The world of WEBTOON is ever expanding lately with new series, new deals, collaborations, and even programming. As covered back in my earlier piece back in December of 2025, WEBTOON has announced a major expansion of its many creator programs for 2026. Well, 2026 is here and one of those programs is the Creator Residency Program set to officially launch in Q1 of 2026.
So what is the Creator Residency Program?
The Creator Residency Program is a way for WEBTOON to have various creators from the WEBTOON Originals platform come to Los Angeles near within the vicinity of WEBTOON’s English platform’s headquarters. There, creators get the opportunity to work directly with editors and the creator care team in various workshops and mentorship opportunities. As stated by WEBTOON’s Head of Creator Management, Juyeon Moon:
We want to give Creators the time and structure to focus on their craft, while also providing hands-on support through mentorship, workshops, and direct access to our teams. Just as importantly, the residency brings people together.
One thing I did wonder was why WEBTOON Original creators? Considering the fact there is also plenty of creators from the CANVAS side of the WEBTOON Platform. For the most part, the Residency program is only for Original creators due to the fact that they are WEBTOON’s partners who work with them exclusively. So the residency program, in a way, is a perk that is offered to this group to support their process and further grow their careers as artists and creators.
As covered in the article on WEBTOON’s program changes, the company is doing something for CANVAS creators as well. They will be hosting digital open houses for CANVAS creators who will be meeting with WEBTOON’s Creator care team and editorial teams to discuss goals and provide valuable feedback which will further help their growth.
When it comes to joining the residency program, it starts with an email being sent out to all WEBTOON Originals creators inquiring if they are interested in participating. From there once they reply, there is a good chance they might get picked for the program.
What is the Program like?
On the week of March 22nd, despite the chaotic backdrop of the government shutdowns, I was invited by WEBTOON to fly out to Los Angeles, like the bird that I am, to observe and report on the experience. While the program doesn’t take place within WEBTOON’s Los Angeles headquarters, it was at a dedicated office space. This dedicated space is about a quarter size of the entire floor. From the hallway you would see a black door with the familiar green WEBTOON logo on the front. Once inside the first thing you would notice is the sound, or specifically the near lack of sound. The audio level within the residency space is kept to near library-sound levels.
Each creator worked on their WEBTOON series, including those which have yet to launch. The equipment and hardware would vary as some creators would have brought their own laptops, drawing tablets, and other necessities, while others were provided Wacom Cintiq tablets combined with a tablet stand. You can see the creators working on their series mostly through Clip Studio Paint. Some would be listening to music through their headphones, others would have a video or show playing on another window or on their laptop to provide background noise to help them concentrate.
There would be times these creators would take a quick break to interact with their fellow creators, either to observe their workflow, ask for advice/criticism, or other times to just talk about something unrelated entirely. The vibe is what I can best describe as from my experience being in a Discord server with fellow artists and just chilling in voice chat together while live streaming videos, music, and whatever art webtoons we are working on.
WEBTOON editors and the creator care staff can be seen doing their own job, whether it’s sending important messages, setting up documents, preparing the space for the audits, editor sessions, zoom calls, or panels with figures such as WEBTOON’s head of content Ryan Lee for example.
The life of a WEBTOON original creator
Throughout the day, creators would be called individually to meet up with their editors and a member of the creator care team. From there, the creator care team would create an audit for the creator. The audit consists of a detailed spreadsheet documenting the work schedule, the locations where the creator works on their series from, the hardware used, the software used, the strengths and weaknesses of that creator during the creative process, etc. The goal is to best optimize the workflow tailored to that creator so they can become much more efficient with their time and skills, as well as see where they can best manage the creation of their series while they work with their own strengths and weaknesses in mind.
Other times, creators would get individual editor sessions, sometimes with their own editors who they have already worked with virtually for quite some time. There, they would discuss story beats, plot and character details, bounce ideas back and forth, receive feedback and criticism, and just get an idea how to best tell their story.
There would also be times where all the creators would be gathered in one spot and partake in programs hosted by the creator care team and WEBTOON staff. These programs would break down lessons in time management, organization, how to build a personal brand, how to build engagement with your readers, and also come to better understand the inner workings of WEBTOON itself.
Thankfully, that isn’t all the creators would do. There is time for fun in between as the staff would always be treating the creators to food. Oh boy, is there A LOT of food! From snacks to catering, it’s during these food breaks creators get to socialize with their editors and even with other residency program staff as well.
The audio levels are noticeable different compared to majority of the time as the library levels of sound would give way to overlapping chatter, laughter, and honestly just a more relaxed and outgoing energy that you just can’t help but be brought into. Even as a CANVAS creator myself, any initial awkwardness I had existing in the same space as WEBTOON original creators and various staff easily went away during these moments as I couldn’t help but also be drawn into social discussion. It’s humbling to get to chat with these creators and artists and get a taste of what they have been doing during this program. Personally, I felt like I made new friends and gained some confidence in my own works as well.
