A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 53

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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 53

 

Action 7. Pre-Production War

 

I tossed the final draft of episodes 1-3 to the Manager.

 

The Manager promised the fastest possible review, but it would probably take some time.

 

He’d be reviewing it together with the CEO.

 

Normally, a planning script wouldn’t go up to the CEO level, but isn’t the current situation special?

 

The establishment of Team 4 was at stake.

 

Plus, there was also the promise between the CEO and me that the employees didn’t know about.

 

Two anxious days passed like that.

 

I was confident it would receive a good evaluation, but the act of waiting for results itself was quite nerve-wracking.

 

What I chose to manage my anxiety was work.

 

The world I had directly experienced.

 

The world within PD Yeom’s, no, Writer Yeom’s script.

 

I began studying and recording the differences between these two worlds.

 

In the process, there was something I came to realize for certain.

 

Accomplice had been a really convenient work for using supernatural abilities.

 

Thrillers are inherently a genre that controls information.

 

It’s natural for the story to progress only from the protagonist’s perspective.

 

In other words, Hyeon-tae’s first-person possession fit well with the thriller’s tone and manner.

 

The locations were also extremely limited, so I didn’t need to speculate about worlds beyond what I had seen.

 

Of course, daily life scenes of the characters and childhood flashback scenes were necessary.

 

But all of that was included in the original contest submission script.

 

On the other hand, 【Caught at Fingertips】 was different.

 

This was a months-long story unfolding within the massive sports industry.

 

There were many incidents happening beyond Park Seong-hwa’s sight, and elements whose progression I never fully understood until the end.

 

I’m not just talking about antitheses like conspiracies or schemes.

 

Take romance, for example.

 

Park Seong-hwa had no romance lines except for the subtle emotional connection with his divorced wife, but the supporting characters were different.

 

The script’s second role, Seong-hwa Empire’s representative player ‘Lee Yeong-han’.

 

The third or fourth role, team owner Han Guk-yeong.

 

Both of them had romance.

 

But I didn’t know how those romances had sprouted.

 

I only felt subtle emotional currents, then suddenly they bore fruit at the finale.

 

Unlike Accomplice, these parts required creativity.

 

So Accomplice was a work suitable for the supernatural ability of script possession.

 

As if…

 

‘It had been a test run.’

 

If 【Caught at Fingertips】 had been the first supernatural experience, wouldn’t I have struggled much more than now?

 

The moment I realized this fact, I let go of my greed.

 

I still wanted to recreate the world I had seen exactly as it was.

 

But I shouldn’t let greed take precedence and force unconditional revisions.

 

I couldn’t say things like ‘I’m not exactly sure either, but wouldn’t it be better if Han Guk-yeong was from an orphanage?’

 

To demand revisions, I needed to have a clear plan in hand.

 

Suddenly, Seong Tae’s words came to mind.

 

“Want me to tell you the first virtue of being a director?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“It’s not about controlling, but making things shine.”

 

“Making what shine?”

 

“Anything. The work, the director… or the actors.”

 

He probably didn’t say it knowing about my abilities, but it perfectly fits the current situation.

 

As expected of Sung Tae-chang.

 

System Messages usually contain important information, don’t they?

 

With a much lighter heart, I was immersing myself in script analysis when.

 

Buzz.

 

-Come to the Manager’s office now.

 

I thought it would take a few more days, but was the review already finished?

 

Don’t tell me he just skimmed through it because he was going to reject it anyway?

 

No, I did accomplish something with Accomplice after all.

 

I entered the Manager’s office with all sorts of thoughts, but an unexpected comment flew at me.

 

“Sorry, Hyeon-u. I couldn’t stop the article.”

 

“Excuse me? Article?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

What was he talking about?

 

“The Kim Ra-un casting article?”

 

The Manager, who had been studying my face carefully, let out a deep sigh.

 

“I really don’t think it’s true… Why are you an actor by background? Makes it hard to read your expression.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I understood when I saw the smartphone he handed me.

