TIFFCOM Roadmap Announced Approx. 200 Million Views! Coproducing a Remake of the Popular Webtoon by Kakao Entertainment from Korea as a Japanese Drama "Fuji TV's Global Business Team's Presentation"

At the TIFFCOM seminar held at the Hamamatsucho-Kan of the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center, Fuji TV held a presentation on its global business strategy on Thursday, October 26, and announced its policy to do global business in all directions, from production and media tie-ups to infrastructure development. With representatives from Skybound Entertainment (U.S.), bilibili (China), and Kakao Entertainment (Korea), visiting Japan, Fuji TV held a talk session about respective partnerships. They appealed to overseas buyers and exhibitors about their future global strategies.

* A photo from the event is attached

Toru Ota, executive vice president of Fuji TV, talked about the importance of expanding Fuji TV's IP overseas, and clarified that in addition to utilizing the program production and media business, which are Fuji TV's strengths, Fuji TV will also take on new challenges to directly build local infrastructure such as the metaverse and Webtoons.

■Co-producing a remake of the popular Webtoon from Kakao Entertainment (Korea) as a Japanese drama

Fuji TV and Kakao Entertainment announced a collaboration to actively produce secondary works, such as joint productions of the IP of the two companies in the form of Webtoons and videos. The two companies will work together to create works that will be developed globally from Japan and Korea: turning Fuji TV's original IP into Webtoons and web novels, turning Kakao Entertainer's Webtoon and Web novel IP into videos.

As their first collaborative project, they also announced that they will coproduce a Japanese version of "AQUA MAN," a Korean blockbuster drama that got about 200 million views on Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon. Details of the broadcasting/streaming schedule and the drama's cast will be announced at a later date.

■Entering into a partnership with Skybound Entertainment (U.S.)

As the first project utilizing IP between the two companies, a co-production of the graphic novel series, "Heart Attack" by Skybound Entertainment will be remade as a Japanese drama. With Skybound's know-how in global content production and Fuji TV's large production capabilities, the two companies aim to create dramas that will be watched by many viewers all around the world. In addition, the two companies will focus on expanding their IP, such as by coproducing Fuji TV's drama IP into American versions, in addition to joint development of new and original IP.

■Co-production of a Japanese version of the popular anime "LINK CLICK" with bilibili (China)

In cooperation with bilibili, Fuji TV established a new anime time slot called, "B8station," going on air late at night in October, produced by bilibili, which will broadcast the Japanese dubbed version of the popular anime "LINK CLICK" which has reached 160 million total views just four months after it was released. The two companies plan to coproduce "LINK CLICK" as a Japanese drama, and they will also coproduce Fuji TV's drama IP as Chinese anime.

Fuji TV aims to further evolve from a broadcasting-centered business to a new business model and establish a profit structure. In order to develop a three-dimensional global business, Fuji TV will particularly focus on comprehensive business through "IP expansion" from the product-by-product business model, such as the purchase and sale of programs and contents. We have grand expectations for Fuji TV's future global business strategies.

Comments

◆ Toru Ota, executive vice president of Fuji Television Network, Inc.

"I am delighted to have held the 2023 Fuji TV Global Business Team's Presentation and to have had an opportunity to interact with the people involved. Fuji TV will continue to expand its IP in overseas markets. As a part of this, Fuji TV will take the challenge of entering a new field, that of Webtoon, through its cooperation with Kakao Entertainment in Korea. We hope viewers will look forward to the video works produced by Fuji TV based on Webtoons, which will be jointly developed by both companies. We will continue to do our best to be a leader in content industry innovations, with the goal of expanding all of Fuji TV's IP on a global scale."

◆ Jaewon Hwang, IP division manager of Kakao Entertainment

"Kakao Entertainment has successfully proven the value and potential of our IP to the world, as well as its infinite expandability through our many successful projects such as 'Moving' and 'A Business Proposal.' This time, we made an important collaborative agreement with Fuji Television, one of Japan's leading entertainment companies. We will continue to create meaningful collaborative works with Fuji Television, which will serve as opportunities to further strengthen Kakao Entertainment's global competitiveness."

◆ About TIFFCOM

The largest broadcasting and video international event in Asia hosted by UNIJAPAN, deepening engagement between broadcasting and video industry professionals. This year, the event was held from Wednesday, October 25 to Friday, October 27 at the Hamamatsucho-Kan of the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center.

◆ Kakao Entertainment (Korea)

A global entertainment company that operates in many areas of entertainment, including stories, media, and music. Kakao Entertainment is not only an IP holder that provides more than 10,000 Webtoons and Web novels to the world, including "Itaewon Class," "A Business Proposal," and "Moving," but is also a creator that generates a synergy that extends outwards from its IP by actively utilizing its value chains.

◆ Skybound Entertainment (U.S.)

A multi-platform entertainment company that produces innovative and attractive content such as, "The Walking Dead" and "Invincible," which have become global blockbusters that have been viewed in over 120 countries. Skybound Entertainment produces content in various fields such as comics, games, television, film, and digital media.

◆ bilibili (China)

A Chinese entertainment company providing a video-sharing site, live streaming, games, photos, blogs, comics, and more. It is a popular platform among young people in China, with 96.5 million daily active users (DAU) and 324 million monthly active users (MAU). It is a content production company that produces and distributes 50 works of animation a year.