Los Angeles, United States – Media conglomerate company Naver has announced today the merger of its social storytelling platform arm Wattpad and digital comics platform arm WEBTOON’s studio divisions to create Wattpad WEBTOON Studios – an entertainment studio that creates data-driven TV shows, films, and books.
The merger, which has a US$100m budget for the development and production financing, comes after Naver’s recent acquisition of Wattpad. By uniting the two platforms’ entertainment divisions, Naver’s global leadership in IP, digital comics, and web novels will continue to bolster.
Through the new Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, WEBTOON Studios’ expertise will be uniting with Wattpad Studios’ data-backed, audience-driven approach, to unlock their full potential in growing a roster of superstar creators and fandoms in every genre.
According to Naver, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has already more than 100 projects in the pipeline for development or production and will be hitting screens everywhere.
Aron Levitz will be the president of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and his team will include Taylor Grant, the lead of WEBTOON entertainment portfolio, Eric Lehrman, the lead of Wattpad entertainment portfolio, and Ashleigh Gardner, the publishing head, as well as Dexter Ong, the international business lead.
Levitz shared that they are bringing a new era of diverse voices and incredible IP to audiences and industry looking for both and they are looking to the future, with hundreds of millions of new stories to power the next 100 years of hits on screens and bookshelves.
WEBTOON’s Founder and CEO Jun Koo Kim said that the team at Wattpad WEBTOON Studios is developing IP across formats, building franchises, and nurturing the fandoms that power them, and they are doing it with a fully 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,” said Kim.
Meanwhile, Wattpad’s CEO and Co-Founder Allen Lau commented, “We are thrilled to combine WEBTOON and Wattpad’s IP leadership to create the world’s first truly modern studio.”
