WEBVTT - Exploring the Wide World of Webtoons 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:12.080 Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcasts featuring conversations with 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:16.360 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment Today. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.119 My guests are movers and shakers in the world of webtuns. 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.159 What is a webtoon? You ask, well, keep listening, But 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.800 in Hollywood shorthand, it's like a graphic novel meets a 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.760 blog scroll meets a soap opera. David J. Lee is 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:36.840 chief operating Officer and chief financial Officer of Webtoon Entertainment. 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.519 The Los Angeles based company is a big force in 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:45.000 this growing digital storytelling medium that got its start about 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:48.840 a decade ago in South Korea. My conversation with Lee 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.080 was held January eighth as part of Variety's annual Entertainment 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.000 Summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. A 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.880 week later, I got on a zoom with the top 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.800 webtune creator Brandon Chen to get his perspective on this 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.600 cutting edge new format. My conversation with Webtoon Entertainments David 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:22.800 jay Lee is coming up right after this break, and 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:27.360 we're back with a conversation from cees with Webtoon Entertainments. 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.360 David jay Lee, let's start a little bit and just 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:36.120 unpack exactly what a webtune is. The best sort of 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:41.080 the best shorthand description. Hollywood always loves it's this meets 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.440 this plus this, But the best sort of shorthand description 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.560 of what an actual web tune is is sort of 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.920 a mix between a blog and a manga. That might 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.040 be a little oversimplified, But David, if we could start 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.080 just by really sort of sketching out what when people 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:01.040 go to webtoon users online, because it's a digital platform 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.600 in terms of the core of the of the business 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.760 and the storytelling, when somebody goes to a find a webtune, 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:10.920 what user experience is that? 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.160 Yeah, it's a great question. And for those in the 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.040 audience who may not have heard of webtune, I have 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.640 the feeling you may have seen a great live action 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.480 film and didn't realize it came from us. And if 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.360 you have friends and family who are in our core target, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.079 which is the gen Z target, I know that they're 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.960 familiar with us. Let me explain what the company is, 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.920 but then explain what the experience is. So Webtune is 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.399 a company, is global. We've got one hundred and seventy 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.280 million monthly active users, but We have twenty four million 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.240 creators who are creating over one hundred and twenty thousand 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.239 stories every day right new there for the taking by 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.040 our gen Z consumers, and the experience is truly digital 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.440 and mobile, and it spans way beyond one genre. It's 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.400 more than manga. It's any genre you can imagine. Imagine 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.600 a gen Z consumer in their palm of their hand 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.959 on a mobile device, with a flick of their fingers, 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.360 can scroll and in a fraction of a moment see 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.679 just enough imagery a few words to tell them where 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.760 a story is going. And at the same time, these 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.040 consumers are spending once they find their great story, thirty 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.800 to sixteen minutes a day reading either a web novel 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.000 or what we call a webcomic or a web tune. 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.360 For me, having started in the advertising business, it reminds 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:30.320 me of a incredible next generation of a digital storyboard, 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.400 which is why we love the one point three billion 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.480 and reported revenue we generate on our platform. But we 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.440 love the consumers get to see these stories as rich 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:43.360 film adaptations on Netflix or Amazon Prime where you saw 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.720 one that came out recently after Thanksgiving on TB And 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:51.120 so we're a great untold story. People don't realize they've 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.080 seen our stories. And you know, I'd love to unpack 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.320 a little bit about what we're all about here. 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.760 Absolutely yeah, I think. I mean, you had the audience 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:04.160 at twenty four million. That is an astounding number. How 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.119 do you even Before we talk about sort of adapting 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.360 into other media, I want to talk just the mechanics 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.440 of sort of how it works. It's user generated, so 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:18.600 people can upload their they upload their imagery, they upload Now, 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.520 in my understanding of it, it's largely kind of in 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.000 you know, comp graphic form, comic book form. But are 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.720 you finding now people are uploading video as well with 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:28.880 their with their web tunes? 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.160 Well what they're they're starting to upload if you think 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.000 about it, these twenty four million creators, the vast majority 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.760 have full time jobs. You know. A great example is 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.200 a young woman named Rachel Smythe who was a brilliant 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.080 graphic designer who thought she might have a story to 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.640 tell in New Zealand and she can come to our site. