A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 45
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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 45
* * *
People don’t know this, but Youngpal and Accomplice were staged WWE.
To be precise, it started as serious UFC, then transformed into WWE when CEO Han Seong-hun reached an agreement with SBX’s drama director.
Maybe it would be more accurate to call it emotional WWE.
This was possible because the situation wasn’t bad for SBX either.
The beginning was unpleasant, but the drama buzz was pumping like crazy, wasn’t it?
KBX and MBY were dying out, and no matter how wide they opened their eyes, Accomplice didn’t look like competition.
That’s how a gentle agreement was reached.
Let’s conscientiously tear into each other and draw out the buzz.
However, this was peace above the surface.
It was just a safety device to prevent it from escalating into a fight between the broadcasting station and Tivic, but not below the surface.
The CP released articles without reporting to the director level, and actor agencies also engaged in media play.
But there was someone burning with anger more than anyone else…
“Dohyeon-u, you bastard!”
It was Oh Ji-tae PD, the main director of Youngpal.
I’d heard rumors several times that Oh Ji-tae PD wanted to kill me.
There was even talk that he tried to put my name on a doll and hold a burning ceremony, but his colleagues stopped him.
Of course, I feel wronged.
I couldn’t just keep getting beaten up by Director Jang, could I?
But regardless of my grievances, I could understand Oh Ji-tae PD’s anger.
The problem was that his anger turned into incomprehensible stubbornness.
“Fuck. Do they think I don’t do thrillers because I can’t?!”
After episode 4 aired, when Accomplice was declared the KO winner, PD Oh Ji-tae started tearing up the script.
OTT shoots everything to the end like movies before releasing, but terrestrial broadcasting doesn’t.
Terrestrial broadcasting intentionally overlaps filming and airing of the latter half.
That way they can slightly modify the drama based on viewers’ reactions.
There was also a bit of superstition involved.
The superstition that pre-produced works don’t get good ratings.
The actual data supports this too.
In this situation, PD Oh Ji-tae made major revisions to episode 7.
I found out later that he even re-shot scenes that were already completely filmed.
And so…
Thriller was inserted into 0% Algorithm.
“Accomplice captured both popularity and quality? Then we just need to capture artistic value too!”
No, please don’t do that…
Just endure until episode 8…
Youngpal was an entertaining enough drama…
What are you doing directing it like the AI intentionally committed murder?
It’s not 【0% Algorithm for Ratings】!
I’m not mocking it, I’m genuinely sorry about it.
I felt bad because it seemed like it happened because of us.
After episode 7 aired, the internet went crazy.
There were actually more Youngpal articles than Accomplice articles, even though Accomplice’s finale was announced.
But then someone appeared who delivered the final blow to the confused public opinion.
@tjwodus
Actually, I appeared as a cameo in Accomplice…!
Who is it? (emoji)(emoji)
The internet was turned upside down by Seo Jae-yeon’s SNS post.
-Seo Jae-yeon was a cameo????
-Where? When? Why didn’t I see it?
-I can’t watch dark stuff but I’m binge-watching from episode 1 to find Jaeyeon unnieㅠㅠ But it’s actually getting interesting as I watchㅎ
-6 hours into binge-watching; good thing today is the finale…
-Isn’t the male lead that shorts genius?
People who knew about Accomplice but had no intention of watching it started pouring in.
The entire viewing demographic that had been avoiding dark thrillers flowed in.
While people on the internet became obsessed with finding Seo Jae-yeon…
“Are you crazy? How can you lie like that!”
I was also shocked and went looking for Seo Jae-yeon.
-What’s the big deal? Can’t I lie a little?
“What’s the big deal? What’s the big deal?!”
-I need to achieve explosive beauty at the end. Now people will watch Accomplice to find me, right?
Explosive beauty at the end?
I’ve really never heard that phrase in my life.
I don’t know about explosive beauty, but I know what innocent beauty is.
“Post on SNS right now and correct it.”
-What?
“Say you were hacked. Say it seems like an obsessive Accomplice fan hacked you.”
-It’s been over 2 hours since I uploaded it? Would D.P leave a hacked post up that long?
“Ah, then say I made you do it! People know I’m your senior now!”
-Superstar Seo Jae-yeon doesn’t match the level to use that as an excuse.
“Hey, Seo Jae-yeon! Are you really crazy?”
* * *
Seo Jae-yeon giggled at Dohyeon-u’s anger coming through the phone.
A normal person would secretly enjoy this situation, but Dohyeon-u doesn’t.
He was genuinely angry.
Well, can’t help it.
I should appease him.
“Don’t be angry. I really did appear in it.”
-You appeared? You?
“Yeah.”
-As what? No, when?
