1 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcasts featuring conversations with 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment Today. 3 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: My guests are movers and shakers in the world of webtuns. 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,159 Speaker 1: What is a webtoon? You ask, well, keep listening, But 5 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: in Hollywood shorthand, it's like a graphic novel meets a 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: blog scroll meets a soap opera. David J. Lee is 7 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: chief operating Officer and chief financial Officer of Webtoon Entertainment. 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: The Los Angeles based company is a big force in 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: this growing digital storytelling medium that got its start about 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: a decade ago in South Korea. My conversation with Lee 11 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: was held January eighth as part of Variety's annual Entertainment 12 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: Summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. A 13 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: week later, I got on a zoom with the top 14 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: webtune creator Brandon Chen to get his perspective on this 15 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: cutting edge new format. My conversation with Webtoon Entertainments David 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: jay Lee is coming up right after this break, and 17 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: we're back with a conversation from cees with Webtoon Entertainments. 18 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: David jay Lee, let's start a little bit and just 19 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: unpack exactly what a webtune is. The best sort of 20 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: the best shorthand description. Hollywood always loves it's this meets 21 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: this plus this, But the best sort of shorthand description 22 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: of what an actual web tune is is sort of 23 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: a mix between a blog and a manga. That might 24 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: be a little oversimplified, But David, if we could start 25 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: just by really sort of sketching out what when people 26 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: go to webtoon users online, because it's a digital platform 27 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: in terms of the core of the of the business 28 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: and the storytelling, when somebody goes to a find a webtune, 29 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: what user experience is that? 30 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. And for those in the 31 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 2: audience who may not have heard of webtune, I have 32 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 2: the feeling you may have seen a great live action 33 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 2: film and didn't realize it came from us. And if 34 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 2: you have friends and family who are in our core target, 35 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 2: which is the gen Z target, I know that they're 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 2: familiar with us. Let me explain what the company is, 37 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 2: but then explain what the experience is. So Webtune is 38 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 2: a company, is global. We've got one hundred and seventy 39 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 2: million monthly active users, but We have twenty four million 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 2: creators who are creating over one hundred and twenty thousand 41 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 2: stories every day right new there for the taking by 42 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 2: our gen Z consumers, and the experience is truly digital 43 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 2: and mobile, and it spans way beyond one genre. It's 44 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 2: more than manga. It's any genre you can imagine. Imagine 45 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 2: a gen Z consumer in their palm of their hand 46 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 2: on a mobile device, with a flick of their fingers, 47 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 2: can scroll and in a fraction of a moment see 48 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 2: just enough imagery a few words to tell them where 49 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 2: a story is going. And at the same time, these 50 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 2: consumers are spending once they find their great story, thirty 51 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 2: to sixteen minutes a day reading either a web novel 52 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 2: or what we call a webcomic or a web tune. 53 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 2: For me, having started in the advertising business, it reminds 54 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 2: me of a incredible next generation of a digital storyboard, 55 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 2: which is why we love the one point three billion 56 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 2: and reported revenue we generate on our platform. But we 57 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 2: love the consumers get to see these stories as rich 58 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 2: film adaptations on Netflix or Amazon Prime where you saw 59 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 2: one that came out recently after Thanksgiving on TB And 60 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 2: so we're a great untold story. People don't realize they've 61 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: seen our stories. And you know, I'd love to unpack 62 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 2: a little bit about what we're all about here. 63 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: Absolutely yeah, I think. I mean, you had the audience 64 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: at twenty four million. That is an astounding number. How 65 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,119 Speaker 1: do you even Before we talk about sort of adapting 66 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: into other media, I want to talk just the mechanics 67 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: of sort of how it works. It's user generated, so 68 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: people can upload their they upload their imagery, they upload Now, 69 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: in my understanding of it, it's largely kind of in 70 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: you know, comp graphic form, comic book form. But are 71 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: you finding now people are uploading video as well with 72 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: their with their web tunes? 73 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 2: Well what they're they're starting to upload if you think 74 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 2: about it, these twenty four million creators, the vast majority 75 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 2: have full time jobs. You know. A great example is 76 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 2: a young woman named Rachel Smythe who was a brilliant 77 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 2: graphic designer who thought she might have a story to 78 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 2: tell in New Zealand and she can come to our site. 79 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 2: She did. It's called Canvas. We've worked really hard as 80 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 2: a tech and an AI company to make it easy 81 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 2: for anyone who thinks they might have a story that 82 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 2: someone wants to see to create that story, either as 83 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 2: a web novel or or if they have a sense 84 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 2: of imagery, what we call a webcomic. And so these 85 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 2: are if you think about our product, just like you 86 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 2: can imagine going through a digital storyboard. You can scroll 87 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 2: through vertically this unique format and see where these stories 88 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 2: are going. In the case of Rachel, she like many 89 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: of our twenty four million creators, didn't realize that her 90 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 2: story would allow her to be a global creator. She 91 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 2: is a New York Times bestselling author in print, which 92 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 2: we helped her enable. And we may be the only 93 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 2: company that has shared two point eight billion dollars as 94 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 2: a core function of our business model with creators. That's 95 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 2: why we have so many, because we're truly aligned to 96 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 2: the fact that consumers want new stories, they want stories 97 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 2: from unexpected global sources, and entertainment companies want proven, validated 98 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 2: with market signal hits that come from places like us 99 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 2: for them to turn into great pieces of film or 100 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 2: merchandise or games. So that's the reason why I think 101 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 2: we have this unique ecosystem of a global consumption on 102 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 2: our platform, these one hundred and seventy million monthly active users, 103 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 2: a format that allows anybody to be able to see 104 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 2: in a fraction of a second where a story is going, 105 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 2: and a d risked profile for an evergreen source of stories, 106 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 2: I hope increasingly for the media industry, which we're going 107 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 2: to talk about more today. 