 

〈[Exclusive] ‘Accomplice’ Director Dohyeon-u’s shady deal with agency D.P? Suspicion of ‘kickbacks’ for arranging 8 actors〉

 

〈Dohyeon-u’s actor business? Evidence of pushing 8 main and supporting Accomplice actors to D.P and receiving under-the-table money〉

 

It was a hot-off-the-press article posted just 3 minutes ago.

 

* * *

 

Kwon Cheol, who had been in CL Team 1 and recently moved to Team 4, saw the article in the lounge.

 

“What’s this?”

 

“Dohyeon-u took kickbacks?”

 

It wasn’t just Kwon Cheol.

 

The employees gathered in the lounge started burying their noses in their smartphones.

 

Public opinion was heating up in an instant.

 

-If this is true, isn’t this just a crime?

 

-They said he was an actor, but he was doing broker work behind the scenes;;

 

-Is this wrong? Seems like he just connected them to an agency and took a little commission.

 

-Yeah, isn’t D.P good?

 

-Are you crazy, of course it’s wrong. He used his position as director to decide the actors’ fates.

 

-You guys don’t know this? My friend works at Eum Seong-hyeon’s agency, and they said Dohyeon-u came with the D.P manager to negotiate contract termination.

 

-What?

 

-Really?

 

-Yeah, would the D.P manager have come with him if they had no relationship?

 

At first, comments criticizing Dohyeon-u’s morality poured out, but at some point the argument shifted.

 

-Wait, Kim Ra-un is also with D.P, right?

 

-Oh my. Then wasn’t casting Kim Ra-un for the next project also because he received money?

 

-That might just be special service. He got paid for 8 people, but since Kim Ra-un collapsed, he felt awkward and gave him the lead role.

 

-Wow, chills. It wasn’t Hongdae disease but rigged go-stop.

 

-What nonsense. Even if Kim Ra-un messed up, couldn’t he get a lead role without Dohyeon-u? This is just unfair criticism;

 

-How would you know that? The entertainment industry is originally a place where once you mess up, it’s hard to climb back up lol

 

-No wonder there was suddenly an article about casting Kim Raun lol

 

-Didn’t he read the mood?

 

“Wow, is this why he was trying to pick Kim Ra-un?”

 

“Come to think of it, weren’t most of the child actors in Accomplice also from D.P?”

 

“What kind of major accident does a first-year cause?”

 

“Come on, if they were going to get into the actor business, they should have done it before the work became a hit. D.P only took on the temporary agency role after Accomplice exploded.”

 

“D.P isn’t digging dirt to make money, so would they have played the fool? Covering the actors’ signing fees plus Dohyeon-u’s back margin too?”

 

The atmosphere in the lounge was split fifty-fifty.

 

Many people believed the article, but just as many didn’t.

 

Overall, CL Teams 2 and 3 were badmouthing Dohyeon-u, while the rest felt more objective.

 

The core department, CL Team 1, had more of a feeling of passing down projects that were short-staffed rather than competing with other teams.

 

Team members outside of CL were in neutral gear.

 

Then, someone tapped Kwon Cheol on the shoulder.

 

“What was your impression, CE Kwon? You worked with Dohyeon-u these past few weeks.”

 

He thought about the question, but there wasn’t really any particular impression.

 

Just that he was ridiculously good-looking?

 

Dohyeon-u wasn’t usually stuck to the office anyway.

 

“I’m not really sure.”

 

After answering that way, Kwon Cheol looked around appropriately before returning to Team 4.

 

Assuming that Dohyeon-u either wasn’t at his desk or, even if he was, his mental state would be shot.

 

But what met his eyes was a truly strange sight.

 

“No, why are you adding a romance line for Han Guk-yeong? How old is the team owner supposed to be?”

 

“Mid-forties.”

 

“Huh? That’s younger than I thought.”

 

“The writer wrote him as late fifties, but I think mid-forties would suit him better.”

 

“Shouldn’t the writer’s setting take priority?”

 

“Of course. That’s why I’m saying we should reach an agreement among ourselves and propose this approach.”