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.480 She did. It's called Canvas. We've worked really hard as 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.000 a tech and an AI company to make it easy 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.640 for anyone who thinks they might have a story that 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.800 someone wants to see to create that story, either as 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.640 a web novel or or if they have a sense 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:05.520 of imagery, what we call a webcomic. And so these 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.680 are if you think about our product, just like you 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:12.040 can imagine going through a digital storyboard. You can scroll 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.839 through vertically this unique format and see where these stories 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.280 are going. In the case of Rachel, she like many 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.080 of our twenty four million creators, didn't realize that her 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.719 story would allow her to be a global creator. She 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.920 is a New York Times bestselling author in print, which 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.400 we helped her enable. And we may be the only 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:35.120 company that has shared two point eight billion dollars as 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.560 a core function of our business model with creators. That's 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.200 why we have so many, because we're truly aligned to 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.880 the fact that consumers want new stories, they want stories 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:50.560 from unexpected global sources, and entertainment companies want proven, validated 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.760 with market signal hits that come from places like us 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.920 for them to turn into great pieces of film or 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.320 merchandise or games. So that's the reason why I think 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:05.000 we have this unique ecosystem of a global consumption on 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.840 our platform, these one hundred and seventy million monthly active users, 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.400 a format that allows anybody to be able to see 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.640 in a fraction of a second where a story is going, 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.360 and a d risked profile for an evergreen source of stories, 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.919 I hope increasingly for the media industry, which we're going 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:21.920 to talk about more today. 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.880 I mean, you know, there's just no shortage of interest. 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.680 You know, from the beginnings of Hollywood to today. The 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.160 story the kernel. It starts with the story. It's a cliche, 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.599 it starts on the page, but it's it starts with 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:41.200 the story. And what's interesting in the modern age is 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.520 that so many people are empowered as storytellers. I think 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:47.039 in the past people felt like, well, I'm not a 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.680 Hollywood screenwriter. I'm not, you know, but this is like 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:52.880 a forum like so many other social media platforms are. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.279 But it's such a specific forum. Let me ask us 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.000 again a few more questions about the mechanics of the 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:03.640 core web tune business. Does your company do you curate 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:05.800 some of these? Do you see when things start to 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.640 bubble up you curate them and help kind of recommend 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.440 them or is it really. 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.800 Yeah, I think they're think of the experiences. We're very 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.440 much empowering creators, as you mentioned, to be able to 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:19.840 present the story in a way that everyone can consume. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.040 So a bunch of our technology, for example here in 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.200 the US we call it canvas, allows a great amateur 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.800 creator to see if somebody might love their story as 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.040 a webcomic or on our wapat platform or web novel. 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.760 But then with one hundred and over one hundred and 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.000 twenty thousand stories arriving every single day, a lot of 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.560 our AI technology is to make sure that as a consumer, 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.280 these gen Z consumers, they want an unexpected story, but 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.680 they have to find it. So having AI based personalization 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.440 engines to allow we call her Mattie as our target consumer. 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.720 You know, she's maybe just out of college, or maybe 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.360 she's getting a cup of coffee, and Mattie loves the 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.680 story that she's reading. But we know so much about 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.480 what she loves that presenting her the ability to see 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:07.400 the next story is a big part of our underlying technology. 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.320 And then there's a large amount of this also which 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.760 is geared around ensuring that we protect both the creator 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.320 and the consumer to ensure that the content is safe. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:22.680 But also we all as content generations generators, fight piracy. 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.400 So a large amount of our tech is to make 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:29.520 this ecosystem healthy and because we're global, that's required us 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.719 to be a tech company at origin, which we were 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.319 bored out of, a global tech company, but a media 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.800 and entertainment company in reality as now that we're generating. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.959 We have over nine hundred adaptations of stories outside our platform, 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.120 one hundred of which are rich film releases in TV 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.920 and movies. You know, two of Netflix's all time top 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:55.000 ten projects ever came from us, right, what are those titles? Yes, 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.320 so all of Us are Dead was one of them. 