Topcomedia announced on the 29th that it has signed a drama adaptation contract with the Chinese content production company Taman Cultural and Artistic Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Taman) for a total of two webtoons, "Dongari" and "Tonight, It's You."
The webtoon "Dongari," which shares the same title as the drama adaptation contract, is one of TopToon's representative works, having achieved a cumulative subscription count of 38 million views as of December last year. The story centers around the university theater and film club "P&M" and depicts the daily lives of young men and women. "Tonight, It's You" is a popular adult romance webtoon on TopToon set against the backdrop of university life.
Topcomedia plans to produce the two works as drama content in new formats not previously seen domestically. The production formats currently being prepared include ▲a vertical screen format of 1 minute per episode (120 episodes) ▲a horizontal screen format of 5 minutes per episode (24 episodes) ▲a feature-length film format totaling 120 minutes ▲and a vertical screen format of 30 seconds per episode (24 episodes), totaling four types.
According to the company, short drama content of around 1 minute has recently become very popular, especially in China and other Chinese-speaking countries, and they have taken a proactive approach to this innovative attempt. The drama "Surviving the British Museum," which aired on the global video platform Douyin (TikTok) last year and ranged from 2 to 10 minutes per episode, recorded 300 million views within a week.
Topcomedia plans to complete the production of the two dramas with Taman by March and begin broadcasting on domestic and international short-form drama platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. To this end, both companies will also select influential professional distribution and distribution companies as soon as possible.
A Topcomedia official said, "This drama adaptation contract is part of the OSMU (One Source Multi-Use) strategy utilizing the group's webtoon IP," adding, "Topcomedia will continue to do its best to produce various well-made content using the group's webtoon intellectual property (IP)."
He continued, "Recently, our government has designated comics and webtoons as the next-generation leaders of K-content and announced plans for focused nurturing. As one of the leading domestic webtoon companies, Topco Group will contribute to this and lead the related market."
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