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In their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, shares of online comics platform WEBTOON Entertainment surged as much as 14.3% over the price of their initial public offering. The company was valued at $2.71 billion when the shares opened at $21.30 and reached a high of $24. It was #trading just after midday at $22.86. With the support of South Korea's largest digital #business Naver, the company raised $315 million by selling 15 million shares at the top of its advertised range of $18 to $21. The robust launch bodes well for businesses hoping to go public as the summer #IPO market becomes more welcoming to new issuers. Southern California's Los Angeles Webtoon is a storytelling platform that features thousands of stories in more than 20 genres, such as horror, comedy, romance, and fantasy. As a side project, CEO junkoo Kim who was working as a search engineer at Naver at the time founded the business in 2005. In a simultaneous private placement, Webtoon sold NAVER Corp around 2.4 million shares at IPO price, netting them close to $50 million. Webtoons are brief, digitally drawn comics that are designed to be read on mobile devices. Originating in Korea twenty years ago, the format is inexpensive to make and can be made by anybody with a tablet. The genre, which draws on Korea's long tradition of visual storytelling, has become more well-known outside as a result of the success of K-dramas, K-pop, and other Korean exports. Popular webtoons include The Sound of Your Heart, a semi-autobiographical tale, and Lore Olympus, a romantic reworking of the Greek myth of Persephone. According to Kim and Chief Strategy Officer Yongsoo Kim, the company was already profitable in terms of operating cash flow in 2023. They intend to use the proceeds from the IPO to accelerate growth in North America until webtoons have a comparable position to those of South Korea or Japan in terms of user base and advertising #revenue. “Platform business takes up about 80% of our sales, advertising 10%, intellectual property business 10%. In all three areas, we have great room to grow,” Yongsoo Kim said, referring to fees people pay to read the works, and revenue generated from converting webcomics or webnovels into different formats, such as a drama or movie. Additionally, Webtoon plans to invest in artificial intelligence #technology in order to reduce the workload of content creators and expand the range of works that it hosts. Over the past ten years, 24 million artists have produced 55 million episodes on its platform, and dozens of webtoons have been turned into well-known dramas and films for Netflix, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios Video, Apple TV, and other streaming services. These adaptations include Hellbound, Bloodhounds, and Sweet Home. To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #KDrama #Media #Entertainment #IPO #Webtoon #Japan

Interesting to see the increased value of a studio that rivals only Disney in its ambitions as an adult lifestyle brand. Theme parks remain out of scope for the moment (imagine a tourable Hereditary house or Uncut Gems-themed escape room), but coffee table book and artisanal T-Shirt money is nothing to scoff at when you've cornered the market on people who dress like they live in Bushwick. This year's marketing campaigns for Civil War and MaXXXine have demonstrated the distributor's ambitions to scale up its aesthetic niches for a more mainstream genre audience. As major studios increasingly shy away from theatrical mid-budget releases, A24 offers auteurs a partner that still believes in the potential of original films as big-screen, fandom-generating events. https://lnkd.in/dVGGJ98P

My first job in Hollywood was pushing a mail cart through these halls. As a home-schooled kid from Pasadena, CA trying to break into a highly-gated and closed-off industry, it was a dream to be able to simply deliver coffee to these executives and talent around town, while learning how the biz worked. A LOT has changed since then and Hollywood’s unsustainable, hit-driven model has been fully exposed by the tech/streaming companies taking over with their subscription plans, leaving traditional studios (and the creatives) in the dust. We hear/read it all the time: Hollywood is broken. I always knew from the start that this oligarch structure of how the industry runs was not sustainable. We’re seeing it now. Consolidation at it’s finest as the dinosaurs who once ran this business fade away. And of course, the true gold (the actual IP libraries) are what’s left of a horrible business model for the likes of Sony, Ellison, etc. to acquire. We just begun to see the rotten business models of the film and television business because the actual talent took to the streets in protest. We have not seen ANYTHING yet. Wait until the gaming industry wakes up to the fact that no level designer, game developer, art director, 3D artist, etc. (the actual talent that makes our favorite games) don’t receive a shred of residuals. And we’re talking about an industry that is much larger than film, tv, music combined. So while I see everyone raving about Hollywood x Gaming, all we're really seeing is adaptations seeking for another big hit. So we’ll continue to see more layoffs, titles being shelved and studios shutting down. All this has created opportunity for the next generation of entertainment companies like Iconic Arts to open doors. There will soon be a wave of young, creative leaders that know how to leverage technology, new entertainment financing models and participatory community building through gaming, that will take over. These companies will take a more “Silicon Valley approach” to a Hollywood studio, building emerging tools to lower costs and risks of developing new IP. They’ll also use UGC platforms like Roblox and Fortnite more than just marketing campaigns for their already produced titles. These will also serve as market testing and community building environments for original content, gaming and merchandising. Those highly-gated walls of Hollywood I mentioned are crumbling. We have entered a new era in which creators and storytellers from any part of the world can be successful in the "industry". Mailroom culture is done and creative democratization is here. Iconic Arts is leading the way on all fronts here as the premier next-gen entertainment company. Some exciting announcements coming soon from our team. Alec Griffen Roth Matthew Medney Jack Sheehan Mo Yazdani Rob Carroll Omar Abdelwahed

