With the recent theatrical premiere of Boulevard in Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador, WEBTOON Productions continues to expand its international footprint of adaptations of popular Wattpad webnovels and webcomics. Based on Flor M. Salvador’s beloved Wattpad series that has logged more than 100 million views, the film, a co-production with Sony Pictures International Productions, builds upon WEBTOON’s growing list of Spanish-language titles, among them the A través de mi ventana film trilogy and Mala Influencia on Netflix, and Sigue mi and the upcoming Perfectos Mentirosos on Prime Video. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe, WEBTOON Productions is working on Drive in Germany and The Bad Boys Girl in Italy. ScreenMDM caught up with Mar Vila Barceló, director of international development and production, to discuss spotting potential adaptations, the keys to successful partnerships, and the multigenerational appeal of YA.
Tell us about WEBTOON Productions’ overall approach to adapting beloved properties from one medium to another.
We find great stories that we translate into series or feature-film adaptations, and those stories come with built-in fandoms. When you take those stories to streaming platforms or studios, that fandom feels very relevant, as does the story. When we assess what could have the potential for an adaptation, we look at the story, the characters, and the narrative. We look at how that connects with the readership, but we also have data that shows how fans are reacting to it, what they love most, and how they connect with certain characters. And we can even tell partners where in the world that story has resonated the most.
What are some of the things you and your team look out for as you assess popular Wattpad IP and determine whether it could make a good movie or TV adaptation?
The first thing is to find a great story—that’s the key. The characters feel unique and original. And when you look at the data, you can see that this story has clearly resonated with an audience from the very beginning, when it was published on Wattpad, and it’s still resonating now. It’s about finding new audiences, which we’ve seen with Boulevard. It was a story that Flor wrote many years ago. Some fans followed the story from the very beginning. And it has found new audiences along the way. There is an element that the fans who discovered the story back in the day are now millennials—they feel nostalgic about what the story tells them, and they connect to the story that way. And there’s the younger generation now—they probably connect to the story because they feel it speaks to them, directly to the experience they are having right now. At the end of the day, that’s the good thing about good stories—they don’t have an age.
We’ve seen so many great TV series based on YA novels. How do you determine what’s going to be a good movie adaptation versus what can sustain itself for episodic storytelling?
That’s one of those things that, when you’re reading the story, you flow very much into it. Some stories, because they have a more contained universe and maybe fewer characters, would lend themselves better to a feature film adaptation. Other stories, maybe there’s like a mosaic of characters that’s quite big—that could work either as a TV series or a series of films. That’s one of those things that, when you read the story, presents itself.
Not all of your adaptations are YA, but you’re leaning into YA. Why are you prioritizing this particular demo, especially for your international markets?
The YA target audience has been reading stories on Wattpad and Webtoon. We mirror the audience. The readership that has been following those stories on either platform is essentially Gen Z and Millennials.
Where are you looking to scale up in your international footprint? Where do you have things brewing right now?
I’m based in Spain. My role for international development and production covers all Spanish-language markets, which means Spain and all of Latin America, and some of the main European markets. We have quite a lot of projects in development in Spain and Latin America. We have projects in development in Germany, France, and Italy, both Wattpad and WEBTOON stories.
LatAm and Spain share a common language but have different sensibilities. How are you approaching these territories?
Whatever differences there may be across those markets, the Wattpad community has blurred the lines. Spanish is our second-most-read language on Wattpad. Our community is massive in Spanish—they are very loyal and very passionate. Whatever difference you may encounter in every other aspect of life, when it comes to reading the stories, connecting to those stories, and embracing the creators behind those stories, there’s no difference where you are in the world.
Does YA have a higher travelability factor?
It’s one of those genres that basically never gets old. You’re never too old to watch those kinds of films. If you are in your teens or your 20s, you’re basically the age of those characters. You can connect directly with them, because that’s more or less happening to you. If you’re older, you’ve probably experienced that as well. So it feels very much generational as well. There’s an element of nostalgia to this genre, which I think is why there are so many people embracing those stories, because it goes beyond what you would assume would be your core audience.
WEBTOON has a track record of working with partners to get these TV shows and movies made. What makes for a successful collaboration?
Boulevard is a good example. You need to find partners who feel as passionate about that story as you are. It’s like being in a relationship at the end of the day. You want to share the same love for the project you’re building together. You need to surround that story with the best partners and the best talent. To do that, they need to connect to the story in the same way. You also want to be fair to the original story, whether it’s a web comic or a Wattpad story; you also want to do it for the fans who have been following it since the very, very beginning. Bringing them a film or TV series adaptation feels like closing the circle for them. You want to be fair to that sentiment.
It’s been wonderful being on this side and experiencing working on adaptations so closely with the fan base and with the creators. I’ve seen how emotional it is for the fans to see that story, their beloved story, finally made it to the screen. It gives you goosebumps.
