Mert Baykal

Mert Baykal, born on November 29, 1979, is a director and one of the leading names in the Turkish cinema and TV series world. His interest in cinema developed from an early age, and he grew up surrounded by art in the family environment of his mother, theater artist Derya Baykal, and his father, businessman Levent Baykal.

Baykal, who started his cinema education at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Cinema and Television, studied there for a year and then transferred to George Mason University in the USA. Here he completed his undergraduate education in cinema and television. After returning home, he started working as an intern at Plato Film and soon started to work as a director.

Then he was promoted to second assistant and later worked as the first assistant of master director Sinan Çetin. During this period, he increased his experience by assisting other directors.

He shot his first feature film, Pardon, in 2004. This film, whose script was written by Ferhan Şensoy, represented the director's debut in cinema. In 2006, he directed the TV series Ah Polis Olsam. In 2013, he took part in the fourth season of the TV series Magnificent Century. This film of Baykal, who directed the movie Kardeşim Benim in 2015, was shown in cinemas for 28 weeks and was watched by approximately 2 million people.

In November of the same year, he directed the first two seasons of the TV series Magnificent Century Kösem. In 2017, he directed the web series Fi, adapted from Azra Kohen's novel Fi, and in the same year, he also brought the movie Kardeşim Benim 2 to the screens.

The director's work was not limited to cinema and television. In 2022, he also directed the web series Hot Kafa. His filmography includes a wide range of works produced for both cinema, television and digital platforms. It is planned to meet moviegoers with the movie Yan Yana in 2025.

Mert Baykal was born on November 29, 1979 in Istanbul. His full name is Edip Mert Baykal. His father is Levent Baykal and his mother is Derya Baykal. After studying at Bilgi University Cinema-TV Department for 1 year, he studied at George Mason University Cinema-TV Department in the USA and graduated. He stayed in the USA for 4 years.

She is the aunt of theater actress Oya İnci. She has two sisters, Neriman Derya Şensoy and Müjgan Ferhan Şensoy, from her mother's marriage to Ferhan Şensoy.

Mert Baykal has a film company called Zihin Açıklığı.

Mert Baykal married Berna Parlak on July 5, 2012. He has a son named Ali (b.2013).

Productions in which he took part

• Sorry (2005) — Male Voice 1
• The Idle Walker and His Journeyman (1995)

Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.