‘K-Content’ Recognized Worldwide... Changing the Animation Market Landscape with Well-Made IP

Securing North American Market with 40% Global Share Key
Global Player Studio Mir "Expectations for First Step in IP Business"

Studio Mir recently signed a tripartite MOU in September with Studio N and Japan's Toei Animation for joint production investment in the animation series of Naver Webtoon’s "Gosu." The webtoon "Gosu," created by writers Ryu Gi-woon and Moon Jung-hoo, is a popular Naver webtoon depicting the fierce battles of the world's greatest martial artist 'Kang Ryong' and numerous martial arts masters. It has been serviced in English, Japanese, Chinese, and other languages, accumulating 1.4 billion views globally. Given that the original work has a global fandom including Western audiences, there are high expectations for its worldwide success as an animation.

A Studio Mir representative explained the background of their participation in production, stating, “The North American market has preferences for character design, animation direction, and effects that are completely different from the Asian market, and there are not many companies with specialized production capabilities in this area. Studio Mir is capable of comprehensive production from scenario planning to final work, not just simple outsourcing, and has efficient operational know-how based on experience producing works targeting Western markets.”

Since its establishment in 2010, Studio Mir has focused its business on the world’s largest North American market, which offers many opportunities. The company has secured global OTT platforms as clients and has continuously collaborated with them, building a global network and trust. As a result, Studio Mir’s revenue last year, including both overall production and general production, was 23.1 billion KRW, all generated overseas. The company continues to achieve stable revenue through long-term contracts with prominent overseas clients.

The company’s representative production content includes the American Nickelodeon series "The Legend of Korra," Netflix’s "Dota: Dragon’s Blood" and "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," Disney+’s "Star Wars: Visions 2" and "X-Men ’97," and Warner Bros.’ "Babylon 5: The Road Home," among others.

Studio Mir anticipates that joint IP development and investment cases to expand its owned IP will increase further in the future, leading to business growth. In the OTT-based market where demand for diverse content arises, the company’s unique technological barriers are an attractive factor as a collaboration partner.

Additionally, Studio Mir is considering developing its own IP using the network of its local U.S. corporation. Based on solid storytelling capabilities, the company is proactively developing IP and exploring new business models such as proposing content production based on its own IP for games and webtoons or offering completed animation contracts to production and distribution companies.

In line with the steadily increasing demand for works, Studio Mir plans to lead mid- to long-term growth by establishing a leading business model featuring Korean IPs that are gaining global attention.

In the content business sector, IP (intellectual property) business has been spotlighted over the past few years. This involves reproducing and utilizing popular creative works’ universes or character IPs from webtoons, comics, games, movies, etc., into various new content forms for consumption. The animation market is no exception.

Popular comics and webtoons have long formed fandom cultures and grown related IP business markets. Rather than limiting to a single work, they actively pursue a one-source multi-use (OSMU) strategy that expands into various derivative products such as merchandise and additional business areas.

Especially recently, as various Korean contents such as music, dramas, webtoons, and movies have gained popularity overseas, domestic animation companies are no longer confined to the domestic market but are planning IP expansion strategies targeting the global market. They are strengthening competitiveness by focusing on overseas markets from the animation planning stage.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the global animation market size in 2022 was $386 billion USD (approximately 512 trillion KRW), and it is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.4% to reach $588 billion USD (approximately 780 trillion KRW) by 2030. Among this, North America accounts for about 40% ($121 billion USD) of the global market, forming the largest market. In particular, the U.S. leads the global market with major animation studios like Disney and Pixar, based on animated films.

Going forward, Studio Mir plans to maximize profitability by securing IPs targeting the global market based on its global animation comprehensive production capabilities. The company is focusing on domestic webtoons as core IPs in line with content market trends. Studio Mir confirmed the globalization potential of domestic IP by successfully adapting and producing the famous webtoon "Lookism (Netflix)" into animation in 2002. The company plans to accelerate its IP business based on its experience and know-how in animating Korean webtoons.