[Pangyo Tech] Naver Playlist to Create OTT Content for CJ ENM and KT

    LOS ANGELES, CA, August 30, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Naver expands cooperation with the over-the-top media service industry through "playlist," its subsidiary company. Playlist equipped with its own production capacity is planning to improve content production competitiveness through collaboration with a Korean OTT company following content distribution on Youtube channels.

On the 18th, Playlist creates a web series called "juvenile delinquency (working title)" which is about teenage crime. It has been known that discussion of producing an original series of "season" of KT OTT platform for "juvenile delinquency (working title)" is currently underway.

According to sources in the content industry, there are two series planned for "juvenile delinquency (working title)." It has been confirmed that season 1 and season 2 of "juvenile delinquency (working title)" are created

Playlist original content (photo=Playlist website capture screen. Edited by journalist Sung-Oh Chae)

Filmmaker Cho Yong-ik has been decided internally to direct "juvenile delinquency (working title)." Cho won audience award at "the 16th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival" for a 2017 short film starring Lee Soo Kyung and Uhm Tae-goo. He has built up experience while creating not only trivial stories but also a story board for films including "China town," "a taxi driver," and "a drug lord". Now he is taking another challenge of directing OTT drama called "juvenile delinquency (working title)".

A Netflix original series "Extracurricular" which was unveiled by the end of April last year was recognized for its literary value as it depicted teenage crime in a realistic way. It remains to be seen whether "juvenile delinquency (working title)" can go beyond the limitations of genre in expression intensity and the story's unconventionality as it also depicts teenage crime.

An official of KT Seezn told Bloter "It is true that we are going to work with Playlist. But nothing has been decided yet."

On top of that, Playlist is planning to release OTT web dramas for the MZ generation by working with CJ ENM. CJ ENM and Playlist would produce content called "New normal gene" targeting female viewers in their twenties and thirties. Producer Choi Sun-Mi who directed "a girl's world" and "Fat Girls Romance" series would be the lead director of "New normal gene" which consists of a total of 12 series. It is known that discussion on "New normal gene" being on the schedule of CJ ENM's OTT platform Tving is currently underway.

Playlist which distributed content on Youtube channels is expanding its consumer base into telecommunications and OTT by working with traditional platforms. In particular, it can be interpreted as revenue diversification as it creates content on its own through Playlist, Naver's subsidiary company which boasted a platform as its prowess.

However, Playlist was deliberate about production and programming on the grounds of internal and external factors which could affect a programming platform and production schedule. An official of Playlist told Bloter "We are discussing content creation and programming. Nothing has been decided yet."

Playlist which has been jointly financed by SNOW a subsidiary company of Naver and Naver webtoon was recognized for its content creation capacity and is now constantly attracting investments from other businesses. The industry expected that if OTT content creation and distribution go as planned, the current 80 billion won worth of Playlist's corporate value would surge.

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France. It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.

Naver expands cooperation with the over-the-top media service industry through "playlist," its subsidiary company.

# # #