The multi-platform company Wattpad is merging with Webtoons to form a new entertainment studio.
Wattpad WEBTOON Studios will create new movies and TV series adapted from the stories published on both online platforms. South Korean media company Naver recently acquired Wattpad and will merge it with Webtoon, which Naver also owns and operates. Wattpad WEBTOON Studios will focus on promoting and developing the comic and YA properties that originate on the two online services. With the combined IP of both sites, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios already boasts more than 100 projects in development or in production.
"We're bringing a new era of diverse voices and incredible IP to audiences and an industry looking for both," said Aron Levitz, President of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. "Businesses are spending billions of dollars to capture the last 100 years of IP. We're looking to the future, with hundreds of millions of new stories to power the next 100 years of hits on screens and bookshelves."
"Wattpad WEBTOON Studios is here to knock down every remaining border in entertainment," said WEBTOON founder and CEO, Jun Koo Kim. "The team at Wattpad WEBTOON Studios is developing IP across formats, building franchises, and nurturing the fandoms that power them. And they're doing it with a full global perspective from Day One. Combining local market expertise and audience data, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios can create local hits with regional partners or develop with a global audience in mind."
"YA and comic adaptations are some of the biggest hits in publishing and entertainment. And Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has one of the biggest libraries of both on the planet," said Wattpad co-founder and CEO Allen Lau. "Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has an unmatched library of IP, powered by a new generation of creators, and the technology to create hits in every genre. We're thrilled to combine WEBTOON and Wattpad's IP leadership to create the world's first truly modern studio."
"Stories from Wattpad and WEBTOON are already in demand and known as some of the most exciting IP in the entertainment market," said Michelle Kwon, CEO of Studio N. "We're thrilled to celebrate the launch of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, and look forward to collaborating with the new team."
Wattpad launched in 2006 and provides a way for both amateur and established fiction authors to share their work online and potentially get published by companies such as Simon & Schuster or Penguin Random House. The platform boasts over 90 million active users and has been the launching point for several popular media properties, including the popular romance series After, which was first published on the site, and was recently adapted into a Netflix movie.
Webtoon, also known as Line Webtoon, has been publishing South Korean manhua (comics) online since 2004. Since its launch, Webtoon has expanded to be one of the most popular online comics platforms in the world, with over 100 billion views annually through a predominantly female readership. Several anime adaptations have been created from series that were originally published on Webtoon, including the dark fantasy epic Tower of God, as well as the martial arts-focused The God of High School. Rachel Smythe's Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel Lore Olympus also got its start on the platform.
Naver is betting big on Wattpad WEBTOON Studios by committing $100 million USD to the development of the new studio and its properties. While the new studio is focused on adapting its properties for film and TV, the company did reaffirm its commitment to its fiction platform and the Wattpad Books imprint, which has published over a hundred titles.
Source: Webtoon
