Zeynep Günay Tan

Zeynep Günay Tan (born 1975) is a Turkish director. She noticed her interest in cinema and television during her high school years. She began her theatre training in Italy but returned to Turkey without completing her education. She eventually majored in the Italian Language and Literature. She started working in television sets since her early years at the university. She worked as an assistant for Kartal Tibet, and later became an assistant director to Ziya Öztan, Ömer Kavur and Çağan Irmak. In 2005, she directed her first TV series Güz Yangını, followed by Eşref Saati in 2007. In 2009, due to her contract with a production company, she directed ten episodes of Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu. In 2010, she began directing her first long-term drama series Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman ki. The series, which lasted for three seasons, won the Best TV Series award at the 38th Golden Butterfly Awards in 2011. It also won the Best Drama Series Award at the 2nd Antalya Television Awards in the same year. After Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman ki she worked as a director in short-term productions, including Kayıp in 2013 and Benim Adım Gültepe in 2014. In 2015, she directed the first episode of Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem. In 2016, she served as a creative director in the series Arkadaşlar İyidir. Her latest work is İstanbullu Gelin, which premiered in 2017. With three seasons in total, it was a nominee for the Telenovela award at the 46th International Emmy Awards.