A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Director Who Dominates OTT

Episode 106

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I tilted my head while looking at the Manager whose face had turned bright red.

I could tell he was angry, but…

Didn’t you expect this to happen?

Then I’m a bit confused.

“Director Do. Do you think that makes sense? 5 billion won?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. SBX directly measured our drama’s value at 5 billion won.”

“That’s…!”

Why are you stopping mid-sentence?

“Please continue. I’ll wait for you.”

But the Manager only breathed heavily and couldn’t add anything more.

“Think about it. You’re asking us to incorporate an already successful separate drama into the universe of an IP your company owns, right? Considering that intangible benefit, receiving just the production cost would be a very reasonable proposal, wouldn’t it?”

“So why is the production cost 5 billion won!”

“You shouldn’t ask me that. SBX measured it.”

The Manager who had been fuming for a while drank some cold water and lowered his voice.

“Director Do. Let’s be honest. Is that really a separate drama?”

“Yes. It’s just that the actors, writer, and director are the same, but it’s a separate work.”

“Are you really going to come at me like this?”

“This makes me curious. From what I can guess, Manager, you seemed to think it didn’t matter whether Milddang Season 2 was produced or not? Why did your attitude suddenly change?”

When I probed slightly, the Manager’s expression worsened.

Is he receiving pressure from above after all?

Well, the more successful both works become, the harsher the mockery toward SBX gets.

Then the Manager said something unexpected.

“Fine. I’ll give you 5 billion. Instead, hand over the terrestrial broadcasting rights and overseas distribution rights for 【Switched Lives】.”

Broadcasting rights and distribution rights?

Honestly, it was a bit unexpected.

When an OTT has SVOD for a work, the terrestrial broadcasting rights are called the ‘second window’, and the price is usually around 20% of the production cost.

For a mega-hit, maybe around 50%?

Then the second window for our 2 billion won work would be at most 1 billion won.

Since we didn’t hand over global SVOD to Netflix, overseas distribution rights are a bit more expensive…

But still between 1.5 to 2.5 billion?

In other words, calculating both rights at maximum value would be 3.5 billion won.

So throwing out 5 billion was a kind of gamble.

But…

“Manager. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“What?”

“The reason you rejected my proposal was because you were thinking about your own safety, right?”

It’s obvious.

Selling the rights to the 50 million won 【Push and Pull】 wouldn’t have left him with any money, and he calculated it could become a problem if things went wrong.

“I’m the same. I’m politely rejecting your proposal for my own safety.”

“What are you talking about right now! Are you mocking me?”

“Mocking you? Think carefully. Why should I betray Netflix, who became my white knight?”

At this point, Netflix is the only platform that can simultaneously service ‘Push and Pull’ and ‘Switched Lives’.

However, the power of Netflix’s exclusive rights isn’t that strong.

SVOD is ultimately exclusive rights within the subscription service called OTT.

It’s separate from broadcasting station channels.

In other words, if I wanted to, I could easily screw over Netflix…

“There’s no reason for me to do that for you, Manager.”

I was a bit disappointed seeing the Manager’s cheeks start trembling.

Actually, I had something I was hoping for.

If that wasn’t the case, I would have cleanly ignored this instead of provoking like this.

What I wanted was for SBX to sell the overseas distribution rights of 【Push and Pull】 to Netflix at a reasonable price.

In exchange, they’d secure domestic broadcasting rights and get some stake.

I was disappointed that Netflix’s SVOD exclusive rights for Milddang were limited to domestic rather than global.

Because I wanted to bundle ‘Switched Lives’ and ‘Push and Pull’ together for overseas service.

From SBX’s perspective, even though it might seem like a loss initially, it would be the best method…

“Do you know what you’re doing right now?! You’re going to make enemies with terrestrial broadcasting?!”

I thought it might be like this.

“Of course I don’t want to make enemies.”

“Then…!”

“But we’re already enemies.”

“What?”

“If I accept reasonable money and hand over the rights, would you look favorably upon me, Manager? I don’t think so.”

You might be grateful for the moment this crisis is resolved, but ultimately you won’t be.

Because I remember the attitude and look in your eyes when you offered me 500 million.

“Ultimately, your feelings won’t change, Manager. As time passes, you’ll try to pay me back somehow.”

Then wouldn’t I be in a position where I have to do my best to make the person in front of me unemployed?

Rather than out of hatred…

“I’m worried you might pull some shallow tricks.”

* * *

I left the restaurant and called Director Cha Seong-u.

The signal went on for a while without connecting, so I was about to hang up when I heard his voice.

