**[Exclusive] ‘Star Maker’ Na Byung-jun, who was dismissed from China, makes a comeback with ‘Mixlong’, a virtual human**
Former CEO Na Byeong-jun, who was fired from the KOSDAQ-listed entertainment agency Fantagio CEO, returns as a virtual human character.
Former CEO Na, who is also the founder of Fantagio, has fostered top artists such as Ha Jung-woo, Seo Kang-jun, Cha Eun-woo, and Ong Seong-wu, but was dismissed without notice by JC Group, a major Chinese shareholder in 2017.
In 2016, Gold Finance Korea, the Korean branch of JC Group, acquired a 50.07% stake in Fantagio and became the largest shareholder. The dismissal of CEO Na was recorded as the first case in which a large shareholder in China fired a founder and took over management rights, and it caused a stir in the industry for a while.
After that, CEO Na established a stadium, nurtured Korea’s first actor group, etc.
Unexpectedly, the group he has been preparing ambitiously for, called ‘Star Maker’, is the world’s first six-member character human group ‘Long Body Friends’.
The first member of ‘Long Body Friends’ to be unveiled by Megameta (CEO Na Byeong-woo), a virtual human management company, is DJ and producer ‘Mix Long’. Garaetteok, which is popular with the public, was used as a motif.
Mixlong possesses unrivaled producing ability and versatile performance skills in the electronic dance music (EDM) scene. The goal is to grow into a world-class DJ representing Korea and a new icon in the metaverse era by providing unconventional experiences and fun to the public.
Megameta said, “Like the world-class idol groups BTS and Black Pink, we have implemented idols in virtual reality as characters. “he said.
In the global market, characters like ‘Nobody Sausage’, a Portuguese influencer who already has 4.4 million followers, are very popular.
Long Body Friends plans to differentiate themselves by maximizing the content experience that the character can provide as a virtual human going further from such a simple character.
By adding cutting-edge technology and content to the professional management of former CEO Na, we plan to create an advanced virtual human content experience that can communicate with humans.
Based on the experience of discovering and nurturing many stars, former CEO Na took charge of the strategic marketing management of Megameta.
Production is carried out by ‘Rabbit Work’, which possesses the highest level of technology in Korea in the fields of metaverse virtual technology and visual special effects (VFX). Here, Hyori Lee, Brown Eyed Girls, and Ahn Jung-hoon, an international hit maker who participated in the Japanese national group SMAP album, are in charge of the music, raising expectations even further.
Megameta will release the 6-member group members sequentially, starting with Mix Long, the first member of Long Body Friends, at S Factory in Seongsu-dong on the 24th.
It is noteworthy whether the first virtual celebrity market based on emotionally familiar characters will open beyond the existing virtual human attempts that have tried to get closer to the live-action film.
https://www.hankyung.com/it/article/2022081949207