09.03.2025
Interview: Merdan Çaba Geçer
The idea comes first: Erdi Işık
In today's ever-evolving cultural landscape, versatility in creative disciplines is more crucial than ever. Erdi Işık, whose career spans screenwriting, playwriting, drama coordination, and production, stands out for his ability to seamlessly navigate between different genres, forms, and narrative languages. He has a career path that embraces both the narrative codes of independent cinema and the mass appeal of mainstream productions.
As a jury member for the Forum section - Screenplay Competition at the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival, we spoke with Erdi Işık about the intellectual processes behind his artistic practices, the sources that fuel his creativity, and how he balances the diverse production dynamics within the cultural industry.
Your career spans multiple fields, including screenwriting, playwriting, production, and drama coordination. How has this multidisciplinary approach shaped your professional journey? Was it a strategic choice or something that developed organically?
Although these fields may seem independent from one another, I must say they are actually complementary, beneficial, and allow me to improve myself. I have been working professionally in theater, television, and cinema for almost 9-10 years. While it can be exhausting at times, it’s also a fulfilling process. The area I focus on varies from period to period. For example, in 2024, I dedicated myself entirely to cinema, but in 2025, I plan to return to theater. As a Virgo, I tend to stick to my plans, but I also leave room for natural flow.
How do you structure your writing process from the initial idea stage to the final shooting phase? When you encounter creative burnout or the feeling of repetition, how do you practice mental or artistic “self-care”?
First and foremost, I focus on the idea. What do I want to say? What is my core concern? What do I want to discuss, reflect on, and encourage others to think about? I ask these questions to myself first and then to the work I’m writing. I don’t sit in front of the computer until the idea has fully taken shape in my mind—meaning until I have a clear beginning, development, and resolution. This period, which I call the brewing phase, can take from two to six months, sometimes even longer. Then I go to a place where I can completely isolate myself and write the first draft—for instance, I wrote my latest film, Fate (Mukadderat), at a writing retreat in Latvia. From there, the process flows naturally, evolving through revisions until it reaches its final form.
In my twenties, I focused more on playwriting, but now, at 34, my main motivation is cinema. Where this journey will take me in the future, we’ll see. I haven’t experienced burnout syndrome yet, and if I ever do, I don’t know how I’ll handle it. But one thing is certain: I will always remain curious about the fields I want to explore.
You often emphasize your theatrical background. How do you think your experience in playwriting and your close relationship with acting influence your other creative identities?
I have been involved in theater since I was 18 and even completed my PhD in the field. I wrote my first play at 25, and my greatest inspirations have always been playwrights like Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter. Two of the films I wrote (RSVP and Ten Seconds) were actually adaptations of my own plays. Even if I didn’t emphasize it, I think those who follow my work can easily sense my playwriting roots—and they often do.
The biggest influence that playwriting has had on my screenwriting is in dialogue writing. Although cinema is a visual art, I believe my skills in dialogue and spatial storytelling come entirely from my theater background. I should also mention that my education in Mechanical Engineering has provided me with an incredible sense of structural logic, which helps immensely when crafting plays and scripts.
You have worked on both independent and mainstream projects. Is it challenging to merge the aesthetic and narrative codes of independent cinema with the industrial dynamics of commercial productions? Can you share your approach to these seemingly opposing paradigms?
With my latest film, Fate, I actually blended these codes in a new way. The film resonated with both independent cinema audiences and mainstream viewers.
For me, the most important thing is storytelling. I don’t approach a project with the mindset of making it independent or mainstream. The project itself determines its own genre. My ultimate goal is to create films, plays, and series that can appeal to everyone. I firmly believe this is possible. The world is full of examples such as Alexander Payne and Martin McDonagh.
Continuing with this versatile approach, what kind of perspective do you believe a screenwriter should adopt to maintain artistic vision while meeting industry’s expectations?
They should read and watch extensively, observe, travel, engage in conversations with people from all walks of life, research, reflect, stay connected with the world, abd adapt to the times... There are certainly writers who achieve success through isolation, but I am not one of them. On the contrary, I am open to every field and every person that can nurture my creativity.
You are on the jury for the Forum section - Screenplay Competition at the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival. What is your relationship with short films like? How will you approach evaluating the selected projects among the 534 submissions?
During my university years, I was involved in short films as both an actor and producer, and I have followed the Akbank Short Film Festival for many years.
I have always believed that short films which manage to convey their message in the most concise, impactful, clear, and thought-provoking way as being one step ahead of the others.
I This will be my main evaluation approach as a jury member.