had her television debut in 2016 with the series ''Babam ve Ailesi''. In 2017, she was cast in Fox TV series ''Kayıtdışı'' ...

Pınar Deniz Pınar Deniz (born November 4, 1993) is a Turkish actress. She is best known for her roles in ''Wounded Love'' (2016–2018), ''Love 101'' (2020–2021) and ''Family Secrets'' (2021–present). Deniz earned a Turkish Film Critics Association ...

Kaan Urgancıoğlu Kaan Urgancıoğlu (born 8 May 1981) is a Turkish actor. Life and career Kaan Urgancioglu was born on 8 May 1981 in İzmir, Turkey. On his father's side he is of Turkish descent and on his mother's side he is of Albanian and Syrian descent. He ...

and

Ece Yüksel Ece Yüksel (born 6 October 1997) is a Turkish actress best known for her roles in the movie '' Kız Kardeşler'' (2019) and the Netflix original series ''Aşk 101'' (2021). Life and career Yüksel was born in 1997 in Istanbul. She had a degre ...

. In 2022, he directed 4 episodes for Yakamoz S-245, the

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of Belgian apocalyptic

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

Into The Night starring Kivanc Tatlitug, Ozge Ozpirincci and Ertan Saban. Yakamoz S-245 has been watched 22 million hours in four days following its global launch on

. The series was reported to be the third most watched

non-English English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the i ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

on Netflix. He has been a speaker and educator, invited as a guest speaker to global organizations like YPO and by universities to run workshops on filmmaking. Umut Aral is also The Chairman of Board of Members of Mithat Alam Education Foundation and Mithat Alam Film Center - the 'cinematheque', a prestigious cultural center in Istanbul.

Filmography

Awards

Good Game: The Beginning (2018)

Awards include Best Feature Film Award in Beirut International Children & Family Film Festival, Special Jury Remi Award (Family /Children Section) in

WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind ...

, Young Audience Award (Teen Arena) in Sarajevo International Film Festival, Award of Excellence Special Mention (Children / Family Programming) in Accolade Global Film Competition.

Crash (2006)

Awards include Best Director Award in L'Isola del Cinema Festival Del Corto, Global Audience Award in CON-CAN Movie Festival, Best Foreign Film Award in Action/Cut Short Film Competition, Best Fiction & Special Audience Awards in Boston Turkish Film Festival, Best Film Award in Metro Group National Short Film Competition, Best Film Golden Cat Award in Izmir International Short Film Festival, Jury Special Award in !f Istanbul AFM International Independent Film Festival and official selections in

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

Drama International Short Film Festival Drama International Short Film Festival is Greece's leading short film festival, and the annual meeting place for filmmakers and industry professionals. Based in Drama, Greece the festival runs a six-day schedule in September and its main venues ...

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

thirtyfour (2000)

Awards include Best Short Film Award in İFSAK Short Film Festival, Best Short Film Award in

Cine5 Cine5 was the first subscription-based television channel in Turkey. It aired in an encrypted format and primarily broadcast feature-length movies when it was founded on September 20, 1993. Subscribers were required to buy a decoder to watch the c ...

National Short Film Competition and Best Short Film Award in

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...

Short Film Competition.

External links

Official website
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umut Aral Turkish film directors