“Spurring animation production targeting the global market… Contributing to expanding the base of webtoon IP”
[아이뉴스24 정유림 기자] Naver Webtoon announced on the 30th that its webtoon-original animation ‘Yeon’s Letter’ won three awards at the Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF2024).
Studio N announced on the 29th that the animation ‘Love Letter’ won three categories at the 26th BIAF2024, including the Feature Jury Award, the Cocomix Music Award, and the Korea Animation Industry Association President’s Award (Technical Award). The company said that this was achieved through joint production by Naver Webtoon’s subsidiaries Studio N and Studio Rico.
‘Love Letter’, directed by director Kim Yong-hwan, was previously officially invited to the special screening section of the Ottawa International Animation Film Festival (OIAF), the largest animation film festival in North America. Afterwards, it was selected as the opening film for Korean animation for the first time in BIAF history, heightening expectations for its quality. Since its launch in 1999, BIAF has been designated as Korea’s first officially Academy-certified international film festival in 2017.
The webtoon ‘Yeon’s Letter’ (Cho Hyun-ah), released by Naver Webtoon in 2018, tells the story of the main character, who was bullied while helping a friend who was being bullied, transfers to a rural area and discovers a mysterious letter. This 10-episode short story received favorable reviews for its lyrical drawing style, colors, and unique direction, and recorded a rating of 9.98. It is available in seven languages, including English, Japanese, Indonesian, and Thai, through Naver Webtoon’s global platform.
Writer Cho Hyun-ah, the author of the original work, said, “Naver Webtoon played a big role from planning to production so that the webtoon could be released as a theatrical animation.” She added, “I am deeply touched that it was reborn as a high-quality animation, including adaptation, drawing, music, and acting.” .
Studio N CEO Kwon Mi-kyung said, “We will maximize the synergy between webtoons and animation to add vitality to the domestic feature-length animation market and expand the base of webtoon intellectual property rights (IP).”
Meanwhile, Studio N is leading Naver Webtoon’s animation business by releasing the animations ‘True Beauty’ and ‘Yumi’s Cells the Movie’ based on Naver Webtoon this year. Japan’s Toei Animation is producing a series animation based on the Naver webtoon ‘Gosu’.
/Reporter Jeong Yu-rim (2yclever@inews24.com)
[ⓒ 아이뉴스24 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
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