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.640 And Through My Window, which was an unex affected web 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.679 novel that came out of the Spanish and language creators, 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.920 was amazing. But you know, every quarter this happens, right, 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:11.079 Love Me, Love Me in Italy, you know, seeking me 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.440 votes from Spain. We talked about last quarter Sideline, the 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.760 Quarterback and Me. The day after Thanksgiving here in the 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.880 US was a top five hit on two B which 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.080 start no a back this great social media star. So 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.280 more and more, I think the world is waking up 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.520 to the fact that people love a good story, and 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.360 they love it in all formats on our platform, as 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.080 a webcomic or a web novel, but certainly as a 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.880 rich film release, a live action release on either TV 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:39.000 or on the big screen. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.640 How do you with over one hundred thousand stories coming in? 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:43.720 Did you say every day? 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:44.400 Every day? 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.400 I can't even imagine, you know, the ranks of studio 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.800 executives that it would take to process that. How do 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:52.800 you deal with content moderation? I got to believe that 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.720 not every one of those people are good citizens. And 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:57.880 you know, maybe there's some stuff that you don't want 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.360 on the platform. Do you reserve the right to say, hey, 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:01.760 this isn't right for web tune? 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.360 I mean, this is where our technology comes into play. 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.719 I used to be in businesses in mobile gaming and 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.520 other consumer businesses where we were relying on a lot 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.280 of hard work by a lot of humans. But while 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.839 we have that, we have the benefit of cutting edge 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.720 AI technology our own, but we're very happy to partner 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.800 with whoever has the best, and we like to think 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.760 that we provide a real advantage for creators on piracy 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.600 and consumers on safety. But a large part of it 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:32.560 is also market signal. You know, when you have one 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.040 hundred and seventy million monthly active users across multiple languages 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.160 across the globe, and they are so protective of the 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.439 community that we have, they're a big part of our 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.880 warning system as well. And you know, we can talk 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.480 about all the policies, the technology. We like to think 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.840 we are cutting edge here, but I think the core 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.560 is what's differentiating is the technology we have and the 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.800 community base we have and the track record. You know, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.959 Protecting creators and consumers has been our story since its origin, 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.760 and it's taken us over ten years to arrive as 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.120 now a public company at scale. But now that we are, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.600 we can have these one hundred and twenty thousand stories 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.160 that we think are readable and safer consumers arrive every day. 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.960 I could imagine that that with that kind of volume, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.319 you'd have to have an AI tool, you would have 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:24.160 to have something so you have certain red flags that 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.760 they're looking for. Not to hammer on this, but you know, 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:31.360 content moderation is a big subject for us. Let's talk 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.800 about so how does it work with the creators and 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.960 the business model. The more people read, the more it's 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:38.040 basically a revenue share. 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:43.480 Yeah, so we share in the success of amateur creators 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.920 as they become superstars. And there are so many examples 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.240 of folks who didn't realize that they had a voice 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.160 that deserve to be heard. Our model, while simple, is 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:57.440 really hard. You know, it is difficult for a company 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.560 to do what we've done because this to twenty million 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.760 dollars we've shared means that we're in it with them. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.960 And from a consumer standpoint, you know, we don't force 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:10.200 heavy subscriptions. You know, Maddie as our gen Z target consumer. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.959 By the way, over seventy percent of our consumers in 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.839 North America say they can't find the stories they find 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.440 anywhere else. Same percent says that their experience on our 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.040 platform is more fun than great companies like Roadblocks and TikTok. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.360 And the reason why that's true is Maddie can serve 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.440 her as long as she wants, and when she finds 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.400 a story, it feels like her discovery, a bit like 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.600 discovering a real or a video that she feels no 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:39.160 one else has seen. She only pays fifteen to seventy 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.400 cents to see the latest breaking episode of the story 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.719 that she picked, and we are patient. We let our 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.680 Maddie's take all the time they want to find the 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.440 story they want, and she doesn't have to always pay. 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.760 She can watch a video, maybe it's an advertisement that's 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.280 akin to the genre. Maybe she's watching true beauty and 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.640 there's a you do a beauty ad that she finds 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.520 relevant that allows her to see that next episode. So 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.320 we make it super easy for our consumers to be 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:13.280 as empowered as our creators to pick on their own 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.640 time what they want to read and see. And I 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.560 think that's that patience over the last decade plus is 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.760 the reason why we feel gen Z is we're not 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.439 reaching them. They're reaching out to us for stories they 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:28.439 can't find anywhere. 