Wattpad, WEBTOON Merge Studio Divisions

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Now both owned by South Korea’s Naver, Wattpad and digital comics platform WEBTOON are combining their studio divisions, with their parent company committing $100 million to fund development and production at the merged entity.

Wattpad WEBTOON Studios will be led by Aron Levitz as president. Taylor Grant will lead the WEBTOON entertainment portfolio and Eric Lehrman the Wattpad entertainment portfolio. Ashleigh Gardner will continue to oversee all aspects of publishing. Dexter Ong will head the international business.

Naver acquired the storytelling platform Wattpad at the start of this year for more than $600 million. Bringing Wattpad Studios together with WEBTOON Studios combines the former’s expertise in creating content using its data-backed, audience-driven approach with the latter’s experience in adapting popular digital comics. Wattpad WEBTOON Studios currently has more than 100 projects in development or production. The slate includes Netflix’s WEBTOON-originated Sweet Home; Noblesse, an anime co-production between WEBTOON and Crunchyroll; and Netflix’s upcoming A Traves de Mi Ventana from Nostromo Pictures, based on the global Wattpad hit of the same name.

“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 Jun Koo Kim, WEBTOON’s founder and CEO. “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,” added Allen Lau, Wattpad’s co-founder and CEO.“And Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has one of the biggest libraries of both on the planet. 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.”