CJ ENM, TBS and U-Next Form Korea-Japan Drama Venture StudioMonowa

A new Korea-Japan content joint venture, StudioMonowa, has been launched by CJ ENM, TBS and U-Next Holdings following a signing ceremony held April 30 at the CJ ENM Center in Seoul, attended by the top leadership of all three companies.

The venture pairs CJ ENM’s K-drama production expertise with TBS’s original IP pipeline and U-Next’s streaming infrastructure, with the goal of covering every stage of the content business – from developing a property to putting it in front of a global audience and extending it into ancillary revenue.

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Under the agreed division of responsibilities, CJ ENM will lead content planning and creative differentiation, TBS will source original Japanese IP and manage channel releases, and U-Next – Japan’s leading local streaming service, with more than 5 million paid subscribers and a library exceeding 440,000 titles – will handle distribution of the venture’s original titles on its platform.

“Through our collaboration with the leading content companies representing Korea and Japan, we will introduce hit content that targets not only Asia but the global market,” Yoon Sang-hyun, CEO of CJ ENM, said. “By establishing an innovative partnership that integrates K-content’s systematic planning capabilities with global production expertise from the initial IP development stage, we are committed to evolving into a leading global premium IP studio.”

The studio’s name draws from the Japanese words “mono” (story) and “wa” (harmony), positioning StudioMonowa as a space where Korean and Japanese content converges into new value. Each project will be managed on a lifetime-value basis, with returns expected to accumulate across multiple phases of a property’s commercial life rather than at the point of initial release.

The partnership traces its origins to April 2025, when CJ Group chair Lee Jay-hyun visited Japan and met with TBS leadership – including chair Sasaki Takashi and CEO Abe Ryujiro – to explore collaboration. Those discussions developed step by step into the formal establishment of the JV.

CJ ENM’s existing track record in Japan includes the Japanese remake of the Amazon original series “Marry My Husband,” which topped the drama category of Google Japan’s “Year in Search 2025,” and the Korea-Japan co-production “Love is for the Dogs,” made in collaboration with TBS via Studio Dragon.

“We are thrilled to launch StudioMonowa alongside CJ ENM, a world-class hitmaker, and U-Next Holdings, which is aggressively driving original content production and global expansion,” Abe said. “The ‘trinity’ of CJ ENM’s world-renowned production DNA, TBS’s creative expertise, and U-Next Holdings’ powerful platform reach will allow us to showcase groundbreaking content that captivates global audiences and keeps them on the edge of their seats.”

TBS, whose production house The Seven is responsible for titles including “Vivant,” “MIU404,” and “Alice in Borderland,” has made working with overseas partners a strategic priority under its TBS Group Medium-term Business Plan 2026. The broadcaster also holds a strategic investment in Legendary Entertainment.

“We are delighted to establish StudioMonowa alongside CJ ENM, a leader in the Korean entertainment industry, and TBS, a long-standing pillar of the Japanese drama industry,” Tsutsumi Tenshin, CEO of U-Next, said. “By consolidating CJ ENM’s global planning expertise, TBS’s top-tier drama production capabilities, and the operational know-how U-Next has accumulated as a platform, we are committed to creating new hits that will travel from Japan to the world.”

Japan’s content IP market – spanning IP development, video production, streaming, and spin-off businesses – was valued at approximately KRW67 trillion ($45.3 billion) as of 2023, with the streaming segment growing at an annual rate of 20.5%, according to a Roland Berger workshop document cited by the companies. U-Next has recorded unbroken revenue growth for the past nine years.