The story of the man who founded MUBI: Who is Efe Cakarel?

The magazine, which writes that it is not yet clear whether MUBI, which was founded in 2007, will achieve this goal, points out that MUBI has a bright future with the words "but it is certain that it has taken steps in this direction by acquiring the international production and distribution company Match Factory".

Efe Çakarel is a Turkish entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MUBI. Following his graduation from the American Collegiate Institute in İzmir, Turkey, he earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to founding MUBI, he spent a number of years at Goldman Sachs in investment banking. He was part of Turkey's national math team and placed third in the European Math Olympiad. He also has two patents related to monetization of web applications.

MUBI, which acquired the broadcasting rights of more than 2 thousand films by making more than 400 deals in the last year, increased its number of employees from 90 in 2021 to over 260 and increased its subscriber number by 80 percent. Finally, let's add that he is among the co-producers of two films such as 'One Fine Morning' starring Léa Seydoux and 'Memory' starring Jessica Chastain.

Mubi's story

Do you remember 2007? In the years when digital film platforms were not a part of our lives, award ceremonies such as the Oscars were talked about for months, and everyone was trying to become a member of the cinema channels on television, in short, the film industry was very different. Imagine yourself sitting in a cafe in Tokyo during those years. Maybe you want to watch a cult Far East movie with the gas of your place. For example, In the Mood of Love is a 2000 Hong Kong movie. However, despite your efforts, you cannot find this movie on the internet. We don't know what you would do after this annoying event, but Efe Çakarel decided to establish his own streaming platform after experiencing just that. In his own words, it is a platform that aims to contribute to the cinema culture, where only good films will be published and these films will be specially selected by skilled cinema experts. This initiative, which took action in the skies of Palo Alto in the same year; today it is one of the biggest video streaming platforms today. MUBI, the hero of moviegoers, growing rapidly all over the world.

It is no coincidence that Efe Çakarel founded this platform. He is someone who grew up with a love of cinema and has always been passionate about movies. When we ask him about the source of his love, he points to his family first. "I am very lucky to have parents who value culture and art very much and enrich me from a very young age. I have been interested in films for as long as I can remember."

Efe's biggest breaking point is in the third grade of secondary school; Coincidentally, it happened when a child watched the movie Cennet Cinema (Cinema Paradiso) about his growing love for cinema. "My mother took me by the hand and took me to this movie, and nothing has been the same since that day. My love for cinema started that Saturday morning. When I saw the Chungking Express, which shook me so much, I went to America for college a few years later. It coincides with the period I went to. This film also made me meet Wong Kar Wai and started to follow world cinema with much greater attention," he tells about those times.

Efe Çakarel, whose interest in cinema continued to increase first in New York and then in London after he went to university in the USA, offers new directors and films every day, from Federico Fellini to Lucrecia Martel, from Hayao Miyazaki to Pedro Almodóvar. discovering and developing this passion.

As a busy business person today, I'm asking if you can find as much time to watch as many movies as you used to. His answer is very clear: "What do you say? Every evening! Cinema is not just my job, it's my world."

Efe Çakarel, “Did you imagine when you first founded MUBI that it would grow this much?” When I ask him, he reminds me of a quote by Aristotle Onasis, who was born in the same hospital as him in Izmir; “To be successful, you will act big, think big, and speak big,” he continues; “I didn't imagine MUBI could get this big. I dreamed that it could grow much larger. And it will grow. MUBI will be one of the biggest movie studios in the world like Paramount and MGM in 20 years. I hope we will see those days together.”