Umut Aral is a multi-screen storyteller and International Emmy Award winning director from Istanbul, based in London. Globally experienced and multilingual, Aral has directed large-scale productions across US, Europe and Asia, leading multinational teams.
In 2025, Aral’s latest television series Deha (The Good & The Bad) won the International Emmy Award for Best Telenovela and the Best Series Award at the Seoul International Drama Awards. The series delivered the strongest debut of the season and ranked among the top five shows with the highest rating growth in its second episode.
In the same year, Aral was honored with the Best Director Award at the Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival in Italy for his eSports feature film Good Game: The Beginning, which has won 12 international awards to date and screened at prestigious international film festivals such as Sarajevo Film Festival.
Between 2018 and 2023, Aral directed four Netflix Originals streamed in 190 countries, including:
Who Were We Running From? — a psychological thriller adapted from Perihan Mağden’s novel, ranked #1 in Non-English TV Shows, #3 in the US, and #4 in the UK, viewed for over 93 million hours globally.
The Protector — Netflix’s first Turkish original series, where Aral served as lead director across four seasons (13 episodes), ranking #6 in the UK and #10 in the US.
Yakamoz S-245 — the spin-off of Netflix’s Into the Night, in Top Ten lists across 63 countries.
Love 101 — a youth dramedy that entered the Top Ten in over 15 countries.
In 2024, he produced and directed the feature-length sports documentary Arda Turan: Confrontation for Amazon Prime, featuring leading international football superstars from Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Recently, Aral directed four episodes of Karantina, an international English and Arabic language crime drama series produced by MBC and the Asacha Group and shot in Athens and Beirut, reflecting his signature ability to lead large-scale, multinational productions and cross-cultural storytelling.
Aral has also directed, produced, and written two award-winning short films, Crash and Thirtyfour, both screened at leading international film festivals.
Additionally, Aral has directed 300+ TV commercials, establishing himself as a leading director in the commercial space. His work has won numerous awards and been screened internationally for global brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mercedes-Benz, Vodafone, Nestlé, and McDonald’s, among others.
A passionate speaker and educator, Aral has been invited to lead filmmaking workshops for YPO and universities around the world. He also serves as Chairman of the Board at the Mithat Alam Education Foundation and Film Center, one of Istanbul’s most prestigious cultural institutions, which has hosted icons such as Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Connery, and Gus Van Sant.