Iflix, a top entertainment service and Wattpad, a global multiplatform entertainment company, have signed a 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 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. – TradeArabia News Service