Lagardère strikes exclusive Wattpad deal

Lagardère Studios in France has agreed an exclusive first-look deal with Wattpad to adapt French-language content on the web storytelling platform.

Christophe Thoral

The deal makes Lagardère Studios the first French producer to work with Wattpad, which has so far seen nearly 1,000 of its stories turned into books, TV shows, films or digital projects.

Lagardère now has exclusive first-look rights to all French-language content uploaded to the platform to produce projects for TV, film and digital adaptations.

Projects for the partnership will be selected by combining the studio’s guidelines with technology that Wattpad claims can identify promising new IP from the half a billion uploads that have been shared on the platform.

Lagardère Studios-owned French prodco DEMD will be the first company involved in the partnership and will be given a “priority window” for the stories.

Aron Levitz

Christophe Thoral, president and CEO of Lagardère Studios, said the collaboration “provides our fiction producers in France with a new source of creation.”

Aron Levitz, head of Wattpad Studios, added: “Innovative entertainment companies all over the world understand that data and technology can bring new insights to the development process and help find exciting new voices. Lagardère Studios sees the enormous opportunity of tapping into Wattpad’s global French-language communities and bringing their stories to screens everywhere.”

The agreement comes after Wattpad recently agreed similar deals with Sony Pictures Television in the US and Singapore-based broadcaster Mediacorp.