A rare sight
Funny enough, during my time at the residency I was also able to witness something quite rare within the WEBTOON space: a WEBTOON Originals Launch Party. Typically all WEBTOON Original series in production are in production for a good amount of time leading up to its schedule launch date. When that launch date arrives, usually the creator would try to gather enough attention leading up to that day on social media, and WEBTOON would just roll out the first 3 episodes with later episodes behind a daily pass. That usually is it, and not much fanfare as it’s all done virtually. A series gets launched, WEBTOON and the creator shares it around on social media, and readers would start reading—that would usually be it.
However, one of the creators, Captain Juuter, has been busy at work on her upcoming WEBTOON originals series, The Royal Tea. During lunch break on Monday, March 23rd, all the creators were led outside of the office to go for a stroll under the assumption of being treated to boba. In the words of Tyler the Creator, “That was an outright lie!” It was all a ploy to distract Captain Juuter as the staff were actually decorating the center space with pastries from Magnolia Bakery and Levain Bakery, all decorated with a tea party aesthetic complete with an ice bucket containing sparkling apple cider and very delicious champagne.
Once we were led back into the space, everyone was given silk gloves and awaited for Captain Juuter to return. Once she did, everyone congratulated her, singing, popping bottles, and giving a toast to her at that moment the series went live. There was a projector that would display the main page of the series as everyone began to subscribe to the series and be its very first readers. To top it all off, they did a live reading for the first 3 episodes as various creators lent their voices to read lines and even attempt to recreate the sound effects. Overall, it was a very pleasant time, but it did come to a realization to me that what I had witnessed that day was indeed rare.
This goes to show just how much care the team had for its creators present and wanted to make the experience as fun and memorable as they can for them. In a world where all of these launches are virtual with very little fanfare, it’s these moments that will forever be treasured by the creator. Just being in a space with other like-minded and talented creators, WEBTOON staff, and editors makes the public launch more exciting. No doubt it does get one emotional.
How does it compare to previous cohorts?
A major distinction which should be made more aware is that this cohort of the Creator Residency is actually WEBTOON’s third. Last year the pilot program had two cohorts, which allowed WEBTOON to fine-tune the program and get feedback from creators to better build upon and improve the experience overall. Having spoken with alumni from the pilot program, I was able to learn what exactly creators had felt needed to be improved. One suggestion was to have more down time between the work, audits, and programs to allow creators to get to know each other. Another was the lack of proper air conditioning in the residency space, since in Los Angeles which can get quite warm depending on the day. Another gripe within the first cohort was the lack of genre diversity between the series the creators were working on.
Thankfully, it seems after a year and two previous cohorts, the residency program ironed out those rougher edges and addressed the feedback. Some improvements included a better space with proper ventilation and cooling, creators getting a chance to take breaks to socialize and get to know one another more. This breaks any social anxiety between the more introverted and shy creators, and helps build meaningful relationships between creators outside of the program itself.
The Creator Care team also has introduced physical wellness support to help focus on the long-term physical care for its creators, as well as some meaningful breaks to allow creators to just go out of the office space for lunch, picnics, rock climbing, and other fun trips to various locations within Los Angeles. The change of space improved the experience for these creators and created lifelong memories once their brief time with the residency comes to its conclusion.
The residency program also introduced more diverse creators with different backgrounds, stories, and genres. This current cohort included creators who created fantasy, romance, supernatural, thriller, and comedy series on the Originals platform. As a result, when these creators socialize, there’s a more varied perspective into creating stories since they’ll share techniques and methods that can be applied to a series from another genre.
It goes to show how WEBTOON is willing to build upon the feedback and listen to its creators to make a better experience.
Final thoughts
This is a program that I honestly would want more creators to partake in. While I am aware that WEBTOON plans to host some digital houses for CANVAS creators, to quote Stack from Sinners, “I don’t like that electric shit as much as the real, yeah, I miss the real.” There is something about physically being in a space with other creators, getting to walk around to see what they’re working on, talking to editors, and meet WEBTOON staff. Also, the shared moments of making memories in person aren’t the same if it was in a digital space.
Having created projects for half my life up to this point, getting to experience the residency program opened my eyes to what many have missed out on. In an age where almost everything is online, creator residencies is a good change of pace that should be cultivated more for artists and creators. It’s something that’s best experienced in person, and I know from my conversations that many creators feel the same way too.
Aside from the camaraderie and community, creators gain vital insights into how the business side of WEBTOON works, tips on scaling production, building a personal brand, how to best engage with your fanbase, understanding you readers, and how to better refine your storytelling skills.
The experience also reshaped how I and a few creators initially perceived WEBTOON as a company as well. For years, speaking as a Canvas creator and other artists like myself, I always had this perception of WEBTOON as a corporate entity and an overtly serious company. But that illusion was shattered when I experienced the program and met WEBTOON staff, editors, the Creator Care team, and other fellow creators. You see how down to earth everyone is. It reveals how the company itself is structured and the role the creators have within that ecosystem. For the most part, it’s something mostly WEBTOON Original creators would experience and have insight on, so seeing it for myself has been rather eye-opening.
I sincerely hope these digital open-house programs will one day be available for CANVAS creators, and that they also get to enjoy an experience like this. But once again, the best way to truly understand and experience this is in person. It’s worth it for the knowledge and insights alone, but also to just be a part of an otherwise unforgettable time I want more people to experience.
