Webtoon and Wattpad CEOs Say User-Created Intellectual Is the Answer to a Franchise Hungry Hollywood

The South Korean zombie episodic “All of Us Are Dead” currently ranks fourth among all Netflix non-English television shows in total hours viewed over the first 28 days, while “Through My Window” is Netflix’s fifth most-watched non-English feature film. “The Kissing Booth” trilogy began as one of the streamer’s flagship rom-com franchises during the 2018 “summer of love.” Meanwhile, the four-part “After” franchise has earned $133 million in global theatrical box office.

These titles may seem unfamiliar to you but your children might be fans. Wattpad Webtoon is the source of all these hits.

“If you want to laugh in the morning and cry at night, you can,” Wattpad Webtoon studio president Aron Levitz told TheWrap for this week’s Office with a View. “If you want to dive into a romance written in one of the 50 languages on Wattpad in the afternoon and then dive into an action-driven RPG lit on Webtoon two hours later, you can.”

Wattpad Webtoon, a single entity that merged with the other in 2021, has been a treasure trove for on-platform success stories and fandoms. It boasts 179 million global readers.

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What is the difference between a digital comic and a pen-and-ink comic?
It’s the vertical scrolling nature of it. How does it look vertically if you kick a ball? Artists aren’t confined by a page layout or episode length. They can also have jump scares or cliffhangers. A story can also be told in one episode.

Wattpad is a fan-driven, user driven opt-in creative writing platform that anyone can use. If it grows organically, great!
Wattpad was born on the phone was born as a digital art form, write serial, it’s serialized, it’s not written all at once. That’s a huge barrier to entry for most artists. Although they can write a chapter at a time, can they write 40? I can write one chapter. Could I write 40 chapters at a time? These moments of engagement are possible even for those who can.

These platforms also allow for the sharing of art, analysis and feedback. Your goal was to create a platform where fans and users don’t need to leave the amusement park.
We can understand subtext to why fans like or don’t like something. You want to participate in the discussions. You want to be part of it.
Moreover, there’s a story on our platforms for everyone. This speaks to the transformational moment both web comics and animation are having. It used to look like a cartoon or a genre. You thought it was superheroes? It’s no longer a genre. It’s a format. It’s a medium. We’re able to tell stories, from all walks of life, from countries around the world.”

Your platforms can create new IP. Even if some of it is “rip-off, don’t remake,” that’s how we got “Star Wars” and “50 Shades of Grey.” They became their own IP with their own marquee characters. Are you bringing that to the table?
There are tropes and tropes. It doesn’t mean that each generation doesn’t get their own view of it. Every creator has a different view. This take is often the best.

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How do you moderate a new medium, one that’s almost a wild wild west of IP development from underrepresented demographics and/or niches?
Too much in the realm of moderation and guardrails is what’s driven Hollywood and the publishing industry into repeating itself for 100 years. We see our creators filling the next 100 years of screens and shelves all over the world, with stories that they haven’t seen on the screen or on the shelves.

What are the guardrails
We don’t want to give our creators guardrails. We’re not insisting that they adhere to formula and narrative structures. We’re not here to confine. Safety and trust are key pillars. We always ensure that it’s that our community is a safe one.

Is it possible that YA romance melodramas are the most popular adaptations by third parties?
It’s surprising to hear what the establishment says has been done. They forget to ask fans what they want. People will respond to you if they are given what they want.

What makes your work different from conventional IP development?
We’re choosing things that audiences already love. Listening to our fans before we adapt something is a way to decrease the chance of it failing. It’s listening to creators and fandom.

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