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.520 That's a good way to put it. Very much so 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:36.160 with with gen Z, what are the metrics for the 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.760 for the part of the platform that does have advertising 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.600 or some kind of sponsor message, what are the metrics 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.480 that matter? Is it just total clicks? Is it time spent? 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:49.120 And kind of curious about the intricacies of the business model. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.360 Yeah, you know, it's a great topic for those who 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.160 are interested in this. A lot of the businesses that 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.640 I've been a part of, you know, you basically canbalize 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.280 your content business if you shove your ad business up. 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.920 You know, I think about my mobile game days where 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.199 I'm pushing gotcha for paid content at the expense of 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:08.720 time spent on an ad. This is the only business 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:13.199 I've ever seen where deep engagement helps both sides. Let 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.760 me explain. So first, who's looking at the content matters. 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.160 We like to think we have demographic goal because while 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.240 we got a lot of users, we have users spending 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.040 thirty to sixty minutes per day, and they're the attractive, 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:31.240 somewhat hard to reach users. This gen Zjen, Alpha and beyond. 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:32.960 By the way, plenty of fifty year olds like me 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.600 love our content too, because we have every genre a 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.080 creator could imagine on our platform. But then, in addition, 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.920 just as I mentioned, if Maddie or if I are 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.720 not feeling like I want to pay fifteen to seventy cents, 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.120 if I watch an AD and I get to see 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.600 the next episode without having to pay, we know that 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.280 our cohort data suggests once they read more because they 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:57.160 have more confidence that one of the next one hundred 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.960 and twenty thousand stories could be the one for them. 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.600 This is the only evergreen source of content I've been 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.360 a part of. If you think about every other business, 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.040 I've been a part of the content static. So you're 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.360 either monetizing in ads or you're monetizing and content, but 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.240 that content has a shelf life. Here, I have one 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.920 hundred and twenty thousand stories arriving every day from a 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:20.680 growing global set of creators, curated and benefited from AI 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.440 and technology. It's the reason why this growing at business, 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.320 and we were really not focused on our advertising business 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.120 until very recently here in North America. We're solely focused 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.880 on our creators and our consumers and content. It's why 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.120 I'm so hopeful that we can actually increase our household 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:42.400 penetration by offering relevant ads as an alternative for people 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.680 who may not want to pay to see the content 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:46.600 that that arrives on the platform. 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:51.000 And when people in the pay model, is it a 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.520 monthly subscription or is it a pay as you read? 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.720 Yeah, so there are two ways, and we like to 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.800 make it super simple. We want Maddie to only have 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.680 to pay a micro payment of fifteen to seventy cents 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.920 for an episode that she wants to read she picks 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.280 by the way. You know, everyone likes this idea of 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.680 having access to a library of content. So this first thing, 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:15.400 these micropayments for the late breaking episode is called a 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.760 fast pass. And then we have another way, which is 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.160 called a daily pass. So if someone wants to see 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.360 a bunch of content where episodes are not being written 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.600 live every week anymore, because we have an immense library 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.080 of proven hits in our platform, hits from all parts 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:32.160 of the world. It turns out, by the way gen 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:37.000 Z likes seeing stories from unexpected sources and from cultures 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.840 and languages that are not their own. It's a wonderful 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.040 consumer trend that we benefit from. So these are the 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.040 two ways. The majority, though, I would say the majority 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.840 of our pay content is when Maddie has pre identified 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.440 it a great story and she knows that the next 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.600 one is coming out in a week or so, and 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.600 she wants to be the first to see it along 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:00.800 with anybody else. That fast pass is the very simple 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.040 way that we keep the experience fresh. 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.639 That's great. To your point about just you know you 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.880 want to go, you want to take this avenue, Take 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.560 this avenue, Take this avenue. My mom, let me ask 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:17.160 you do you do you with You can't possibly host that, 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:21.000 you can't keep things on the platform in forever. Do 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:25.359 you kind of periodically call through and you know older 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.359 things maybe are not are not either not available or 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.040 not platformed as much. How do you manage the volume? 