It’s been a nightmare year for the entertainment industry and veteran operations executive David Madden said there was still a long way to go to get back on track.
The global head of entertainment at Korean content giant Wattpad Webtoon Studios told a Content London audience that some buyers remain “a bit nervous and uneasy” about budgets ahead of 2024.
This was due to the interaction of writer’s strikes, the decline in the TV advertising market and streamers’ shift to profitable business models. “Businesses are still reeling from last year’s news,” Madden said.
The former head of content for AMC, Fox and Berlanti Productions called Disney a buyer who still “tends to know what to spend,” although some others are “more aggressive.”
“It’s not as dark and gloomy as it could have been [the market] is probably 60% back. I don’t think it will be back to 100% until early next year,” he added.
For Wattpad Webtoon Studios, the strikes had less of an impact than others because the company has a large animation business that allows its executives to continue doing business with toon authors. “While animation writers didn’t go beyond strike to talk to networks, they evolved so we could work with them,” Madden said.
Additionally, Wattpad Webtoon’s business model of allowing writers to publish on their platforms meant that it had many scripts that did not come from “major talent agencies or writers,” as Wattpad Webtoon relies on a massive archive of stories. It’s not typically on decision-makers’ desks, but Madden said, “Over the last five months, we’ve done business with some very good partners.”
Over the past few months, we’ve featured Wattpad webtoon projects, such as a film adaptation of Isabelle Ronin’s young adult novel Looking for red with Stampede Ventures, a comic book adaptation Love advice from the grand duke of hell with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment and Sigue Mi Voza feature film version of Ariana Godoy’s web novel of the same name.
Madden revealed that the company, which is owned by Korean giant Naver, is “aggressively” looking for projects for “hungry” writers who came away from the WGA action “feeling like they really wanted to quickly find something as appealing as is possible.” “. Copper.” The data and analytics from Wattpad Webtoon’s content platforms helped close deals, he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Madden said streamers like Netflix and Prime Video have indicated they’re looking for “broadcast-plus” projects — essentially those titles that emphasize their basic mainstream premise through script, visuals or other production- elements.
Madden joined Wattpad Webtoon Studios last June after previously serving as president of Berlanti Productions. This came a year after Naver acquired social storytelling platform Wattpad from South Korean internet conglomerate Naver. Wattpad’s studio operations were then merged with digital comics platform Webtoon to create Wattpad Webtoon Studios, providing $100 million in development and production funding.
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