End of an Era, But a Sign of the Times? Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to shutter Rooster Teeth, the powerhouse behind RWBY and gen:LOCK, marks a significant moment in digital content creation. After more than two decades of pioneering online entertainment, this move has left 150 employees and numerous contractors grappling with the reality of sudden joblessness. In business, adaptability and evolution are not just buzzwords; they are survival tactics. This closure serves as a stark reminder of the volatile nature of the entertainment industry, especially in an era where digital content is king, yet so ephemeral. While it's disheartening to see such a creative force dissolve, it also prompts a necessary discussion around the sustainability of digital content creators and the strategies companies employ to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape. For us in the business and tech sectors, this is a call to re-evaluate how we support innovation while ensuring longevity and stability for our ventures and for those who help bring them to life. The end of Rooster Teeth is not just a loss for its employees and fans; it's a wake-up call for the industry to innovate, adapt, and above all, prepare for the unpredictable. Let's take this moment to reflect on our strategies and the future of digital content creation. How can we learn from this? How can we do better? [Link to the article] Check this out: https://lnkd.in/guveUZ8u

Slightly off topic: When did creative stop being so creative? We're in a market of constant sequels and franchising, unimaginative execution, low effort IP and a severe lack of engagement. It's no longer "safe," it's annoying consumers. As someone who enjoys creative content in all it's forms, independents are doing more to advance creative IP than any established company. Independent film makers, animators, game studios, creative studios and more are doing more for creating engaging stories for less money and more entertainment. Yet these same groups lack the entertainment platforms giants stand upon. My hot take: If Hollywood, major theme parks and game studios took more risks creating original IP, we'd enter a creative renaissance which would rival the 1990's. And to me, that's not a bad place to be both for companies and consumers alike.

This is cool: Karlie Kloss buys LIFE from IAC and will relaunch via Bedford Media, home of the recently acquired i-D. Though the irony of America's most iconic magazine brand returning via OpenAI backers Thrive Capital is pure dystopian black comedy, and Dotdash Meredith retaining rights to the LIFE archive and being able to publish special issues makes it seem almost like a licensing play, Bedford's mission statement is the most interesting part of the deal: "blending iconic brands with new ways of doing business and reaching audiences, the company’s strategy banks away from ubiquity and reach toward quality and depth.” Sounds smart. And familiar. Appealing to enthusiast communities is so obviously the future for independent publishers, media brands, and entertainment/storytelling. If you can't be the biggest platform, you better find a niche and embrace it. LIFE may just be the biggest niche of all.

