Naver Webtoon forms ‘Studio N’ for webtoon-based film, drama production

Naver Webtoon, the digital comics platform operator under South Korean internet business giant Naver, on Thursday announced the launch of its new unit “Studio N,” which will take charge of translating popular webtoons into new films and drama series.

Formed with 100 percent funding from Naver Webtoon, Studio N will work with media production companies to develop and release films and TV dramas based on the intellectual property of popular webtoons.

The new subsidiary will be led by Kwon Mi-kyung -- the former head of the Korean film business division at CJ E&M -- who has been named chief executive. Kwon is known as a key figure behind the marketing and publishing of hit films including “Ode to my Father” and “The Handmaiden.”

“Studio N will strive to discover the best way to find the best way to translate the unique storyline of a webtoon into movies and drama series,” Kwon said in a statement.

“In particular, we aim to become an ‘IP bridge company’ that connects webtoons with movie and TV drama production firms to create successful business projects on a global scale.”

Naver Webtoon currently boasts 46 million monthly active users globally, including in Korea, the US, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. The platform hosts more than 2,000 original webtoons, some of which have already been made into blockbuster movies and drama series.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)