NBCUniversal division Universal Cable Productions has formed a new partnership with Wattpad to develop original content for television.
Social publishing platform Wattpad, founded in 2006, is a free app that houses user-generated fiction.
“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, in a statement.
The partnership will allow projects to 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, according to a news release.
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“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.”
Wattpad has waded into TV production before. In October, the site partnered with Turner to hold a contest looking for horror stories, with the winning story being purchased by Turner.