108 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, there's just no shortage of interest. 109 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: You know, from the beginnings of Hollywood to today. The 110 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: story the kernel. It starts with the story. It's a cliche, 111 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: it starts on the page, but it's it starts with 112 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: the story. And what's interesting in the modern age is 113 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: that so many people are empowered as storytellers. I think 114 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: in the past people felt like, well, I'm not a 115 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: Hollywood screenwriter. I'm not, you know, but this is like 116 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: a forum like so many other social media platforms are. 117 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: But it's such a specific forum. Let me ask us 118 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: again a few more questions about the mechanics of the 119 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: core web tune business. Does your company do you curate 120 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: some of these? Do you see when things start to 121 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: bubble up you curate them and help kind of recommend 122 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: them or is it really. 123 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're think of the experiences. We're very 124 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 2: much empowering creators, as you mentioned, to be able to 125 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 2: present the story in a way that everyone can consume. 126 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: So a bunch of our technology, for example here in 127 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 2: the US we call it canvas, allows a great amateur 128 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 2: creator to see if somebody might love their story as 129 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 2: a webcomic or on our wapat platform or web novel. 130 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 2: But then with one hundred and over one hundred and 131 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 2: twenty thousand stories arriving every single day, a lot of 132 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 2: our AI technology is to make sure that as a consumer, 133 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 2: these gen Z consumers, they want an unexpected story, but 134 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 2: they have to find it. So having AI based personalization 135 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 2: engines to allow we call her Mattie as our target consumer. 136 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 2: You know, she's maybe just out of college, or maybe 137 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 2: she's getting a cup of coffee, and Mattie loves the 138 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 2: story that she's reading. But we know so much about 139 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 2: what she loves that presenting her the ability to see 140 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 2: the next story is a big part of our underlying technology. 141 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 2: And then there's a large amount of this also which 142 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 2: is geared around ensuring that we protect both the creator 143 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 2: and the consumer to ensure that the content is safe. 144 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 2: But also we all as content generations generators, fight piracy. 145 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 2: So a large amount of our tech is to make 146 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 2: this ecosystem healthy and because we're global, that's required us 147 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,719 Speaker 2: to be a tech company at origin, which we were 148 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 2: bored out of, a global tech company, but a media 149 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 2: and entertainment company in reality as now that we're generating. 150 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,959 Speaker 2: We have over nine hundred adaptations of stories outside our platform, 151 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 2: one hundred of which are rich film releases in TV 152 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 2: and movies. You know, two of Netflix's all time top 153 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: ten projects ever came from us, right, what are those titles? Yes, 154 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 2: so all of Us are Dead was one of them. 155 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 2: And Through My Window, which was an unex affected web 156 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 2: novel that came out of the Spanish and language creators, 157 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 2: was amazing. But you know, every quarter this happens, right, 158 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 2: Love Me, Love Me in Italy, you know, seeking me 159 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 2: votes from Spain. We talked about last quarter Sideline, the 160 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 2: Quarterback and Me. The day after Thanksgiving here in the 161 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 2: US was a top five hit on two B which 162 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 2: start no a back this great social media star. So 163 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 2: more and more, I think the world is waking up 164 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 2: to the fact that people love a good story, and 165 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 2: they love it in all formats on our platform, as 166 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 2: a webcomic or a web novel, but certainly as a 167 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 2: rich film release, a live action release on either TV 168 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 2: or on the big screen. 169 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: How do you with over one hundred thousand stories coming in? 170 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: Did you say every day? 171 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 2: Every day? 172 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: I can't even imagine, you know, the ranks of studio 173 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: executives that it would take to process that. How do 174 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: you deal with content moderation? I got to believe that 175 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: not every one of those people are good citizens. And 176 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: you know, maybe there's some stuff that you don't want 177 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: on the platform. Do you reserve the right to say, hey, 178 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: this isn't right for web tune? 179 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 2: I mean, this is where our technology comes into play. 180 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,719 Speaker 2: I used to be in businesses in mobile gaming and 181 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 2: other consumer businesses where we were relying on a lot 182 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: of hard work by a lot of humans. But while 183 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,839 Speaker 2: we have that, we have the benefit of cutting edge 184 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 2: AI technology our own, but we're very happy to partner 185 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 2: with whoever has the best, and we like to think 186 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 2: that we provide a real advantage for creators on piracy 187 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 2: and consumers on safety. But a large part of it 188 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 2: is also market signal. You know, when you have one 189 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 2: hundred and seventy million monthly active users across multiple languages 190 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 2: across the globe, and they are so protective of the 191 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 2: community that we have, they're a big part of our 192 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 2: warning