Wattpad Webtoon Studios has been rebranded as Webtoon Productions as part of a reorganization of the company’s entertainment and IP business.

Announced Thursday (July 10), David Madden (pictured left) has been appointed as president of Webtoon Productions, and Maximilian Jo (pictured right) has been named VP, head of strategy, in addition to his role as general counsel and corporate secretary. Both Madden and Jo report to Yongsoo Kim, chief strategy officer for Webtoon Entertainment and head of global for Webtoon.

Madden succeeds Aron Levitz, who transitioned out of his role as president of Wattpad Webtoon Studios in April to be president of Toronto-based web novel platform Wattpad. Webtoon Productions is now fully based in L.A. with the organizational restructure, a spokesperson for Webtoon Entertainment told Playback Daily.

As president, Madden oversees the development, production and sales for Webtoon Productions’ film, TV and animation slate, which are all based on Webtoon and Wattpad’s library of digital comics and books.

Madden joined the studio in 2022 as its head of global entertainment. His prior roles include president of television for Berlanti Productions, president of programming, entertainment networks at AMC Networks and multiple senior roles at Fox.

Jo’s expanded remit includes developing new strategic initiatives for the company’s IP business. He first joined Webtoon in 2021, following general counsel and business affairs roles at Kanye West’s apparel and media brand Yeezy and the U.S. division of Korean media company CJ Entertainment.

As part of wider organizational changes, Tina McIntyre was named head of the recently formed Webtoon Consumer Goods to oversee its publishing business and merchandising and licensing teams. The new role also reports to Kim.

Wattpad was acquired by Korea-based Webtoon parentco Naver in 2021 in a deal valued at what was then US$600 million. Following the acquisition, Naver merged the Wattpad and Webtoon production arms into a single studio, led by Wattpad’s Levitz in Toronto.

Since then the studio has adapted dozens of Wattpad and Webtoon productions for global audiences. Films produced out of Canada include the Tubi original Sidelined: The QB and Me and its upcoming sequel, and the teen drama Boot Camp, all produced with Vancouver-based Great Pacific Media. Other Canadian productions include the rom-com feature Float, produced with Toronto’s Collective Pictures and Vancouver’s Brightlight Pictures, and CBC Gem series Near or Far with Toronto-based Harlow Creative.

Images courtesy of Webtoon Entertainment