Wattpad Webtoon Studios, the fan-driven global entertainment and publishing arm of LA-based Webtoon and Toronto’s Wattpad, has partnered again with Australia’s Screen Queensland on a screenplay adaptation initiative.
The new arrangement continues the Australia-first relationship established in 2020 and will support three Queensland-based screenwriters or teams to develop film and series projects based on popular titles from the Wattpad and Webtoon digital platforms.
Wattpad Webtoon Studios and Screen Queensland will provide consultation to the participants to create their pitch and treatment and draft scripts, with a view to potentially securing production partners and backing to commence production in Queensland.
The three titles are open to all film and TV formats and are: Webtoon supernatural webcomic School Bus Graveyard by Red (75m views), horror Wattpad webnovel Apartment 239 by Elford Alley (423,000 reads), and Wattpad feelgood comedy All Good Things by Renee Racine Kinnear (90,000 reads).
School Bus Graveyard centres on a loner and her classmates on a field trip to a haunted house who must escape from an alternate dimension.
Apartment 239 follows a youngster who lives with ghosts and must solve the mystery behind his family’s deaths.
All Good Things is about a disillusioned publicist at a corporate behemoth who tries to rediscover purpose in her life.
Wattpad Webtoon Studios and Screen Queensland are now accepting creative adaptation pitches through March 22 from Queensland-based screenwriters and teams. Applicants are encouraged to submit fresh, original ideas that will best interpret the stories and demonstrate compelling visions for the screen.
“As an international studio, we couldn’t be happier to work with Screen Queensland again on this development initiative that celebrates and uplifts creators around the world,” said Aron Levitz, president of Wattpad Webtoon Studios, who added that the three projects “each bring incredible storytelling and rich narratives that will be perfect for screen adaptations”.
Belinda Burns, Chief Creative Officer at Screen Queensland, said the adaptations initiative would bring the benefit of the data-driven platform to local Queensland creatives.
“This unique initiative offers Queenslanders a significant career boost, granting access to carefully selected stories with well established global audiences,” she said. “Our continued collaboration with Wattpad Webtoon Studios will give Queensland screenwriters and producers a prestigious international connection, opening doors to market.”
The two titles from the inaugural 2020 partnership have both progressed into their next phase of development.
The Wattpad webnovel The Bro Code (21m reads) from Elizabeth A. Seibert is being adapted by Queensland writer Dominic Morris into a feature, while Queensland writer Siobhan Domingo and producer Elizabeth Simard are developing a TV series for the Wattpad webnovel How To Lose Weight And Survive The Apocalypse (316,000 reads) by Kate J. Squires.
Wattpad Webtoon Studios currently has more than 100 projects in development or production around the world, including: A. Rasen’s Webtoon hit Gremoryland with Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment; sci-fi Wattpad webnovel HAWK with Thor: Ragnarok co-screenwriter Christopher Yost; Love Advice From The Great Duke Of A Hell at Imagine Entertainment; and Deanna Cameron’s webnovel thriller What Happened That Night adapted by Oscar-nominated Children Of Men co-screenwriter David Arata.
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