About

Originally from Turkey, Esra Çilingir, is a producer/director for TV with 16 years of experience. She studied Radio, Cinema and TV at Marmara University in Istanbul between 1998-2002 and started working in the media industry in Turkey even before her university graduation. She began as a production assistant in live and recorded studio music shows and talk shows and continued as director’s assistant at the Samanyolu / Everest Broadcasting Company until 2005. She soon advanced to director/producer positions where she worked on over 500 episodes of television, including lifestyle, music, talk show, documentary and competition. In 2005, she moved to the in-house drama department and worked as an assistant director on several drama series between 2005-2013. With different TV Channels in 4 countries including Germany, Azerbaijan and the USA, in 2013, Esra was offered the opportunity to work for SEBC’s new channel in Africa. Her producing journey then continued to Nairobi, Kenya where she created, developed and produced 15 different TV shows and over 300 episodes for African audiences as an executive producer in Kenya between 2013-2017. Esra is excited to combine her experience with Canadian media culture, add new skills and extend her creativity as part of the industry in Vancouver, Canada where she has been a resident since July 2017.