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.639 Well, we our origin, We are an independent public company 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.280 listed in the summer on Nasdaq, but for years, our 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.840 origin was out of this great company based in Korea 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.120 called Navor, and many of you may not have heard 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.280 of it, but Navor is the Google and Amazon Plus 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.800 of Korea, amazing technology. So because our heritage was tech, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:56.400 our ability to manage large amounts of data is the 0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:00.920 core capability of the company. We You know, I can't 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:03.159 claim to say that we will keep every piece of 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:08.040 content forever, but we certainly have the capability of bringing 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.760 back content that has been serialized for years. So one 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.639 of the things I wanted to mention is if a 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:17.800 creator has a great story, this vertical scrolling format means 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.840 that on a weekly basis, they're seeing episodes We've seen 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:25.760 hit stories span over a decade of life with i'ming new, 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:31.119 fresh episodes hitting every week. Because by serializing, you continue 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:35.240 the journey of the storyline versus a static piece of content, 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:38.480 which has a shelf life that is defined by the 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.560 user experience. And that's why we always try to extend 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.320 the life of the content we have, because we know 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.320 that it can be serialized or brought back as one 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.280 of these great film releases that I've mentioned, and so 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.360 we again, we have a patient headset and we're so 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.360 data driven that we know that stories don't die easily. 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.359 I want to talk about a bit an exciting film 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.280 project that you all have coming up, but I want 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:05.760 to ask you a question. I think a lot of 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:11.200 people are probably thinking, who owns the copyright the creator webtune? 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:12.040 Do you share it? 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.280 Yeah? We want our creators to feel like they own 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.439 their content, but at the same time, we want to 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.080 share and enable their success so much. You know, when 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.920 a young creator is writing in a language and doesn't 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.160 have the resources to know how to present it across 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.560 the world to a global audience in multiple formats and 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:33.040 multiple languages, that's where we like to think. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:34.760 Are you do bring a lot to the table? Yeah? 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:39.280 And so as a result, generally, when a creator has 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.840 a voice that's clearly being heard, we convert them to 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.119 what's called a professional creator and we voluntarily enter in 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.800 agreement where we generally have distribution rights in our platform, 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.159 but we want them to own their content so that 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.760 if they can be a great Netflix film release, that 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:58.520 we can do it with them. And you know, we 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:01.359 have relationships. We want to article that was recently written 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.440 claimed that we may have been the source of over 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.040 half of a major streamer's film releases in a country, 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:11.800 and you know I can already tell you that, and 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:14.080 we're going to talk about it increasingly in North America. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:15.760 I think twenty twenty five is going to be the 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.760 year where, now that you know that we're the source 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:21.520 of these stories, you're going to see more and more 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:25.919 of our great platform stories arrive as live action films, 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.919 either on TV or on the big screen. One of 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:30.800 which we're going to talk about for the first. 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:33.480 Time, got a pretty cool partner lined up in Margo 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.760 Roby and her Lucky Chap Productions is developing a property. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:38.399 Tell us about it. 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.240 Yeah, we're excited as a feature film. I mean, listen, 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:43.359 I want to make sure we're clear. We're excited about 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.840 all the live action films that are going to come 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.480 out in the next few months. But one that's particularly 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:53.840 interesting is stack Town. Stacktown started as a horror webcomics 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:56.720 story had over eighteen million views. It's the story of 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:00.160 three protagonists that arrive in Stacktown, and you'll have to 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.080 watch it to see the rest. Read it on our platform. 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.960 But partnering with Lucky Chap, Margo Roby's production company and 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.400 their notable success with Barbie. 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.040 And the other little movie we heard about last year. 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.720 Yeah, I think it goes to show that our stories 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:19.920 can live in any format, and it goes to show 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:22.000 that our creators have the ability not just to be 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:25.760 very successful in our platform, but that we're really aligned 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.480 to that creator's success now as a live action release. 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:32.240 I gotta believe. I just still can't get over this 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.600 creator database. I gotta believe every literary agent in Hollywood, 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.720 the smart ones are calling through your platform on a 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:40.959 daily I wish. 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:47.880 I think our almost maniacal focus on our platform, more 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:51.160 and more creators, more and more consumers, more and more content, 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:54.399 has meant that the upside I think we see in 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:58.119