Keywords Studios PLC (AIM:KWS, OTC:KYYWF) said investment firm EQT Group has tabled a 2,450p per share, £2 billion offer for the business, which it is minded to recommend. To finalise transaction documentation, the "put up or shut up" date (deadline for making a formal bid) has been extended to July 3 at 5 p.m. In the same announcement, Keywords expressed confidence in delivering strong revenue and profit growth this year, although its performance is likely to be second-half weighted. This comes as the sector emerges from the slower content creation trends that are currently dampening industry spending. "We have had a small number of larger game development projects deferred to the second half or canceled, creating capacity gaps in Create which were unable to be filled at short notice," it told investors. "This, together with ongoing softer demand in Globalize and the relatively slow ramp-up in content production in... More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors http://ow.ly/vATL105yuZZ

Film studios milk successful movies with prequels and spin-offs. So, why don't brands do the same when working with creators? Let's say a creator posts an amazing video. The storytelling is 100, idea is 100 and engagement is 100. You know the audience loves it. Why don't brands extend the life of that video with creators? Thinking of videos formats such as: PREQUEL — what happened before the incredible video. What story can be told alongside a brand that "pre-dates" the amazing video SPIN-OFF — The idea of "what would've happened if...". Think of it like fan fiction but the fan is the brand DIRECTORS CUT — Using the same footage but adding in a natural brand integration. Don't look to reinvent what's already working. Double down and give a creator's audience a moment to look back on I'm going to use video to explain the idea further using Caleb Simpsons most recent house tour with Drew Barrymore. If you know any marketers at Uber, Lyft, Bumble, Casper, Hershey's etc. share this idea with them

Thoughtful Thursday (Part 2, continued from Part 1) Yes, we as artists want to get paid in order to pay our bills, support our families, heck support ourselves. Of course we do. But right now, we don't have jobs. All we have is our art, which we can create without money. And we have it much easier than Walt Disney did 100 years ago - we have the internet. We have ways to get our art seen. Shoot, we even have ways to get funds to make our films - Kickstarter, anyone? Let's go back to Walt. You know, the REAL, and only, Mr. Disney. He was all about the art, about creativity, about discovery, about storytelling. Disneyland was built as a living storybook. He was the first to mix live action with a cartoon, adding sound to animation, moving from black and white to color, and creating the first full feature animation. Walt drove the industry forward and grew his company by assuming risk after risk. And Walt failed a lot. Fantasia and Bambi lost millions of dollars when they first opened. Regardless, Walt continued to create. He believed in his product, and, even if they didn’t make money, he thought that he could create his way out of a financial hole. And he did it without sequels. “I DO NOT LIKE TO REPEAT SUCCESSES, I LIKE TO GO ON TO OTHER THINGS." ~Walt Disney The Disney Brothers' business continued to teeter from profit to loss because of Walt’s pursuit of quality. He always believed that quality and story would win the day. As time passed, they were under millions of dollars of debt. Walt continued to fight, using innovation and grit. I, of course, didn't know Walt. Though I do believe in my heart of hearts that he would be continuing to push the limits of storytelling - most likely even embracing AI - as a tool of course, not a replacement of artists, of the human factor. And he certainly wouldn't give in to profit over quality in story. WE are artists, we are the creatives. Let's make Walt proud and make amazing, moving works of living art. Damn the money. Hey, we don't have money anyway. But we do have the creator within. Let's use OUR innovation and grit. "YOU REACH A POINT WHERE YOU DON'T WORK FOR MONEY." ~Walt Disney So artists far and wide, production crews, technical directors, and everyone that is part of the cog - that without us, no studio could stand - let's use our unemployment time to create together. We can join forces and get back to making magic. Let's get back to the story...just like, again as Sarah pointed out, Laika is doing. P.S. I have no idea how to start a studio or make it work, I am just throwing the idea out there hoping someone does and then we can run with it. We need you! https://startastudio.com/ #3dartists #3danimation #animation #artists #lighters4lighters #lightingartists #compositors #textureartist #animators #groomartists #storyboarding #producer #director #conceptartist #technicalartist #editor

EQT in advanced talks to buy Keywords Studios for $2.8 billion Full Article Link >>> https://lnkd.in/gzHd8-N3 European private equity group EQT is in advanced discussions to buy Dublin-based video game services company Keywords Studios for 2.2 billion pounds ($2.79 billion), the companies said in a statement. EQT is negotiating over a possible cash offer of 25.50 pounds per share of London-listed Keywords, the statement said. This offer represents a premium of […] . . Latest IND . . . . #trendingnews #newstrending #trendingtopicnews #lifestyle #business #news #healthylifestyle #smallbusiness #supportsmallbusiness #lifestyleblogger #luxurylifestyle #businessowner #businesswoman #smallbusinessowner #businessnews