Wattpad WEBTOON Studios' Taylor Grant: “We have quite a few amazing partnerships”

This year, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios is returning to Mipcom with a new production strategy under its belt. Director of Global Animations division, Taylor Grant, recently highlighted the particularities of some of his most successful, recent projects, as well as the company‘s new way of developing its content, and its short-term production and expansion objectives.

7 NOV 2022

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What are the main challenges of building a new animation studio with a global approach?

“The main challenge is trying to find content that appeals to all regions of the world and all ages. Our platforms and the content within them are hugely popular with Gen Z, but we don’t want to corner ourselves in just creating content for that specific market. We work hard to identify titles and content that are diverse and hold a wide-ranging appeal to many different cultures, ages and populations. In addition, while Webtoon titles are illustrated, Wattpad webnovels are not. So, it’s an exciting challenge to assess content on both platforms and decide what would work best in an animated medium versus a live-action film or episodic series.”

What will be your strategy in order to build a strong animation pipeline and new IP shows?

“I am quite fortunate in that platform counterparts Webtoon and Wattpad are filled with millions of incredible stories with built-in global fandoms. For me, the pipeline challenge isn’t defined by a lack of content, it’s the enormous abundance of content! But that’s what’s exciting about Wattpad Webtoon Studios. We have enough content to fuel the next hundred years of hits on screen and bookshelves!”

How would you mix the development strategy for both TV and movie projects?

“The last decade has of course seen a massive boom in television in the entertainment industry and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Many WEBTOON adaptations like Tower of God (Cruncyroll), Hellbound (Netflix), Sweet Home (Netflix) have been extremely successful television series because these are unexpected stories from unique points of view. And that’s something that our platforms have in abundance – stories from global creators which are often quite different from what you’d expect from a traditional studio.  But live action film, live action TV, episodic animation and feature animation all have unique aspects to their formats, and so strategy varies with each title.   Ultimately, we’re looking for the best IP to match with the most appropriate format.  Everything we bring to market already has an established fanbase, so for us, the question is, “what are the best formats to bring this IP to new audiences, while still serving the existing fans and creator’s original vision?” Of course, we can and will do both TV AND film adaptations of the same IP. And with our growing publishing business and multiple imprints, we’re always looking for print opportunities as well. Everything we do looks at the potential value chain of a piece of IP, and the ways we can build new fandoms in new formats.”

What would be the global appeal for “Lore Olympus,” where you serve as Executive Producer?

"Lore Olympus is written by Rachel Smythe and one of the most-read titles on Webtoon, with over 1.2 billion views. The graphic novel editions of Smythe's work have hit  #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list twice! It’s a perfect example of the amazing talent and creativity from our creators and Lore Olympus tells a story that anyone would be interested in - sexy adventures of mythological gods, a story of forbidden love between Hades and Persephone, and a modern take on a timeless story. We are currently developing the animated series with The Jim Henson Company, and it’s been an amazing privilege to work with a company that has created countless works that are iconic in every corner of the world."

As the company aims to produce more than 100 global projects, what are some of the most essential titles currently in the works?

"While I can’t speak to specific titles, it’s not hard to guess that if it’s a top title on our platform, it’s not only on our radar and something we’re actively looking at – either on the film, TV or animation side.  You can expect more projects from our strategic partnership with Crunchyroll, of course.  But we are agnostic in our approach to animation.  We have prime time comedy, shonen anime, girls’ adventure 6- 11, adult feature, science fiction, high fantasy, you name it, we’re probably developing it.It’s also important to note that we have quite a few amazing partnerships going on behind the scenes or projects set up at studios that we can’t talk about until the ink has dried.  But you can expect many more announcements from our burgeoning studio in the future."

Are there any specific regions that Wattpad hopes to target as it continues growing its footprint across international entertainment markets?

"For the studio at-large, we’ve seen a ton of growth in Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries as well as in Southeast Asia. So, we will definitely continue to grow our footprint in those regions, and in Europe as well.  North America of course is also always a priority market for us as it is the entertainment capital of the world. But because our readership on Wattpad and Webtoon is so global and wide- reaching with over 179 million users across Webtoon and Wattpad worldwide, it is so exciting to see new international markets expand and grow with us."

By: Karla Florez