iflix and Wattpad ink landmark production deal

The deal will see iflix and Wattpad co-produce dozens of original movies based on Wattpad stories

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 15 2018 /PRNewswire/ - iflix, the world's leading entertainment service for emerging markets and Wattpad, the global multiplatform entertainment company for original stories, today announced a groundbreaking content partnership to bring Wattpad stories to millions of iflix users across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Over the next year, iflix and Wattpad will co-produce dozens of original movies based on Wattpad stories from Indonesia.

The deal gives iflix access to the more than six million original Indonesian story uploads on Wattpad. Using Machine Learning, Wattpad will identify stories and trends to develop as iflix original films, under the brand iflix Originals.

The scale of the deal represents iflix's industry-leading commitment to producing compelling locally relevant content for local customers. Projects from the partnership will join iflix's slate of premium original content, adding a significant number of new, can't-miss movies available to iflix subscribers for free, significantly diversifying and expanding the company's line-up of Originals. 

Indonesia is one of the largest and most exciting markets in the world for both Wattpad and iflix.

Wattpad has a community of more than 6.5 million monthly users in Indonesia who spend more than 650 million minutes on the platform each month. The company has more than 65 million users globally, with more than 17 million in Southeast Asia.

With more than 9 million users in Indonesia streaming an average of 40 million minutes daily, the country is iflix's fastest growing and most dynamic market. The company recently announced an increased focus with new dedicated resources, leadership and investment in the creative ecosystem and economy in Indonesia with its partnership with Creative Economy of Indonesia (BEKRAF) and the National Film Body of Indonesia (BPI).

iflix Chief Content Officer, Sean Carey commented: "Storytelling is the bedrock of all great entertainment. With Wattpad, we now have the opportunity to work with thousands talented Indonesian writers to bring their stories to life for millions of iflix users in Indonesia, and broadly across our 30 markets worldwide. With traditional distribution and platform requirements no longer a constraint and deep data and analytics available to measure performance and engagement, this deal allows us to create exciting original productions from hugely popular, local stories."

"All over the world, entertainment companies are recognizing the need to find original stories from new voices," said Aron Levitz, Head of Wattpad Studios. "This deal represents the future of entertainment, where technology and data converge with new voices in storytelling to transform how great content gets made and distributed. Working with iflix, we can bring our millions of passionate users in Indonesia and Southeast Asia exactly what they want: local stories that they already love and can't wait to see adapted for the screen."

Wattpad is massively popular across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of Wattpad stories have been turned into books, TV shows, and films. Wattpad previously worked with the TV5 Network in the Philippines on the Wattpad Presents TV series, co-producing 250 episodes representing 76 Wattpad stories.

The deal follows a string of new partnerships and continued international entertainment expansion for Wattpad. The company has existing deals with US and international entertainment partners that include Germany's Bavaria Fiction, eOne, Universal Cable Productions (a division of NBCUniversal), Sony Pictures Television, CW Seed, and others. In October, Light as a Feather, based on the Wattpad story of the same name, and produced by AwesomenessTV, Wattpad, and Grammnet, will stream on Hulu. On April 12, 2019, Wattpad's feature film After, starring Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Jennifer Beals, Peter Gallagher, and Selma Blair, will hit theatres.

Now available to over one billion consumers throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa, iflix has established itself as the clear market leader in video streaming. Offering consumers a vast library of top Hollywood, regional, and local TV shows and movies, including many first run exclusives and award-winning programs, each subscription allows users to access the service on up to five devices, including phones, laptops, tablets, and television sets, for viewing wherever, whenever.

iflix recently announced the launch of its free tier, iflixFREE to make many of its most popular and exclusive programs and features available to users for free, including a new slate of hyper local iflix Original series and movies, localised versions of world class shortform formats through the Company's production deals with Complex Media and QYOU, as well as additionally licensed global hits from 88 rising, Jukin Media, Tastemade and more for iflix Snacks.

ABOUT IFLIX

iflix is the world's leading entertainment service for emerging markets, offering users unlimited access to thousands of TV shows, movies and more. With a vast selection of everyone's favourite comedies, drama, K-drama, Turkish drama, Bollywood, Nollywood, cartoons, movies, live sports and more from Hollywood, the UK, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, iflix places the entertainment people want at their fingertips to either stream or download. For one low monthly fee, iflix subscribers can watch on their mobile phone, laptop, tablet, TV… wherever, whenever.

Let's play.

iflix is currently available to consumers in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Maldives, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Cambodia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Tanzania and Uganda

Learn more at: blog.iflix.com

ABOUT WATTPAD

Wattpad's vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. The global multiplatform entertainment company uses the power of community and technology to enable the creation and distribution of content across a variety of formats. Its flagship app, Wattpad, is home to a community of more than 65 million people who spend over 20 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories. Tap by Wattpad, the company's second storytelling product, offers short, chat-based stories in over a dozen languages. Wattpad Studios co-produces stories for film, television, digital and print, together with industry partners. Wattpad Brand Solutions offers a full suite of advertising products to help brands build deep engagement with Millennial and Gen Z consumers. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at: company.wattpad.com.

SOURCE Wattpad