A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 54

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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 54

 

* * *

 

The moment I arrived at Tivic Headquarters by taxi, I saw a familiar face.

 

Seong Tae in a suit was pacing around, watching the passing taxis.

 

Wait, what is he doing here when he’s an RCE?

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Only then did Seong Tae notice me and hurried over.

 

“Hey, are you really okay just staying still? If I try to cover for you somehow…”

 

“Come on, I told you to stay put. What are you so worried about?”

 

“How can I not look worried? Executive Park is a really annoying guy…”

 

“An executive is joining the Ethics Committee?”

 

“Even a managing director might join.”

 

“What kind of global corporation is this?”

 

“If you’re not from a production background, every executive contract renewal is nerve-wracking. Those idle people found something to assert their presence with.”

 

I thought for a moment and nodded.

 

“Thanks for the good information.”

 

“Hey, I think I should…”

 

“It’s fine, just call President Yun. Tell him nothing will happen.”

 

“I already did.”

 

“Then go grab some coffee somewhere and come back. Don’t go in with me.”

 

I coolly sent Seong Tae away and entered the building.

 

Heading to the 22nd floor and following the receptionist’s guidance, three men were waiting in the meeting room.

 

As Seong Tae said, they were an executive and managing director.

 

One was the Legal Team Leader.

 

After a brief introduction, they got to the main point.

 

“During the casting process for Accomplice, you recruited 8 actors who were not affiliated with D.P.”

 

“All of those actors subsequently signed formal contracts with D.P.”

 

“If you used your position as director to make decisions favorable to a specific agency and received financial benefits in return, this could constitute breach of trust and bribery.”

 

“Also, from a corporate ethics perspective, this corresponds to a conflict of interest issue…”

 

Breach of trust, bribery, conflict of interest.

 

Heavy words were being listed.

 

But I felt a greater sense of bewilderment than the weight of those words.

 

The article broke just a few hours ago, and they’re immediately convening an Ethics Committee?

 

Even though Manager Gong Seok-jun said he would proceed with SSK’s internal investigation first?

 

This is definitely strange.

 

At that moment, the Legal Team Leader looked straight at me and asked a question.

 

“Director Dohyeon-u, did you receive money?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You can prove that, what did you say?”

 

“I received it.”

 

The Legal Team Leader’s pen stopped.

 

* * *

 

Actually, I didn’t receive any.

 

But with things like this, there’s no end to claiming you didn’t receive anything.

 

Starting with “Are you sure you really didn’t receive any?”, and when you say you’ll provide bank records, they’ll ask if you received cash instead.

 

They’ll dig endlessly, and I’ll have to prove endlessly.

 

In that structure, truth becomes meaningless.

 

No matter how I think about it, this seems like Ju Yeong-hun’s doing.

 

I don’t have evidence, but when I rejected Hong Hee-yeong’s script, his eyes were like that.

 

Eyes that looked at me like I was truly pathetic.

 

As if he could kill someone like me anytime.

 

So assuming the worst-case scenario, Ju Yeong-hun, being from management, still has connections with Tivic Korea.

 

These people’s purpose isn’t to reveal innocence, but to reveal guilt.

 

That’s why I didn’t accept Seong Tae’s help.

 

Looking at the current suspicions alone, Seong Tae could easily look like an accomplice too.

 

He’s also from D.P, visited D.P Headquarters with me multiple times, and he’s the one who got me into SSK.

 

Even if he’s not suspected right now, if I keep claiming innocence, his activities will be investigated.

 

Maybe this is what Ju Yeong-hun wants.

 

That’s why I wasn’t claiming innocence.

 

But…

 

I wasn’t meekly admitting guilt either.

 

“Why did you receive money?”

 

“The actors didn’t have money.”

 

“What?”

 

“The meal expenses that should have been used on set and the actors’ promotional activity expenses were insufficient. To give specific examples, meal costs, transportation fees, makeup costs, promotional shooting expenses, and such.”

 

“Well, if that happened, you should have asked headquarters…”

 

“I did request it. It was dismissed because it wasn’t production costs for the work.”

 

It’s not a lie.

 

I asked for more money, but they didn’t give it.

 

Of course, we weren’t actually short on money, but there’s a record, right?

 

That’s not all.

 

Usually agencies record their artists’ activity expenses as investment items in financial statements.

 

Large agencies like D.P don’t have investment recovery conditions, but small agencies often still list them as debts.

 

But D.P was a temporary agency.

 

What investment item would a temporary agency that would say goodbye in a few months create?

 

In the end, D.P spent real money.

 

President Yun and I agreed that money was a primer for actor contracts.

 

We didn’t write a contract, but…

 

“Please have D.P handle temporary management for Accomplice actors who don’t have agencies.”

 

“Temporary?”

 

“Yes. Casting calls are pouring in.”

 

“Why should we? Are we charity workers?”

 

“Huh? Then should I go to another entertainment company?”

 

“Dohyeon-u, you’ve become quite the schemer, haven’t you?”

 

“I learned it all from you, President.”

 

This conversation alone was sufficient.

 

On-set meal expenses can be proven with costs from the catering truck Seo Jae-yeon sent or the snack truck Jae-hyeok sent.

 

We just need to process those costs as payments made by D.P, right?

 

If I ask Seo Jae-yeon or Jae-hyeok, there’s no way they wouldn’t help.

 

The result is that D.P spent money, but not a penny went into my pocket.

 

Then the Legal Team Leader raised his voice.

 

“Are you claiming that not a penny went into your own pocket?”

 

“Yes. Everything was paid as on-set expenses. You can verify the facts with D.P.”

 

“Even if that’s true, it’s still problematic. From a legal perspective, this constitutes third-party breach of trust and bribery.”

