FAE Pacts with Masked Singer Creator Wonwoo Park

FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE) has entered into an exclusive first-look development deal with Wonwoo Park, creator of the hit format The Masked Singer.

FAE and Park’s Seoul-based production company, dI turn, will jointly develop series for the U.S. and international markets. The two companies are currently developing the international format for the hit Korean talent-competition series Lotto Singer, in which viewers can win cash prizes by correctly betting on contestants’ performances.

Lotto Singer is created by Park and comes from Seoul Broadcasting System’s content hub FormatEast. It aired on MBN last year.

Park created The Masked Singer, which is currently in its sixth season on FOX and ranks as the number one prime-time entertainment series in the U.S. The format has been adapted in more than 60 countries, including the U.K., Mexico, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Norway and Italy.

“Thanks to the creative genius and vision of Wonwoo Park, the success of The Masked Singer and the impact it has had on FOX and numerous other networks throughout the world cannot be understated,” said Allison Wallach, executive VP and head of FOX Alternative Entertainment. “Wonwoo’s ability to identify and develop concepts that are unique in premise and universal in appeal makes him one of the most innovative producers in the business, and we are excited to see where this partnership will take us.”

Park added, “Korea had long been an unnoticed market, but over the last few years formats such as The King of Masked Singer have been sold all over the world. Many K-pop singers are massively popular around the world, and Korean production companies clearly have the ability to produce high-efficiency programming. I expect this collaboration with FOX to create more hits, and our team here at dI turn is ready.”