Check Out Deniz Bulat’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deniz Bulat.

Hi Deniz, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out thinking of myself mainly as an actor. I was a highly imaginative child; as an only child, when I look back at my childhood now, I realize I was always creating little universes in my head and getting lost in them. My parents supported my love for theatre after a chance encounter on stage as part of a national holiday ceremony at school. All of this eventually led me to follow my dream of studying Drama at NYU Tisch. Being in that environment, I began to realize that what interested me wasn’t only performing, but also how projects are shaped behind the scenes.
While I was in New York, I gradually started branching out into production alongside acting. I worked with Et Alia Theater both as a performer and a theatre producer, which was one of the first spaces where I experienced that overlap in a meaningful way. At the same time, I worked as a production coordinator at Stonestreet Studios and acted in short films such as Angel and Enough About Love. Being on set in different roles helped me understand storytelling from multiple perspectives. My growth and newly gained experience on the technical and production side also contributed to my development as an actor.
After returning to Turkey, I continued developing this dual path. I acted in the feature film Öte while also working as its production manager, performed the one-woman play Tangled, and produced short films including Yarım, as well as production-managing another short film, Jump (Dir. Eda Çarıkçı). More recently, I’ve been working as an assistant director in theatre and as a project manager for an animated short film.
Today, I strive to prioritize acting while still maintaining an active role behind the scenes. Looking back, my path hasn’t been linear, but moving between acting and production has become central to how I work and the kinds of projects I want to be part of.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I try to be appreciative of the road and where it’s taking me, but of course it hasn’t been completely smooth. A big part of my journey has involved several major moves between different countries and cities, and that alone comes with its own challenges. Every move meant starting again — building a new community, finding people I could trust, and learning how each local industry actually works from the inside.
New York, where I was educated, and Turkey, where I’m from and work now, have very different rhythms, expectations, and working cultures. What’s considered “normal” in one place can be completely different in another, so there was a constant process of adaptation — not just professionally, but personally. I had to learn new standards, new ways of communicating, and new systems, while also trying to stay grounded in who I was and what kind of work I wanted to do.
The hardest part wasn’t the work itself, but finding people and slowly building a community I could genuinely trust. At the same time, those transitions taught me patience and shaped how I approach collaboration today.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve always been someone who likes to stay open to new things. Lately, that’s meant moving between acting, production, and writing: I’ve started developing a film script, I’m educating myself in animation to be more involved in the production of an animated short, and I’ve been returning to theatre both on stage and behind the scenes while stage managing a comedy play. At the same time, I continue taking advanced acting classes to stay connected with my work while waiting for new projects.
For a long time, I felt the pressure to choose a single path, but I’ve gradually become more comfortable embracing a multi-hyphenate way of working. Being involved in different parts of the process actually strengthens the way I approach both acting and production, as it helps me to see projects more clearly from different angles.
One of the projects I’m most proud of is Tangled (Dir. Kadri Özcan), a one-woman play about womanhood and home. Carrying an entire story alone on stage was challenging and transformative, and it felt especially meaningful to engage with such a powerful narrative at this stage of my career. I’m also proud of building a new creative community and staying close to the kind of work I genuinely want to be part of, my recent collaboration with director/actor Buket Gülbeyaz in a comedy play is an example of that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.denizbulat.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denizbulat/?hl=en
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12249934/

Image Credits
Main Image: Aziz Useinov
Image 1 on the set of Öte: Didem Civginoglu
Image 2&3 on the set of Yarım: Ekin Aydın