system as well. And you know, we can talk 193 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 2: about all the policies, the technology. We like to think 194 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 2: we are cutting edge here, but I think the core 195 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 2: is what's differentiating is the technology we have and the 196 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 2: community base we have and the track record. You know, 197 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,959 Speaker 2: Protecting creators and consumers has been our story since its origin, 198 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 2: and it's taken us over ten years to arrive as 199 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 2: now a public company at scale. But now that we are, 200 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 2: we can have these one hundred and twenty thousand stories 201 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 2: that we think are readable and safer consumers arrive every day. 202 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: I could imagine that that with that kind of volume, 203 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: you'd have to have an AI tool, you would have 204 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: to have something so you have certain red flags that 205 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: they're looking for. Not to hammer on this, but you know, 206 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: content moderation is a big subject for us. Let's talk 207 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: about so how does it work with the creators and 208 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: the business model. The more people read, the more it's 209 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: basically a revenue share. 210 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, so we share in the success of amateur creators 211 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 2: as they become superstars. And there are so many examples 212 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 2: of folks who didn't realize that they had a voice 213 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 2: that deserve to be heard. Our model, while simple, is 214 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 2: really hard. You know, it is difficult for a company 215 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 2: to do what we've done because this to twenty million 216 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 2: dollars we've shared means that we're in it with them. 217 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 2: And from a consumer standpoint, you know, we don't force 218 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 2: heavy subscriptions. You know, Maddie as our gen Z target consumer. 219 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 2: By the way, over seventy percent of our consumers in 220 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,839 Speaker 2: North America say they can't find the stories they find 221 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 2: anywhere else. Same percent says that their experience on our 222 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 2: platform is more fun than great companies like Roadblocks and TikTok. 223 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 2: And the reason why that's true is Maddie can serve 224 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 2: her as long as she wants, and when she finds 225 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 2: a story, it feels like her discovery, a bit like 226 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 2: discovering a real or a video that she feels no 227 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 2: one else has seen. She only pays fifteen to seventy 228 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 2: cents to see the latest breaking episode of the story 229 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,719 Speaker 2: that she picked, and we are patient. We let our 230 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 2: Maddie's take all the time they want to find the 231 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 2: story they want, and she doesn't have to always pay. 232 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 2: She can watch a video, maybe it's an advertisement that's 233 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 2: akin to the genre. Maybe she's watching true beauty and 234 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 2: there's a you do a beauty ad that she finds 235 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 2: relevant that allows her to see that next episode. So 236 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 2: we make it super easy for our consumers to be 237 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 2: as empowered as our creators to pick on their own 238 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 2: time what they want to read and see. And I 239 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 2: think that's that patience over the last decade plus is 240 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 2: the reason why we feel gen Z is we're not 241 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,439 Speaker 2: reaching them. They're reaching out to us for stories they 242 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,439 Speaker 2: can't find anywhere. 243 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: That's a good way to put it. Very much so 244 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: with with gen Z, what are the metrics for the 245 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: for the part of the platform that does have advertising 246 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: or some kind of sponsor message, what are the metrics 247 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: that matter? Is it just total clicks? Is it time spent? 248 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: And kind of curious about the intricacies of the business model. 249 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's a great topic for those who 250 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 2: are interested in this. A lot of the businesses that 251 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 2: I've been a part of, you know, you basically canbalize 252 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 2: your content business if you shove your ad business up. 253 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 2: You know, I think about my mobile game days where 254 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,199 Speaker 2: I'm pushing gotcha for paid content at the expense of 255 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 2: time spent on an ad. This is the only business 256 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:13,199 Speaker 2: I've ever seen where deep engagement helps both sides. Let 257 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 2: me explain. So first, who's looking at the content matters. 258 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 2: We like to think we have demographic goal because while 259 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 2: we got a lot of users, we have users spending 260 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 2: thirty to sixty minutes per day, and they're the attractive, 261 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 2: somewhat hard to reach users. This gen Zjen, Alpha and beyond. 262 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 2: By the way, plenty of fifty year olds like me 263 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 2: love our content too, because we have every genre a 264 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 2: creator could imagine on our platform. But then, in addition, 265 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 2: just as I mentioned, if Maddie or if I are 266 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 2: not feeling like I want to pay fifteen to seventy cents, 267 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 2: if I watch an AD and I get to see 268 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 2: the next episode without having to pay, we know that 269 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 2: our cohort data suggests once they read more because they 270 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 2: have more confidence that one of the next one hundred 271 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 2: and twenty thousand stories could be the one for them. 272 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 2: This is the only evergreen source of content I've been 273 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 2: a part of. If you think about every other business, 274 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 2: I've been a part of the content static. So you're 275 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 2: either monetizing in ads or you're monetizing and content, but 276 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 2: that content has a shelf life. Here, I have one 277 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 2: hundred and twenty thousand stories arriving every day from a 278 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 2: growing global set of creators, curated and benefited from AI 279 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 2: and technology. It's the reason why this growing at business, 280 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 2: and we were really not focused on our advertising business 281 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 2: until very recently here in North America. We're solely focused 282 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 2: on our creators and our consumers and content. It's why 283 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 2: I'm so hopeful that we can actually increase our household 284 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 2: penetration by offering relevant ads as an alternative for people 285 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 2: who may not want to pay to see the content 286 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 2: that that arrives on the platform. 