연합뉴스
| yna@yna.co.kr 2023-01-25 14:46:42
SEOUL January 25 (Yonhap) -- “When one thinks about ’The Gram Entertainment’ the first thing that comes into one’s mind is school and action related productions, however we are planning on showcasing wide variation of series throughout the years including fantasy, history related genre.” Park Tae-joon, a CEO and Webtoon artist of “The Gram Entertainment” addressed throughout the interview conducted at the headquarter of Yonhap News Agency on January 19.
Park Tae-joon is not only known as the CEO of The Gram Entertainment but also for his work “Lookism” which is a webtoon known widely throughout the world exceeding over 9.1 billion hits. When the artist was at his career high in 2007 he acknowledged the limitation of being an individual content creator and started his content providing business.
“I always thought I should write on the topic of ‘self taught ways of fighting’ once ‘Lookism’ finished, however it took little bit longer to see the ending than I have expected,” adding “As a lover of Webtoon and comics in general, I really wanted to work on two of the production, however it was just impossible for me to write two at the same time.” addressed Park Tae-joon throughout his interview.
“The Gram Entertainment” made name for themselves by producing “My Life as a Loser,” which is a collaborative piece between the company and writer Jeon Sun-wook and “Viral Hit” which is a collaborative piece with writer Kim Jung-hyun.
in the early stages of his business, CEO Park Tae-joon started off his business under the name of “Park Tae-joon, Webtoon Company.”
“Back then, my Webtoon was attracting a lot of viewers, therefore I wanted to make the best use out of my name, therefore I have included ‘Park Tae-joon’s Webtoon Company’ in every production and producing I have participated in.” addressed Park Tae-joon throughout his interview.
Production by the “Park Tae-joon” Webtoon company managed to top the Naver Webtoon chart, however, due to repetitive topics, some of the viewers provided negative feedbacks.
CEO Park addressed that he is well aware of the criticism he receives from repetitive subject matter, therefore he is doing his best to renovate the genres so that everyone can enjoy the production he publishes.
“Instead of introducing a brand new genre of series right as I receive a criticism, I would like to showcase the wide spectrum of potential genres that I can showcase through slowly showcasing the transition from school related production to action and more.
In recent days, “The Gram Entertainment” showcased comic genre of production under the title of “Teenage Dragon” and various more are providing the company with great outcomes.
Currently the company is in progress of coming up with a fantasy and historic Webtoon.
“My upcoming fantasy genre of Webtoon is something I have been dreaming about since I was very young,” adding “Not only it is hard physically but it take a lot of effort to come up with such series, therefore I would like to be remembered as a Webtoon artist who have drawn the upcoming production, and I would like to continue on with the series for a decent amount of time.”
Intellectual properties held by “The Gram Entertainment” are well known productions showcased in Naver Webtoon. For example, “Questism,” topped the chart among those being showcased every Monday, “Manager Kim” which topped the chart among those being showcased every Tuesday, and “Viral Hit” topped the chart among those being released on Sundays. Individual productions outran at least twice or triple the amount of profit compare to its competitors. Also the company withholds the rights to 20 of the IPs of the Webtoons including those which topped the chart. As a result, “The Gram Entertainment” showcased dramatic increase in total profit of 6.1 billion won to 15 billion won.
Since “The Gram Entertainment withholds IPs to various famous contents, CEO Park addressed that they will be putting more focus into the development of IPs for Webtoons instead of converting Web novels to Webtoons.
“The Power of CP company comes from having a lot of original IPs,” adding “We have potential of creating better IPs compare to various competitors, and with this our company will fuel to become the leading figure with incomparable set of skills.” address representative of “The Gram Entertainment” Park Tae-joon
Moreover, Park Tae-joon addressed that he will not give up on his career path as a Webtoon artist, by stating “I would continue on with drawing Webtoons,” adding “There are stories left for me to tell throughout Lookism, which will continue on for another couple of years.”
“I know someday my fame will run out, however, I don’t want to regret not doing what I could have done. And I would like to provide readers with good contents while everyone is enjoying what I publish.” addressed Park Tae-joon throughout the interview.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Joonha Yoo)
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]