Production studio SLL and IPX, formerly known as Line Friends, signed a nonbinding agreement on Wednesday to jointly develop and expand products based on popular drama series.

The partnership focuses on expanding the brick-and-mortar business, including organizing pop-up stores and selling merchandise. In the memorandum of understanding, the two companies also pledge to “maximize synergy by leveraging each other’s intellectual property,” according to a press release.

“SLL plans to expand the genres and platforms of its video IP [intellectual property] and strengthen connections with audiences through this collaboration with IPX,” Park Jun-seo, head of production at SLL, said in the release.

“This partnership allows IPX to bring new kinds of IP experiences to global fans by applying our years of IP business expertise to content IP,” IPX CEO Kim Seong-hoon said.

SLL, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, is the powerhouse behind JTBC’s “Reborn Rich” (2022) and “The World of the Married” (2020). It has been expanding its business to music and commerce since last year; the company held a pop-up store for the JTBC television drama series “Heavenly Ever After” in May.

IPX, the creator of Line Friends and BT21, will produce products and related content that reflect each drama’s storyline. Upcoming titles include JTBC’s “My Youth,” “The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Works at a Major Firm and Owns a Home in Seoul” (translated), “A Hundred Memories” and “Waiting for Gyeong-do” (translated).






BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]