-Ah, Director Dohyeon-u.

After brief greetings, I got to the point.

“It didn’t work out well. The overseas distribution rights.”

I gave the domestic SVOD for ‘Switched Lives’ to Netflix for free, but I’m still holding onto the global SVOD.

Anyway, given the nature of the work, it would be difficult to gain attention overseas in a short time.

I was planning to first generate maximum buzz domestically and then send it overseas.

The plan I made was to get SBX to hand over overseas distribution rights to Netflix and include the value of that effort in the global SVOD price…

Too bad it didn’t work out.

-I just went along with it then, but did you really make contact with SBX?

“Yes. I was trying to corner the Manager and use him as a puppet.”

-I had a rough idea… Could you tell me in more detail?

With a slightly puzzled expression, I explained the plan.

The reason I didn’t explain everything in detail to Director Cha Seong-u wasn’t because I was trying to hide it.

Rather, I thought he would figure it out anyway.

-If that was the kind of plan, why didn’t you tell me?

What, you didn’t know?

“If I get help from Director Cha Seong-u, the global SVOD price would go down, right?”

-Hahaha. Why do you work so hard on everything?

“I have to work hard.”

The money of people who trusted me is at stake.

Of course, my money too.

After laughing for a while, Cha Seong-u said.

-The Manager’s thoughts probably haven’t reached that far yet. When people’s own safety is at stake, their vision becomes narrower than expected.

“Come on, he’s still a manager of a broadcasting station.”

-I’ll be right, you know? But can I take over that plan?

“Yes. It’s already out of my hands anyway.”

-Alright. Even if I can’t match global SVOD rates, I think I can at least give you a personal gift.

After hanging up with Director Cha Seong-u, I pondered for a moment.

I was originally planning to go home, but suddenly felt like walking.

Since the Manager had come near SSK, it was a familiar street, but I realized I’d never actually taken a leisurely walk here.

I was always rushing around busily or just taking taxis.

Ah, these days I drive my own car though.

So I walked through the night streets full of spring atmosphere, lost in thought.

This web drama had been a kind of challenge for me.

A challenge to prove I could succeed without the help of supernatural powers.

So I thought I’d be tremendously happy if 【Switched】 succeeded.

Hmm, how should I put it.

I thought I’d savor my first complete success without any help for the first time.

But it wasn’t like that at all.

Of course, it’s not that I wasn’t happy.

I was incredibly happy, but…

It wasn’t much different from when Accomplice or Handtip Crawl succeeded.

That’s when I realized.

Dramas are born through the help of many people anyway.

There’s no such thing as a drama I make alone; they’re created through everyone’s efforts.

So what I should be happy about wasn’t that I succeeded purely through my own abilities.

It was that the writer’s good story came into the world, the actors’ performances shone, and viewers enjoyed it.

This is what I should be happy about.

Because nothing is more important than this.

Perhaps…

‘Was I being too scared?’

Because of the thought that the supernatural power that suddenly appeared might suddenly disappear.

But hey, supernatural power is still an ability, right?

Other directors might find it annoying to hear, but anyway, it’s an ability I possess.

I just need to use it to create better stories with more earnest people and make more people happy.

Then if the supernatural power disappears someday, I’ll just do my best without it.

With help from many people, as always.

This was the conclusion I reached while making 【Switched】.

I burst into laughter while having such thoughts.

“Oh my…”

I had been walking while deep in thought and found myself in front of the company before I knew it.

That’s why habits are scary.

After bursting into laughter, I was about to call a taxi in front of the company when a sudden thought made me head to the Team 4 office.

It wasn’t anything major, I just thought I should take Kwon Cheol and Chae Seo-hui’s scripts with me.

Since today was Friday, I wanted to take them home to read over the weekend.

The moment I pushed open the glass door and entered the dark Team 4 office.

A sensation of the floor suddenly dropping overwhelmed me.

Clatter, clatter!

The sound of rough hoofbeats and the smell of dust.

“Kill that traitor!”

“Shoot! I said shoot!”

Furious shouting.

“Your Highness! Leave me behind and go!”

A man’s shout was heard.

“Ah…!”

The sensation disappeared in an instant.

But since this was the third time I’d experienced this, I could tell.

That it was a precursor symptom of my supernatural power.

The precursor symptom activated suddenly even though I hadn’t touched any script?

But I knew which script had caused this precursor symptom.

More precisely, I should say I knew what content the sensation I felt was about?

【The Deposed Crown Prince’s Bodyguard (Working Title)】

It was the historical drama script that Chae Seo-hui was holding.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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