287 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: And when people in the pay model, is it a 288 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: monthly subscription or is it a pay as you read? 289 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, so there are two ways, and we like to 290 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 2: make it super simple. We want Maddie to only have 291 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 2: to pay a micro payment of fifteen to seventy cents 292 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 2: for an episode that she wants to read she picks 293 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 2: by the way. You know, everyone likes this idea of 294 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 2: having access to a library of content. So this first thing, 295 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 2: these micropayments for the late breaking episode is called a 296 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 2: fast pass. And then we have another way, which is 297 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 2: called a daily pass. So if someone wants to see 298 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 2: a bunch of content where episodes are not being written 299 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 2: live every week anymore, because we have an immense library 300 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 2: of proven hits in our platform, hits from all parts 301 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 2: of the world. It turns out, by the way gen 302 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 2: Z likes seeing stories from unexpected sources and from cultures 303 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 2: and languages that are not their own. It's a wonderful 304 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 2: consumer trend that we benefit from. So these are the 305 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 2: two ways. The majority, though, I would say the majority 306 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 2: of our pay content is when Maddie has pre identified 307 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 2: it a great story and she knows that the next 308 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 2: one is coming out in a week or so, and 309 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 2: she wants to be the first to see it along 310 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 2: with anybody else. That fast pass is the very simple 311 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 2: way that we keep the experience fresh. 312 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: That's great. To your point about just you know you 313 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 1: want to go, you want to take this avenue, Take 314 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: this avenue, Take this avenue. My mom, let me ask 315 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: you do you do you with You can't possibly host that, 316 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: you can't keep things on the platform in forever. Do 317 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: you kind of periodically call through and you know older 318 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: things maybe are not are not either not available or 319 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: not platformed as much. How do you manage the volume? 320 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 2: Well, we our origin, We are an independent public company 321 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 2: listed in the summer on Nasdaq, but for years, our 322 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 2: origin was out of this great company based in Korea 323 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,120 Speaker 2: called Navor, and many of you may not have heard 324 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 2: of it, but Navor is the Google and Amazon Plus 325 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 2: of Korea, amazing technology. So because our heritage was tech, 326 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 2: our ability to manage large amounts of data is the 327 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 2: core capability of the company. We You know, I can't 328 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 2: claim to say that we will keep every piece of 329 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 2: content forever, but we certainly have the capability of bringing 330 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 2: back content that has been serialized for years. So one 331 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 2: of the things I wanted to mention is if a 332 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 2: creator has a great story, this vertical scrolling format means 333 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 2: that on a weekly basis, they're seeing episodes We've seen 334 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 2: hit stories span over a decade of life with i'ming new, 335 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 2: fresh episodes hitting every week. Because by serializing, you continue 336 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 2: the journey of the storyline versus a static piece of content, 337 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 2: which has a shelf life that is defined by the 338 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 2: user experience. And that's why we always try to extend 339 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 2: the life of the content we have, because we know 340 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 2: that it can be serialized or brought back as one 341 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 2: of these great film releases that I've mentioned, and so 342 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,360 Speaker 2: we again, we have a patient headset and we're so 343 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,360 Speaker 2: data driven that we know that stories don't die easily. 344 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: I want to talk about a bit an exciting film 345 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: project that you all have coming up, but I want 346 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: to ask you a question. I think a lot of 347 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: people are probably thinking, who owns the copyright the creator webtune? 348 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: Do you share it? 349 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 2: Yeah? We want our creators to feel like they own 350 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,439 Speaker 2: their content, but at the same time, we want to 351 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 2: share and enable their success so much. You know, when 352 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 2: a young creator is writing in a language and doesn't 353 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 2: have the resources to know how to present it across 354 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 2: the world to a global audience in multiple formats and 355 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 2: multiple languages, that's where we like to think. 356 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 3: Are you do bring a lot to the table? Yeah? 357 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 2: And so as a result, generally, when a creator has 358 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 2: a voice that's clearly being heard, we convert them to 359 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 2: what's called a professional creator and we voluntarily enter in 360 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 2: agreement where we generally have distribution rights in our platform, 361 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 2: but we want them to own their content so that 362 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 2: if they can be a great Netflix film release, that 363 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 2: we can do it with them. And you know, we 364 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 2: have relationships. We want to article that was recently written 365 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 2: claimed that we may have been the source of over 366 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 2: half of a major streamer's film releases in a country, 367 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 2: and you know I can already tell you that, and 368 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 2: we're going to talk about it increasingly in North America. 369 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 2: I think twenty twenty five is going to be the 370 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 2: year where, now that you know that we're the source 371 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 2: of these stories, you're going to see more and more 372 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 2: of our great platform stories arrive as live action films, 373 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,919 Speaker 2: either on TV or on the big screen. One of 374 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 2: which we're going to talk about for the first. 375 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: Time, got a pretty cool partner lined up in Margo 376 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: Roby and her Lucky Chap Productions is developing a property. 377 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: Tell us about it. 378 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're excited as a feature film. I mean, listen, 379 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 2: I want to make sure we're clear. We're excited about 380 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 2: all the live action films that are going to come 381 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 2: out in the next few months. But one that's particularly 382 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 2: interesting is stack Town. Stacktown started as a horror webcomics 383 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 2: story had over eighteen million views. It's the story of 384 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:00,160 Speaker 2: three protagonists that arrive in Stacktown, and you'll have to 385 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 2: watch it to see the rest. Read it on our platform. 