“First love Yeon-hee.”
-Hey! That’s what I rejected!
“I filmed it afterward. Secretly with CE Chae Seo-hui’s help.”
Dohyeon-u on the other end of the phone was silent for a long time.
He was probably either recalling memories or mulling over the drama content.
Sure enough, a scream-like shout burst out.
-Those shoulders and back view were you?!
“You just figured it out? I’m disappointed. You couldn’t recognize me by my shoulder line?”
It was a secret that even the Accomplice cast members didn’t know.
Since there were no scenes where she was caught in the same frame as other actors, they only shot shoulder and back view inserts.
The condition for the cameo appearance was that Dohyeon-u wouldn’t know, so Director Jeong Hee-su and the cinematographer kept the secret.
-No, why are you only telling me this now…
“Surprise?”
-Hah…
After teasing the speechless Dohyeon-u for a while, Seo Jae-yeon, as always, finished saying what she wanted and abruptly hung up.
“Ah, this is fun.”
After rolling around on the bed like that, she sent a message on her smartphone.
[You know I like you, right?]
The recipient was Kim Ra-un.
[But you also know I like Dohyeon-u more, right?]
[I stayed quiet when the two works were neck and neck, but now the situation seems settled.]
Seo Jae-yeon was typing ‘You should have treated your senior better,’ but hesitated for a moment and deleted it all.
[Wrap up filming well.]
Humming a light tune, he put down his smartphone.
* * *
“What does that guy Seo Jae-yeon say? No, why is he saying he appeared in a work he didn’t even appear in…”
“He says he did appear.”
“What?”
“He says he appeared. Without me knowing.”
“What?”
As I explained the situation while leaving the M2M office in Bangbae-dong, Go Team Leader’s mouth fell wide open.
Actually, I had rushed out after receiving a call from Seong Tae during a meeting with the M2M CEO.
After standing in the hallway to grasp the situation and ending the call, Go Team Leader also finished his meeting and came out.
“Wait, that kid who won’t even give out his schedule unless it’s a dual lead in a Chungmuro tent-pole movie, is doing a cameo where his face doesn’t even show?”
“How would I know.”
“If you don’t know, who would.”
“Even his parents, no, even his mother wouldn’t know what’s in his head.”
Go Team Leader, who had been dumbfounded, shook his head in resignation.
“That bastard Seo Jae-yeon was well-behaved and nice to look at when he was a rookie. After becoming a top star, he’s an uncontrollable runaway train.”
“Seo Jae-yeon is most charming when he’s intimidated.”
“He was intimidated for about 1 year, then flew around for 6 years?”
Go Team Leader and I looked at each other and laughed.
Not because Seo Jae-yeon’s story was funny, but because it was fun to share the same memories.
“Still, it’s fortunate that M2M was settled well.”
Changing the subject, I looked up at the small building.
Just now, we met with the M2M CEO to negotiate Eum Seong-hyeon’s contract termination.
My role was as a witness.
When I pointed out what happened on the day of the Pangyo event one by one, he shut his mouth.
Still, it won’t be a loss.
We agreed to settle the activity earnings and advertising fees for the remaining period to M2M as penalty fees.
A dinosaur like D.P didn’t need to go that far, but it was Go Team Leader’s decision.
He said he hated seeing a good actor being consumed as trash because of a garbage agency.
This is why I like Go Team Leader.
Should I call him an endangered species romantic who’s almost extinct in this industry.
Though he can’t handle his own love life.
“What. Your expression looks suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
Anyway, with this, D.P has embraced all the main and supporting actors of Accomplice.
In just one day, like roasting beans in lightning.
“Hyeon-u.”
Go Team Leader patted my shoulder and smiled brightly.
Huh, I’ve seen this smile a lot.
Isn’t this the smile he makes when meeting production companies or investors?
“You and I have been family together since the Mangwon-dong days, right?”
“Right?”
“Now the Accomplice actors and I are family too, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then you and the actors are family too, right? What is there between family? Nothing to be stingy about!”
“What are you trying to say.”
“Next project casting… Can I look forward to it?”
“What should I do about this. The next work is a teenage school drama.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. Our actors have faces that can broadly cover from teenagers to people in their 50s.”
What kind of insurance product is this?
Covering from teenagers to people in their 50s.
I was laughing because it was absurd, and Go Team Leader also smiled looking at me.
“Anyway, thanks for your help today. It was resolved easily thanks to you.”
“What help. It was only natural.”
Though it was a favor given with a happy heart, it’s also true that it helps me.
For producers, how wide their network is matters.
These moments will be a big help someday.
I parted with Go Team Leader with smiles.
I had to go to work since I only took a morning half-day off.
So I went to work with light steps.
