Fox Entertainment closes first-look deal with Masked Singer’s Wonwoo Park

Wonwoo Park’s Masked Singer format has been adapted worldwide

Fox Entertainment’s in-house factual studio Fox Alternative Entertainment (FAE) has agreed a first-look development deal with The Masked Singer creator Wonwoo Park and his production outfit, DI Turn.

FAE and Park’s Seoul-based prodco will partner to develop projects for audiences in the US and internationally. The companies are already working on an international format based on Lotto Singer, a hit Korean talent competition series created by Park.

The format sees viewers given the chance to win cash prizes by correctly betting on contestants’ performances. The original iteration of the show was commissioned by Seoul Broadcasting System’s content hub FormatEast and aired on Korean network MBN last year.

The Masked Singer was a major success for Fox and has been adapted in more than 60 countries, including the UK, Mexico, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Norway and Italy, since 2019. The US version, currently in its sixth season, is the top-rated primetime entertainment series in the US, according to Fox.

Some of Park’s other credits include CJ ENM’s Top Gear Korea, Mama and The Song Was Born; and KBS’s Million Seller, The Hit and Singing Battle. In 2019, he signed a first-look deal with NBCUniversal-owned Universal Television Alternative Studio.

“Wonwoo’s ability to identify and develop concepts that are unique in premise and universal in appeal makes him one of the most innovative producers in the business, and we are excited to see where this partnership will take us,” said Allison Wallach, executive VP and head of FAE.

“Korea had long been an unnoticed market, but over the last few years formats such as The King of Masked Singer have been sold all over the world,” added Park, who is the CEO at DI Turn.

“Many K-Pop singers are massively popular around the world, and Korean production companies clearly have the ability to produce high-efficiency programming. I expect this collaboration with Fox to create more hits.”

The announcement comes as Fox ploughs additional resources into finding IP in new places. In September, the company unveiled its US$100m international unscripted format fund with a view to identifying projects for the global market.

The fund is part of Fox Entertainment’s broader strategy to diversify its content portfolio and revenue streams. Projects selected and greenlit through the fund, which is overseen by Rob Wade, president of alternative entertainment and specials of Fox Entertainment, will be coproduced by FAE alongside each series’ partner.

Recent shows from FAE include competition series The Big Deal, a coproduction with Ireland’s Virgin Media Television in partnership with Dublin-based BiggerStage; singing competition series Alter Ego, featuring Alanis Morissette, Will.i.am, Nick Lachey, Grimes and Rocsi Diaz; cooking series Next Level Chef; Crime Scene Kitchen; and Domino Masters.

This week, Fox announced it was rebooting its reality dating series Joe Millionaire, which ran for two seasons in 2003. FAE is producing Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer alongside SallyAnn Salsano of 495 Productions.