386 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 2: But partnering with Lucky Chap, Margo Roby's production company and 387 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 2: their notable success with Barbie. 388 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: And the other little movie we heard about last year. 389 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it goes to show that our stories 390 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 2: can live in any format, and it goes to show 391 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 2: that our creators have the ability not just to be 392 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 2: very successful in our platform, but that we're really aligned 393 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 2: to that creator's success now as a live action release. 394 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: I gotta believe. I just still can't get over this 395 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: creator database. I gotta believe every literary agent in Hollywood, 396 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: the smart ones are calling through your platform on a 397 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:40,959 Speaker 1: daily I wish. 398 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:47,880 Speaker 2: I think our almost maniacal focus on our platform, more 399 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 2: and more creators, more and more consumers, more and more content, 400 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 2: has meant that the upside I think we see in 401 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 2: advertising and the upside and crossover ips just what we 402 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 2: call these books that we're enabling, these films, these video 403 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 2: games and merch we're just getting going. In fact, in 404 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 2: North America, our web team Watpad Studio is really only 405 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,479 Speaker 2: less than two years old. We have a great studio 406 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 2: called Studio en based in Asia that has been further along, 407 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 2: which is why so many more consumers in Asia know 408 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:22,360 Speaker 2: about the films that originate on our platform. I think 409 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 2: it's an exciting time, because I would love, you know, 410 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 2: in the next few years for every literary agent or 411 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 2: anybody else to be scrolling with us through our stories 412 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 2: because you know, we have proven data around these digital 413 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 2: storylines that we know resonate and we know who loves 414 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,640 Speaker 2: them across the globe. So I'm very hopeful that we'll 415 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 2: have a bigger presence outside of our platform. 416 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: Do you ever if something is really strong and has 417 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: a has a you know, volume, do you ever create 418 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: like dedicated ebooks around because that would seem like you 419 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: could do that pretty easily. 420 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're just beginning to explore it. You know, we 421 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 2: now have as reported, over five hundred million dollars of 422 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 2: capital in the bank and going public in the last 423 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 2: couple of courses, we generate positive operating cash flow, so. 424 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: Your phone is going to ring so much. 425 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,199 Speaker 2: Well, we finally have that balan shaping that number out 426 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 2: there to be able to consider in a very careful 427 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,719 Speaker 2: prudent way, using our own capital to speed up adoption. 428 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 2: The good news for US is I think this organic 429 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 2: adoption here in North America and in Europe where we're 430 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 2: just getting going, is happening without heavy investment. But I 431 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 2: certainly am interested in finding interesting creative ways to speed 432 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 2: up how creators can present more stories to consumers here. 433 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: And very little, very little off you know what you'd 434 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: call off air marketing. I mean, it's been such a 435 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: word of mouth business. It seems like are there markets 436 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: or regions where you do any kind of advertising or 437 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: marketing push? 438 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 2: Well, in North America, we've just begun to partner with 439 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 2: other great companies. So for example, one that I thought 440 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 2: was interesting is we partnered with a company called Duelingo, 441 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 2: who shares this great global gen z engaged audience in 442 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 2: a very different way. I mean, these are folks interested 443 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 2: in learning about new cultures and languages, and we partnered 444 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 2: with their duo of their iconic owl. And what I 445 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 2: loved about it is we created new content. We created 446 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 2: a series of new stories on our platform in collaboration 447 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 2: with Duelingo. We saw over seven million views of this content. 448 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:25,959 Speaker 2: It was a very authentic way for us to leverage 449 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 2: the fact that we have the same engaged audience that 450 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 2: they do. But instead of it being you know, a 451 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,879 Speaker 2: paid marketing deal only, it was more authentically about creating 452 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 2: content that people were enjoying. You're going to see us 453 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 2: do more and more of that. We recently did a 454 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 2: deal with Discord that I thought was also similar and 455 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 2: that we share growth amongst this attractive young audience who 456 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: want to be picking content on their own terms and 457 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 2: so doing deals like that, or frankly seeing movies that 458 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 2: you didn't realize from a fandom standpoint came from us, 459 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 2: and you're curious about what else did that creator write, 460 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 2: what other permutation of story occurred. I think that's a 461 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 2: great way to or more organically drive adoption amongst we 462 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 2: only have like sub five percent household penetration. In other 463 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 2: countries we're fifty percent. So the largest market here is 464 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 2: the market with the greatest growth opportunity for us. So 465 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 2: you may see us, as I mentioned, using very prudently 466 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 2: some of our balance sheet to speed up what has 467 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 2: been largely organic in our spend on marketing. 