 

“Okay. Mid-forties, and we’re adding romance. Who’s the other party?”

 

“Sa Mo-yeon.”

 

“…Hyeon-u, are you crazy? She’s the villain! An absolutely irredeemable bad woman!”

 

“How about they’re orphanage classmates? Twisted desire and jealousy, a kind of hate-love relationship. Of course, Sa Mo-yeon would be the one completely obsessed.”

 

“No, how can an AI company CEO be from an orphanage! How could someone self-made achieve that much by their forties!”

 

“That’s more interesting than you’d think, you know? Listen to my story carefully…”

 

He was conducting the meeting so calmly.

 

As if nothing had happened at all.

 

It didn’t seem like acting.

 

Dohyeon-u was presenting opinions as always, and Chae Seo-hui was jumping up and down as always.

 

“This is a bit of a different topic, but if the parent company is an AI company, regarding the long-standing controversy among gamers about APM effectiveness and brain capacity allocation…”

 

Yun Hyeon-sol beside them was rambling on about incomprehensible topics as always.

 

It was a scene Kwon Cheol’s common sense couldn’t understand.

 

‘Is this something to treat so lightly? The entire nation is badmouthing him?’

 

Even after meeting for a while, Dohyeon-u looked at his watch and casually said:

 

“I have to go to the Head Office Ethics Committee later, you know? Will this be sorted out by the time I get back?”

 

Ethics Committee?

 

Isn’t that really scary?

 

Even if you did nothing wrong, they could still find dust, right?

 

“Ah, yes. I’ll have it finished by the time you return.”

 

“Director, I’ll go to the writers’ office and…”

 

“CE Yun. Didn’t I say you’re banned from the office this week?”

 

“But Writer Gil Sanghun said he desperately needs me…”

 

“If you keep that up, I’ll go to the Ethics Committee and tell them everything.”

 

He was even joking about the Ethics Committee.

 

A moment later, when Dohyeon-u left the office, Kwon Cheol couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

 

“Excuse me, CE Chae.”

 

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

 

“Is CE Dohyeon-u okay? He seems too calm, so I’m getting worried.”

 

“Oh, well. He’ll be fine, right? He definitely didn’t take any money, and he said he’d handle it himself.”

 

“How are you so sure he didn’t take money?”

 

“Um… Just watching how Director Do gets along with the actors, you can tell. If he took money and gave it to the actors for living expenses, maybe, but took it and kept it for himself? That doesn’t make sense.”

 

“But couldn’t it be dangerous even if it’s a false accusation?”

 

At Kwon Cheol’s question, Chae Seo-hui rolled her eyes and brought up something out of the blue.

 

“You know. When the controversy related to actor Kim Ra-un first broke out, I worried a lot about it.”

 

“Ah, you must have. It was resolved well in the end though.”

 

“Right. It was resolved well. Then I worried because the response interview seemed too aggressive.”

 

“Ah, that’s right. That was also resolved well though.”

 

“Right. It was resolved well. Next, I worried because Youngpal’s ratings were doing too well.”

 

“Uh… That was also reversed, right?”

 

“Then this whole terrestrial TV versus OTT confrontation structure emerged.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Then Eum Seong-hyeon’s idol controversy broke out?”

 

He hadn’t really thought about it until now…

 

What kind of life has Dohyeon-u been living?

 

“After all those worries, I realized. Ah, Director Do is Conan.”

 

“…”

 

“You should worry about the culprit, not about Conan.”

 

Hearing Chae Seo-hui’s words, Kwon Cheol reflexively opened his mouth.

 

Seeing Yun Hyeon-sol excitedly typing something.

 

“CE Yun Hyeon-sol must also have great faith in Hyeon-u.”

 

“She’s just lost her mind! I’m telling you there’s something wrong with her?!”

 

“What?”

 

“I mean, what kind of CE goes home to the writers’ office? Not doing that doesn’t mean you lack passion, right? Right?!”

 

Kwon Cheol suddenly had this thought.

 

If nothing else, working on Dohyeon-u’s team would probably be fun.

—————
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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