CJ ENM, Naver to launch drama studio joint venture in Japan

South Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. and online platform giant Naver Corp. are launching a drama production studio in Japan to tap into the world’s third-largest content market.

The new studio, tentatively named Studio Dragon Japan, will be established by the end of June with 30 billion won ($23 million) in equity capital from Naver Webtoon’s Japanese subsidiary Line Digital Frontier, CJ ENM and CJ’s drama production house Studio Dragon Corp., the companies said on Thursday.

The JV will combine CJ’s streaming content production know-how with Line Digital Frontier’s intellectual property and digital content to produce Japanese drama series for release in Japan and globally, according to CJ and Naver.

Line Digital Frontier is the operator of Naver Webtoon’s Line Manga, the largest digital comics platform in Japan. In March, it acquired eBOOK Initiative Japan Co., the country’s leading e-book platform, from SoftBank Group.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, Japan’s content market reached $191.3 billion in 2021, the world’s third-largest after the US and China.

“We aim to produce premium drama series targeting global OTT streaming services and other channels in Japan,” said Kang Cheol-gu, a CJ ENM executive in charge of its Japanese business.

“Studio Dragon Japan will serve as a bridgehead for creators from Japan and Korea to interact with each other, and a gateway to the global market.”

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CJ ENM, the producer of the Oscar-winning film Parasite, has been launching or acquiring production houses in Korea and abroad to capitalize on the popularity of Korean drama series.

CJ Group has said it will spend billions of dollars on its drama content business to become Asia’s Marvel Studios.

In addition to running 16 cable TV channels, the entertainment powerhouse already has three independent entertainment studios: Studio Dragon, a Kosdaq-listed drama powerhouse behind global hits such as Crash Landing on You; Korean OTT streaming platform TVing; and Endeavor Content, a Hollywood studio behind Oscar-winning film La La Land.

Naver has also been aggressively expanding its clout in the content production business through partnerships with CJ and other entertainment companies.

For Naver Webtoon, the soon-to-be-launched studio in Japan is its third drama production house after StudioN in Korea and Wattpad WEBTOON Studios in the US.

Last year, Naver acquired Wattpad, the world's largest web novel platform based in Toronto, for $593 million to beef up storytelling content for its entertainment operations.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.