468 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: Are you in the market for you know, additional content assets, 469 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: production capabilities, or other forms of you know, creative elements 470 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: that could come into it. 471 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 2: We are, I mean, the company has a history of 472 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 2: very prudently using acquisition as a way to One of 473 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 2: the great examples is our webcomic platform in Japan. Is 474 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 2: last quarter was the number one consumer app in Japan, 475 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 2: including mobile games. It's called Lii, manga and pan. But 476 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 2: it's our business and it was you know, we call 477 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 2: it the rocket ship business. It was built off of 478 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 2: an acquisition we made of a company called Ebooks Japan, 479 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 2: so that was the launch pad business. So there are 480 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 2: examples geographically or maybe to complement our existing capability where 481 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 2: we're not going to be shy. Having public currency as 482 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,199 Speaker 2: a newly listed public company, I think gives us another 483 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 2: tool to be able to consider acquisition. But at the 484 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 2: same time, you know, in our S one and when 485 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 2: I talked to our investors, we haven't talked about inorganic 486 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 2: M and A as being required for our growth. It's 487 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 2: very much opportunistic. 488 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: You don't need to go acquire market share, you. 489 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 2: But we're very open to it and have a pretty 490 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 2: good history in doing it. 491 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: David, before you can't, I know you've worked in various 492 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: pockets of media, but you've also worked for companies like 493 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: best Buy and David helped bring us the Impossible Burger. 494 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: What does your back in public companies and companies that 495 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: have worked in very different retail, you know, different sectors 496 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: different from media and entertainment. How does that inform your 497 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: leadership of Webtune, which is a very innovative company. 498 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,439 Speaker 2: That's a hard question answer. I think the oddity in 499 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 2: my background is there's only been one common theme, which 500 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 2: is I tend to enjoy working on companies where the 501 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 2: consumer is looking for something different and technology is finally 502 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 2: enabling it. So in the past it's been large companies 503 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 2: like turning around best Buy or del Monti or Zinga. 504 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 2: More recently, startups like you know, launching a plant based 505 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 2: burger at Impossible Foods. What I love about web Tune 506 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 2: is that it's a business that I feel is a 507 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 2: combination of consumers wanting great stories globally. It's using AI 508 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 2: to promote human creativity, not talking about the darkness of 509 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 2: it replacing humans. And I feel good that my gen 510 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 2: Z kids are reading it, you know, like having them 511 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 2: feel like they could be an author and a creator 512 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 2: and having them pick content that I think is appropriate 513 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 2: for them to choose and read and engage and talk 514 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,160 Speaker 2: about it. For me, I hope it's the last job 515 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 2: I ever have. We'll see. I came out of public 516 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 2: company retirement. Like I said, I would not work for 517 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 2: another public company five years ago when I was launching 518 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 2: the Impossible Burger and here I am. So for me, 519 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 2: this is special. This is a different kind of company. 520 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. We'll hear next from Brandon Chen, a 521 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: top creator of webtoons. After this break, and we're back 522 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: with my conversation with Brandon Chen. He's a prolific creator 523 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: of webtoons and digital novels. He's known for popular series 524 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: such as Just a Goblin, among many others. He's based 525 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: in New York, but his work travels the world, and yes, 526 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: he has his eye on growth through trans media. As 527 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: he explains, I will just start at the beginning, Brandon, 528 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: how did you get into becoming a creator for web tunes? 529 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, so I started off as a novelist when I 530 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 4: was from the ages of fourteen. I published my first 531 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 4: novel from fourteen to seventeen, and then I continued doing 532 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 4: novels until I was in my early twenties. I think 533 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 4: at the time it was really hard for me to 534 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 4: do what I really wanted, which was Japanese manga. I'd 535 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 4: been obsessed with mangas ever since I was a kid, 536 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 4: and that was not really a medium that was possible 537 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 4: in the United States. 538 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 3: And so how I fell into the web tune space. 539 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 4: Was you know, I read web tunes actually when I 540 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 4: was in high school, and I knew about the medium. 541 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 4: At the time, it was a very Korean dominated medium, 542 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 4: not as many creators here in the US. But over time, 543 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 4: obviously that's changed. And I won a competition in Japan 544 00:29:56,080 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 4: or had a very viral submission that's was actually for 545 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 4: Japanese manga. But then I got a web tune publisher 546 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 4: that gave me a serialization deal out of that competition, 547 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 4: and from that publisher, then web Tune saw that project 548 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 4: and wanted to receive a pitch or two and then 549 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 4: from there I started just a Goblin and samay No 550 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 4: tourre at Webtune and then you know, that's obviously ballooned 551 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 4: into a much bigger partnership beyond that. But yeah, that's 552 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 4: how I got started. It started off with a love 553 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 4: for Japanese manga and then pivoted over into web tunes. 554 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: Amazing. So wait, now at fourteen were were you publishing 555 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: your novels online? How did you how did you publish initially? 556 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 1: Do that initial publication? 557 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,719 Speaker 4: Yeah, so when I was fourteen years old was when 558 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 4: I started the novel. So I was just publishing chapters 559 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 4: kind of like in a web normal web novel format 560 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 4: on Whatpad, which at the time had a lot of. 561 00:30:57,720 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 3: Different stories on there. 562 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 4: And you know, I had like I was like fourteen, 563 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 4: I got like one hundred thousand reads and I was like, 564 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 4: this is the best day of my life. And then, 565 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 4: you know, obviously I took that and that the reader 566 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 4: feedback and packaged into a novel which was distributed on 567 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 4: on Amazon for ebook and print, and then I could 568 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 4: just kind of continued that that process of producing novels, 569 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 4: learning how to storytell along the way, and then eventually, 570 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 4: like again, pivoted over into more of a visual storytelling 571 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 4: space after I had a project in Western Comics which 572 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 4: taught me how to work collaboratively, collaboratively with with artists, 573 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,640 Speaker 4: and then you know, the rest is is history. 