Wattpad Taps Former 21st Century Fox Exec To Spearhead TV And Film Development In Asia

Wattpad, a platform for user-generated books and stories, has tapped Dexter Ong to accelerate its push into Asia.

Ong has been named head of Asia for Wattpad Studios — the division of the company that works with entertainment industry partners to adapt select stories on the platform into film, TV, print, and digital projects. Wattpad uses its own data and insights to select projects to develop. In his new role, Ong will work with local production studios, writers, and brand partners to create projects for Asian markets. Ong, who previously served as director of corporate development for 21st Century Fox Asia, will be based in Hong Kong.

In January, Wattpad raised $51 million, led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings and other high-profile Asian investors. And previously, the company partnered with the TV5 Network in the Philippines to co-produce a 250-episode anthology series based on Wattpad stories.

Wattpad Studios head Aron Levitz said that Asia represents a critical opportunity for the company, which counts 65 million users globally — 17 million of whom hail from Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia is one of our most important regions globally, with some of our most dedicated and passionate users,” Levitz said. “Not only have users across the region spent billions of hours on Wattpad, they’ve embraced Wattpad film and TV adaptations, making them into local hits.”

In addition to Ong’s hire, Wattpad has also announced the promotion of Kelly Steen to Wattpad Studios’ director of business development for the U.S. and Europe, and Ashleigh Gardner to deputy general manager of Wattpad Studios’ publishing division. Wattpad, which hosts 400 million stories, says it plans to add 40 positions in 2018 to expand its Studios business internationally, as well as to develop new machine learning and interactive storytelling technologies.