The company was founded in 2014 as Story Plant by Kim Yang and Koo Bon-geun [ko], and was a subsidiary of CJ E&M (known now as CJ ENM). In 2017, it was fully acquired by Kakao Entertainment's predecessor Kakao M. Since then, a portion of the stake has been acquired by KakaoPage Corp. (another predecessor of Kakao Entertainment) and Studio Dragon, a subsidiary of CJ Group.[5]
History
November 20, 2014 (2014-11-20): Story Plant was founded in Goyang City by former SBS and MBC producers Kim Yang and Koo Bon-geun (who was the company's first CEO). CJ E&M acquired it later on.
January 9, 2015 (2015-01-09): Heart to Heart, a 16-episode TV series, premiered on tvN. It was the company's first production, in cooperation with Chorokbaem Media.
June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29): We Broke Up, a 10-episode web series based on the same-titled NaverWEBTOON, was distributed by Naver TV, and later aired on OnStyle. It was produced in association with then-parent CJ E&M and YGKPlus.
February 27, 2016 (2016-02-27): Happy Home, a 51-episode TV series, was aired by MBCTV.
May 10, 2017 (2017-05-10): LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment), a subsidiary of Kakao, acquired Story Plant from CJ E&M, as well as the distribution and licensing rights to its productions (from the latter's subsidiary Studio Dragon). The amount of the deal was not disclosed, and co-founders Kim and Koo decided to leave the company.[6] Later on, LOEN's sister company Podotree (now KakaoPage) and Studio Dragon acquired 21.90% and 10.95% of the company's shares, respectively, for strategic investment.[7] LOEN's Video Content Company head Lee Jun-ho became its new CEO. It also moved its headquarters from Goyang City to Seoul.
July 11, 2017 (2017-07-11): The company's name was officially changed from Story Plant Co., Ltd. to Mega Monster Corporation.[8]
November 21, 2018 (2018-11-21): Children of Nobody, a 32-episode[c] TV series, was aired on MBC TV. It was the company's first production since the management and name change. Former SBS and JS Pictures executive Kim Yong-jin co-executive produced the series with Lee, marking his first project since becoming the company's vice-president and COO the same year.
February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06): Touch Your Heart, a 16-episode TV series based on the KakaoPage web novel of the same title, aired its first episode on tvN. It was co-produced by Zium Content, and developed by Studio Dragon.[10]
April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03): Children of Nobody was nominated for Best Drama and Best Television Screenplay in the 55thBaeksang Arts Awards, being the only drama from a free-to-air broadcast network to get these nominations. These are also the first-ever nominations got by Mega Monster as a production company.[12]
June 11, 2019 (2019-06-11): Mega Monster, Daum Webtoon Company (a division of KakaoPage) and the KBS Drama Production Group signed a memorandum of agreement and understanding (MOAU) for drama production at the KBS Yeouido office. The MOAU states that the three camps will produce dramas based on Daumwebtoons for three years. The first project under this agreement, the TV drama adaptation of GAR2 and Teacher Oh's webtoon Dead Man's Letter, will be aired in 2020.[13][14]
March 30, 2020: Fatal Promise, a 100-episode daily TV series, premiered on KBS 2TV. Kim Yong-jin and his former SBS colleague Sohn Jae-sung (who joined the company a few months earlier) are the executive producers.
April 6, 2020: How to Buy a Friend, an eight-episode miniseries, aired its first two episodes also on KBS 2TV. It is based on Kwon Laad's webtoon of the same title, which was first published in 2018 on Daum Webtoon.
May 4, 2020: Mom Has an Affair (co-produced by Studio S), a 120-episode daily morning drama about a single mom looking for a rich man that can be a father to her kids, premiered on SBS TV. Singer-actress Hyun Jyu-ni (on her first-ever TV series leading role throughout her career) and actor Lee Jae-hwang portray the lead roles.
August 21, 2020: Former Studio Dragon chief finance officer Jang Sai-jung was appointed as the company's new president and chief executive officer, replacing Lee Jun-ho.[15]
^Formerly megamon.dweb.co.kr until December 30, 2019. Changed to the current web domain after the end of the company's contract with a local website operator. However, the email addresses related to the company use the @megamon.co.kr domain.
^Also credited as MEGA MONSTER by kakao M on on-air credits since episode 16 of Children of Nobody
^In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between them.[9]
^Song, Jin-shik (July 28, 2017). 드라마에 욕심내는 카카오, ‘스튜디오 카카오’ 나올까 [Kakao becomes newest addition to drama (industry), "Studio Kakao" coming soon]. News Kyunghyang (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^Jung, Young-ho; Kim, Byung-gun; Lee, Dong-hoon (May 10, 2017). "카카오 자회사 로엔, CJ 드라마 제작사 인수" [Kakao subsidiary LOEN acquires drama production company from CJ]. Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^Jung, Yoo-hyun (December 21, 2018). "카카오M, 메가몬스터에 60억 지원... 영상사업 '드라이브'" [Kakao M lends ₩660M to Mega Monster, "drives" content production]. The Bell (in Korean). Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^"제11회 드라마극본공모전 '사막의 별똥별 찾기' 공고(마감)" [Announcement of the 11th "Find the Desert's Shooting Star" Drama Screenplay Competition]. BCPF.or.kr (in Korean). Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation. April 1, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
^Ban, Seo-youn (January 23, 2020). [단독] 신승호, 웹툰 원작 드라마 '계약우정' 주인공 [[OFFICIAL] Shin Seung-ho, confirmed to star in webtoon-based drama Friendship Contract]. YTN (in Korean). YTN Group. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