574 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 3: Wow. 575 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: Well, I mean that's right there. There's a lot. You're 576 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: very industrious teenager right from the get go. What what 577 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: is it? Would you say? What is the what is 578 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: the sort of classic characteristic of a web tune something 579 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: published in that format? What makes it different from a 580 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,719 Speaker 1: novel or a graph or a manga or you know, 581 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: a comic book. 582 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think like a key difference is definitely like 583 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 4: in terms of pacing. But if I just talk about 584 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 4: the format for a second, like web tune is a 585 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 4: medium that is again very very modern because it is 586 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 4: optimized for the digital format, particularly your phone, so you know, 587 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 4: it's better to read it on your phone than it 588 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 4: is on your computer. But and that's because it has 589 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 4: this kind of vertical scroll format where you know, you're 590 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:32,719 Speaker 4: kind of very active where you're scrolling through the story 591 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 4: as you're reading. I kind of like to think of 592 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 4: it as like watching still TV and you're riding a 593 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,959 Speaker 4: bike and if the more you ride the bike, the 594 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 4: more the TV moves sort of and that's kind of 595 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 4: like you know, using your finger to make the web 596 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 4: tune move. But yeah, it's vertical scroll, pretty bite sized chapters, 597 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 4: you know, fifty to sixty panels on average, and it's colored, 598 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 4: which is very different from Japanese manga, which has traditionally 599 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 4: been uh, you know, black and white. And the stories 600 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 4: on there are quite diverse in the types of content 601 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 4: that you can tell for the different genres out there. 602 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,240 Speaker 4: So yeah, it's a pretty it's a pretty new medium. 603 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 4: There's a lot of different things that make it different 604 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 4: from novels and TV and all that kind of stuff, 605 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 4: and a lot of it is you know, the serialized 606 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 4: format obviously, and also you know the pacing as well. 607 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: And do you do your own illustrations? Do you do 608 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: your own graphics? No? 609 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 3: So I'm a writer and a producer. 610 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 4: So you know, my kind of role in this space 611 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,959 Speaker 4: is that I come up with a idea in the 612 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 4: shower and I got a web Tune and I say, 613 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,120 Speaker 4: you know, I build a pitch essentially, and I say like, hey, 614 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 4: like and this comes from my background in consulting, is 615 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 4: that I can make pretty PowerPoint decks. Hey, I have 616 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 4: this great idea. You know, would you be willing to 617 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 4: partner on this? And you know, Webtune says yes or no, 618 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 4: and I still you know if they say yes. You know, 619 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 4: I staff those teams with artists. You know, usually it's 620 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 4: a lead artist, and there's also you know, assistance that 621 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 4: help them, like backgrounds, coloring, all that kind of stuff. 622 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 4: And then you know, I'm involved like kind of every 623 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:17,480 Speaker 4: at every step of the production, So storyboards, in game coloring, lettering, 624 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 4: I'm kind of art directing at those different phases as 625 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 4: well as writing the story. And then you know, I 626 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 4: have a little bit of a social media presence, so 627 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,520 Speaker 4: I help market the story as well. But yeah, that's 628 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 4: kind of my my role in the different stories, and 629 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 4: we we work on somewhere between five to ten web 630 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 4: comics that are serialized, which is pretty exciting and they're 631 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 4: quite different. So my brain is getting tugged in all 632 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 4: sorts of ways. But I also think about the accessibility 633 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 4: at a transmedia level, like, you know, would this work 634 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 4: well as a film, would this work well as a 635 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:54,480 Speaker 4: TV show and animation? Could I see this franchising beyond 636 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 4: just just web tunes? And that's that's all strategic stuff 637 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 4: that I think about. At the concepting level. 638 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,799 Speaker 1: How do you know when something is really resonating with 639 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: an audience. 640 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 4: What's really great again about this the webtoone platform is 641 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 4: that you can see that kind of sentiment real time. 642 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 4: You know, there's a lot of different indicators that can 643 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 4: indicate how a series is performing. They have like likes, 644 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 4: they have comments, and you can see those comments in 645 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 4: real time. I can press publish and then within the 646 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 4: next hour it's like you can see if people love 647 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,720 Speaker 4: it or they hate it, right, And obviously the community 648 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 4: is really really nice, so you know, it's it's quite 649 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 4: fortunate that you know, they're well receiving of a lot 650 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 4: of the different stories that we tell. But I think 651 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 4: like that's the thing about serialized format that's really or 652 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 4: digital serialized format that's really interesting, is like you know, 653 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 4: you release each week and you get that feedback immediately, 654 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,800 Speaker 4: versus like, you know, as someone who did worked in novels, 655 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:53,839 Speaker 4: it's like I spent a whole year in darkness pretty 656 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,360 Speaker 4: much without knowing how it's gonna work, and then you 657 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 4: press publish and you know, you hope it works out. 658 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 4: Same with like film TV. People spend years on these 659 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 4: things and they have no idea what people are going 660 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 4: to say, and getting that feedback has been really great. 