From The Mobile Screen to the Television Screen: Wattpad and Universal Cable Productions Team Up To Develop Original Content for TV
As we celebrate 10 years as a company, we’re thrilled to announce our latest partnership with Universal Cable Productions, a division of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. We’ve teamed up with UCP to develop original content for television. Today’s news means the global Wattpad community will have a hand in deciding what people watch on TV. The creative Wattpad community has shared over 300 million original stories over the past decade. Not only do these stories reflect pop culture, but they also represent diverse voices and experiences. The traditional entertainment industry is increasingly turning to Wattpad to help them understand content trends and identify popular online creators. Our partnership with UCP is just one more example of how Wattpad Studios can help connect entertainment executives with fresh voices and original content with built-in audiences.
“At UCP we’re always looking for ways to find untapped, unsigned, talent and budding writers from around the U.S. and world. Enter Wattpad - an amazing global storytelling platform that not only allows us access to great stories, but also real time data on what is trending, shared, reviewed and resonating with readers,” said Dawn Olmstead, Executive Vice President of Development for Universal Cable Productions. “Aron and his team manage a virtual fountain of story with great aplomb and we’re excited to dive into their content.”
UCP is focused on developing breakthrough stories that entertain global audiences. The studio has escalated efforts to innovate its development slate and mine for fresh content through unique sources such as Wattpad. Under the partnership, projects will be determined by custom data and insights that Wattpad will provide to UCP across multiple categories including: mystery/thriller, teen, science fiction, action, and general fiction.
“Ivan (Yuen) and I launched Wattpad a decade ago so people could read on their mobile devices and share their stories with each other easily,” said Wattpad Co-founder and CEO Allen Lau. “As we celebrate 10 years as a company, our initial idea has grown into something far greater. Today, Wattpad is one of the most-engaged global communities online. More importantly, we’re a new entertainment company that provides considerable value to traditional industry players like studios, production companies, and publishers.”