Naver Webtoon Backs Its Short Video Feature With a Monthly Reward Fund
Naver Webtoon is putting money behind Cuts, its new short form animation service, with a reward program worth roughly 70,000 dollars a month for creators.
The plan was revealed at a Cuts Creators Day event near Seoul, where about 100 members of the first wave of creators gathered. Beginning in November, the Cuts Fund Share program will reward creators based on how many views their clips earn, running as a three month pilot through January.
On top of that, the company will host regular challenges built around specific keywords, with selected creators receiving smaller bonus rewards.
Cuts itself launched on September 1 and turns webtoon content into short animated clips, mixing highlight style summaries of existing series with original material made just for the feature. Naver has openly drawn inspiration from the success of YouTube Shorts and TikTok, and is even exploring generative AI tools to help creators produce animation.
My take: Paying creators to experiment with a new format is a smart way to get it off the ground. I am a little cautious about the AI angle, but the core idea of rewarding people for telling stories in a fresh way is one I can cheer for.