661 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,360 Speaker 4: And then also like you know, let's say a reader says, 662 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 4: I really like this character because of XYZ reason that 663 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,960 Speaker 4: actually sometimes gets me thinking if I didn't have original 664 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 4: plans for that character, like, oh, maybe there's a way, 665 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 4: you know, people like this character more than I anticipated, 666 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,759 Speaker 4: maybe that can inform how I progress the story, like 667 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 4: in the future of that kind of stuff. So that's been, 668 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 4: you know, again a benefit and something I really like 669 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,279 Speaker 4: about the serialized websine format, And I think it can 670 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 4: be quite motivating, I think, because I think, you know, 671 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,320 Speaker 4: working in darkness for so long, the only thing motivating. 672 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:40,680 Speaker 3: You is yourself. 673 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,719 Speaker 4: But the readers, the readers can be the most motivating 674 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,399 Speaker 4: in my opinion, way more motivating than I can hide 675 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 4: myself up in the mirror, I think. 676 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: And what do you find that you have readership around 677 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,400 Speaker 1: the world? Do you find is it concentrated in in 678 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,160 Speaker 1: like the US and Asia or you really feel like 679 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 1: you you are getting feedback from all over the world. 680 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:08,240 Speaker 4: I think there's I do have readers that definitely follow 681 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,080 Speaker 4: me from all over the worlds. I think the webtern 682 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 4: Us platform that we primarily work with a lot of them, 683 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,440 Speaker 4: A lot of the readers are from the US, so. 684 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,400 Speaker 3: I'm definitely what more well known in the US. 685 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 4: I think, you know, my goals on a broader level 686 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:26,880 Speaker 4: are to you know, be more international. So obviously you 687 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 4: know the stories, and that's all stuff that I think about, 688 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,879 Speaker 4: you know, in terms of trans media, and also like 689 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 4: when I'm creating concepts, it's like, how can I make 690 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 4: sure that this is a story that can resonate hopefully 691 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 4: on the international level, like if it were to be 692 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 4: localized to Japan or Korea because that's that's also where 693 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:45,760 Speaker 4: there's a lot of web web tune readers and consumption 694 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,920 Speaker 4: are are in those countries. So that's all stuff that 695 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,759 Speaker 4: I think about and obviously is a part of the strategy. 696 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 1: What are the benefits of this platform form for a 697 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,040 Speaker 1: young creator who does not have a following, is just 698 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: starting out, that has a story that really want to 699 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: tell in this medium? 700 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,440 Speaker 4: Well, I think through serialized storytelling it's a great way 701 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,080 Speaker 4: to learn how to storytell. I think when I was younger, 702 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,879 Speaker 4: you know, it was all about there was so much 703 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 4: time spent planning. And this is the thing I see 704 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 4: a lot about a lot of new creators. It's like 705 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 4: there's so much time spent planning and being paralyzed with 706 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,880 Speaker 4: wanting to create the biggest story, the next one piece 707 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 4: or Harry Potter, when ultimately the best way to learn 708 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 4: how to storytell is by releasing things. And I think 709 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 4: that webtoon as a format and any sort of story, 710 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:39,680 Speaker 4: the serialized storytelling medium allows for you to learn because 711 00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 4: it forces you to do something, It forces you to release, 712 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,120 Speaker 4: It forces you to put something out chapter one and 713 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,279 Speaker 4: then and then you get some readers on the platform 714 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 4: and they want chapter two, and you have to give 715 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:51,799 Speaker 4: them that. 716 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 3: So I think there's a lot. 717 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,840 Speaker 4: Of learning as a as an early creator that you 718 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 4: can get from, uh from working kind of in this 719 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,600 Speaker 4: sea your last format. And again, webtune Canvas has a 720 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 4: really accessible what's it called, platform for publishing for newer creators. 721 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:10,640 Speaker 3: I think so yeah. 722 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 4: I think like I didn't know about canvas at the time, 723 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 4: and I was fourteen, and I didn't know how to 724 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,440 Speaker 4: work with artists or how any of that stuff worked. 725 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 4: But if I could go back, I would say, like 726 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,840 Speaker 4: it would be really cool to test my hand earlier 727 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,839 Speaker 4: on to create one shots or create like a like 728 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,960 Speaker 4: a short series that could teach me more about the 729 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,960 Speaker 4: production process earlier on. 730 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 1: Interesting. Well, Brandon, I'm so grateful for you to take 731 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: the time to talk me through this and my kind 732 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:43,400 Speaker 1: of rudimentary questions here. Anything that I didn't ask you, 733 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:49,239 Speaker 1: anything that's significant about the storytelling opportunity, the business opportunity 734 00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:51,000 Speaker 1: of web tunes that you'd like to add. 735 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 4: I think, you know, webtune in the format is a 736 00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 4: great way for a lot of creators to tell a 737 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,680 Speaker 4: amalgam of different stories, like there's a there's really U 738 00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,520 Speaker 4: Sky's the limit. I think it's like one of the 739 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 4: best ways if you are a creator that wants to 740 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,360 Speaker 4: go eventually transmedia. I think webtune is a great testing 741 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,080 Speaker 4: ground for a lot of concepts. Like you know, it's 742 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,319 Speaker 4: it's it's cheaper to create a webtune comic than it 743 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:23,480 Speaker 4: is to try and fund a full on Marvel television show, right, 744 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,080 Speaker 4: So I think like it's a great way to learn 745 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,720 Speaker 4: how to storytell, it's a great way to to build 746 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 4: IP and uh, you know, if that that's a goal 747 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 4: of any creator, I think, like you know, it's something 748 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:35,560 Speaker 4: that people should be looking at. 749 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,440 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Please be sure to leave us a 750 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:45,680 Speaker 1: review at Apple Podcast or Amazon Music. We love to 751 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 1: hear from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and 752 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,520 Speaker 1: sign up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and 753 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,160 Speaker 1: don't forget to tune in next week for another episode 754 00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 1: of Strictly Business.