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 on April 30 at the CJ ENM Center in Seoul, attended by top management from all three companies.
The venture combines CJ ENM’s K-drama production expertise with TBS’s original IP pipeline and U-Next’s streaming infrastructure, with the aim of covering every stage of the content business – from developing a property to bringing it to a global audience and expanding into ancillary revenue streams.
Under the agreed division of responsibilities, CJ ENM will lead content planning and creative differentiation, TBS will manage original Japanese IP buys and channel releases, and U-Next – Japan’s leading local streaming service, with more than 5 million paid subscribers and a library of more than 440,000 titles – will handle the distribution of the company’s original titles on its platform.
“Through our collaboration with the leading content companies representing Korea and Japan, we will introduce popular content that focuses not only on Asia, but also on the global market,” said Yoon Sang-hyun, CEO of CJ ENM. “By establishing an innovative partnership that integrates K-content’s systematic planning capabilities with global production expertise from the initial IP development phase, we are committed to evolving into a leading global premium IP studio.”
The studio’s name is derived from the Japanese words “mono” (story) and “wa” (harmony), positioning StudioMonowa as a space where Korean and Japanese content converge into new value. Each project will be managed on a lifetime value basis, with returns expected to accumulate over multiple phases of a property’s commercial life, rather than at the time of initial release.
The partnership traces its origins to April 2025, when CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun visited Japan and met with TBS executives – including Chairman Sasaki Takashi and CEO Abe Ryujiro – to explore the collaboration. These discussions culminated step by step in 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-Japanese co-production ‘Love is for the Dogs’, made in collaboration with TBS through Studio Dragon.
“We are pleased to launch StudioMonowa together with 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 enable us to present 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 such as ‘Vivant’, ‘MIU404’ and ‘Alice in Borderland’, has made working with foreign partners a strategic priority under the TBS Group Medium-term Business Plan 2026. The broadcaster also has a strategic investment in Legendary Entertainment.
“We are excited to establish StudioMonowa alongside CJ ENM, a leader in the Korean entertainment industry, and TBS, a long-standing pillar of the Japanese drama industry,” said Tsutsumi Tenshin, CEO of U-Next. “By consolidating CJ ENM’s global planning expertise, TBS’ high-end drama production capabilities and the operational know-how U-Next has amassed as a platform, we are committed to creating new hits that will travel from Japan to the world.”
Japan’s content IP market – which includes IP development, video production, streaming and spin-off activities – was valued at approximately KRW67 trillion ($45.3 billion) as of 2023, with the streaming segment growing 20.5% annually, according to a Roland Berger workshop paper cited by the companies. U-Next has achieved uninterrupted revenue growth over the past nine years.