“Director Do. Come see me for a moment.”
Senior Ju Yeong-hun was waiting.
* * *
As soon as the meeting room door closed, a thick script dropped onto the table.
“Try doing this as your next project.”
“…Yes?”
“You know writer Hong Hee-yeong, right?”
“I know her.”
Of course I do.
She’s a writer who’s really good at creating characters.
Even when ratings don’t come out, the entire nation knows the main characters’ signature lines.
She pays so much attention to even supporting characters’ lines that actors love her.
“This is writer Hong Hee-yeong’s new work that we secured with difficulty. I’ve confirmed how you work, so I’ll discuss with CE Kang and give you plenty of authority. Make it well.”
No, honestly this is a bit bewildering.
Actually, if it’s not Hong I-yeong instead of Hong Hee-yeong trying to screw me over, this is really a favor?
Since I was bewildered, Senior Ju Yeong-hun lowered his voice.
It wasn’t his usual prickliness, but a voice that felt serious and calm.
“I’m giving you an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?”
“Don’t go to Team 4.”
“…”
“Do you think the CEO is trying to send you to Team 4 for no reason?”
“What do you mean?”
Ju Yeong-hun rubbed his chin and said.
“You proved it with Accomplice. That you do well starting from nothing. So he’s sending you to Team 4 which has nothing. Team 3 isn’t enough if you want to become independent from Tivic.”
“…”
“I don’t know for sure, but he probably promised sweet rewards… But what if you fail at Team 4? Will there be a place to return to? There’s no guarantee you’ll hit a home run like Accomplice every time, right?”
As I keep saying, I was an actor, and I can see through Senior Ju Yeong-hun’s acting.
It’s obvious that his worry for me is fake.
But what’s interesting is that I could feel sincerity in his words that going to Team 4 would be bad for me.
Whether it’s true or not, Ju Yeong-hun believes it.
If it had ended here, I would have been a bit confused.
But it didn’t.
“And, that General Manager Kim Seong-tae you trust and follow so much. Haven’t you ever thought he was strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“If he cared about you that much, would he have put you in charge of Accomplice? You hit a home run in the end, but… that was a script with a 99% chance of failure. You broke through that 1%.”
Ju Yeong-hun stared directly into my eyes.
“This world is full of people who use others. I’m the same, trying to use you to build Team 3’s performance. So shake hands with someone like me who’s trying to use you honestly. Don’t trust people who act duplicitously and cunningly behind the scenes.”
“…”
Ah, so Seong Tae is duplicitous and cunning, while he’s honest?
This is ridiculous.
No, I’m angry.
Ju Yeong-hun’s life must have been full of people trying to use others, but mine wasn’t.
Seong Tae is someone who poured affection into me for years when I was a nobody with nothing.
When he knew I had no money, he would deliberately come to my house to eat.
He would stack up 10 lunch boxes, claiming he accidentally ordered the wrong quantity.
We only lived as actor and manager for just 2 years.
The remaining 6 years, we were friends and brothers.
Normally I would have just nodded appropriately and ended it, but I don’t want to do that.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll handle my own affairs.”
“…What?”
Ju Yeong-hun’s eyebrows twitched.
“Are you getting worked up because I badmouthed Kim Seong-tae?”
“He’s the General Manager.”
“What?”
“General Manager Kim Seong-tae. Of Tivic’s Korean Branch, which has an exclusive supply contract with SSK.”
“So what? You’re saying you’ll go to Team 4 because you don’t like me for touching Kim Seong-tae? Without holding onto any project?”
“I have one. A project.”
“That volleyball story you keep looking at whenever you have time?”
How does he even know that?
He’s too interested in me, it’s creepy.
“Yes.”
“Are you protesting right now because you don’t want to work with me?”
He knows well.
But it’s not just because of rebellious feelings.
Looking at various scripts recently, I’ve definitely realized something.
【Caught at Fingertips】.
This is indeed outdated.
But it’s a gem crafted in an outdated way.
If we can just remove that outdatedness, it can shine brighter than anything else.
I still don’t know the answer, but the question ‘Is this a script that necessarily needs to find the right answer?’ has completely disappeared.
“I don’t know if it’s a protest, but it’s true that this is my next project.”
Ju Yeong-hun’s reaction to my words was really unexpected.
He looked at me as if I were pathetic and laughed.
“Fine. If you’re going to do something you’ll regret, how can I stop you?”
How funny.
Let’s see who will regret it.
The next day.
The rumor that I had kicked away Hong Hee-yeong’s new work that Ju Yeong-hun offered and chose 【Caught at Fingertips】 spread throughout the entire company.
The reaction of those who looked up the script out of curiosity was unanimous.
“Are you crazy?”
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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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