Wattpad has lengthy been a pipeline bringing jabber variations of stories by rising writers to streaming companies love Netflix and Hulu. Now, ViacomCBS and Wattpad’s studio arm are teaming as a lot as dash out a slate of approved series from successful titles on Wattpad and Webtoon.
Wattpad has been a myth springboard for streaming companies for years — The Kissing Booth and the After franchises are two well-known examples — partially ensuing from Wattpad is able to mine a trove of internal records about how readers are interacting with reviews and what explicit roughly storytelling they return to. That can perchance per chance with out jam translate to hit franchises for companies hungry for fresh approved jabber, particularly for jabber that appeals to younger viewers. (After, as an illustration, started out as Harry Kinds fanfiction printed on Wattpad.)
ViacomCBS plans to work with the publisher’s entertainment arm to mine reviews from Wattpad and its sister space Webtoon, whose guardian company Naver snapped up Wattpad for further than $600 million greenbacks earlier this yr. Wattpad Webtoon Studios will work with ViacomCBS to develop originals for its varied networks and properties, at the side of Paramount Plus, the companies announced nowadays.
The originals are expected to charm namely to Gen Z and millennial audiences and will almost definitely be sourced from a range of genres.
“Wattpad Webtoon Studios is home to a pair of primarily the most thrilling fresh voices in comics and literature,” Aron Levitz, president of Wattpad Webtoon Studios, talked about in a statement. “Between our wide world IP catalogue with built-in fandoms, and a roster of celebrity comic artists and indie authors, we’re fueling a fresh generation of files-backed entertainment.”