 

Yeah, I know.

 

When I looked it up, even if I didn’t receive a penny, it’s legally still a crime.

 

For gaining intangible benefits like influence, or something like that.

 

But Tivic Korea absolutely cannot pursue this.

 

Why?

 

“Ahem.”

 

“Th-that, Legal Team Leader. Just a moment.”

 

Their reputation must be in shambles.

 

It’s a contest-winning work, and a premium thriller that recently generated countless new subscribers in Korea.

 

But that set didn’t even have money to call for meal service, and when the supervising CE sent out an SOS, they ignored it.

 

As a result, it looks like the CE contacted an entertainment agency to feed the actors and handle marketing.

 

If the American head office finds out about this, will they just sit still?

 

I just found out, but the managing director and executive aren’t even from production backgrounds, right?

 

Trust in non-field personnel will drop even further.

 

So there’s exactly one thing I need to do.

 

“I’m truly sorry. I didn’t know it would be a problem since I wasn’t receiving money. The set was just so impoverished…”

 

“That’s not the point,”

 

“I’ll do a joint interview with D.P right away. After revealing all my sins…”

 

“Ah, wait a moment. Director Do. We’re not really going to sue and take legal action, are we?”

 

A threat to let it slide through mutual agreement if they want to preserve their high positions.

 

“Even so, it’s already been disclosed to the media. If we leave it like this, it will inevitably damage Tivic and SSK.”

 

Pressure to handle public opinion themselves.

 

“This isn’t a size that can be handled with just one or two correction reports.”

 

Pressure to spend as much money as possible.

 

This was what I needed to do.

 

So, what will you do?

 

* * *

 

【[Exclusive] Director Dohyeon-u’s kickback allegations were a misunderstanding caused by strong friendship with actors】

 

* * *

 

Tivic mobilized every media outlet they could use and started making noise throughout the neighborhood for days.

 

That Dohyeon-u did nothing wrong.

 

That all of this was just a misunderstanding.

 

That rather, Dohyeon-u was the best CE who cared for actors and the set.

 

Of course, they didn’t just put out tacky correction reports.

 

They poured out an enormous amount of content related to the story and beautiful chemistry between me and the Accomplice actors.

 

It had been covered quite a bit in variety shows and interviews before, but this time it was almost documentary-level.

 

The public’s reaction was good too.

 

-No, it is kind of amazing. Can a director and actors really become that close?

 

-Hahahaha it’s hilariously ridiculous that everyone got drunk and passed out together on the day the accomplice group opened.

 

-At that level, wouldn’t it be possible to ask for advice about contracts?

 

-Young, friend, really, handsome, and good, at work, too,

 

It got to the point where I could frequently see my face floating up through algorithms when I went on YouTube.

 

But it wasn’t all good things.

 

There were also the worst things.

 

–

 

We were just close friends.

 

How embarrassing.

 

(Photo)

 

–

 

The meme expressing embarrassment with my face was revived.

 

Damn, I’m not even a street performer.

 

It won’t die and came back again.

 

That said, not all the public cleanly believed this explanation.

 

-Hahaha look at how much money TB is spending. Don’t you smell something fishy?

 

-Yeah, it feels like they’re giving it a look since there’s something about creating an accomplice group.

 

-I still trust Do Hyun-woo for now, but if he uses Kim Ra-woon in his next project, I don’t think I’ll be able to turn a blind eye to it haha

 

It was natural.

 

How could there be 100% in this world?

 

Even when a drama with 30% ratings comes out, there are people who watch 1-2% rating shows live because they find them interesting.

 

Such reactions themselves weren’t problematic.

 

The problem was that the moment I cast Kim Ra-un, the controversy could reignite.

 

* * *

 

Thud.

 

The manager who put down the “Caught at Fingertips” script on the table opened his mouth.

 

“Alright. Let’s do this. The CEO gave the okay.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, really.”

 

My heart sank with a thud.

 

No, did it rise?

 

Whatever it was, my heart was definitely beating.

 

“Was there no feedback?”

 

“There was no feedback… I’ve never seen our CEO laugh like that before.”

 

“Why?”

 

“He didn’t tell me the reason… He seemed amazed that the old volleyball story changed like this.”

 

“What about you, Manager? Do you still think it won’t work?”

 

“When did I say it wouldn’t work? I said I wasn’t sure because I’m getting old. But one thing’s certain… I hope Park Seong-hwa in the script does well.”

 

Right, that’s enough.

 

That’s how dramas originally start.

 

“The problem is Kim Ra-un. Tivic headquarters said not to cast Kim Ra-un.”

 

“…Why?”

 

“Why do you think? They spent an enormous amount of money turning public opinion around, so don’t light the fuse again. Honestly, I agree too. They seemed ready to cut the production budget if you pick Kim Ra-un.”

 

“Then SSK’s own production…”

 

“Are you going to say something ridiculous? This costs at least 10 billion, what if it flops? You want us to shoulder it all?”

 

My head started spinning rapidly.

 

“Couldn’t we get Hyen Games to participate in production? Then we could pull in 1 billion, no, 2 billion…”

 

“Oh my?”

 

“Since Han Guk-yeong is an important character, I think domestic AI companies would likely show interest too.”

 

“Well now?”

 

“Wouldn’t it be possible to get sponsorship from E-sports teams and reflect the characteristics of actual existing teams?”

 

The manager who had been quietly looking at me asked.

 

“Let’s say all of that works out. But what if it flops? You’ll have to retire. There won’t be anyone willing to fund your future productions.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you still want to use Kim Ra-un?”

 

Retire from CE work?

 

I don’t want to do that.

 

Because I find this work so interesting.

 

But…

 

“Yes. I still want to work with actor Kim Ra-un.”

 

I had conviction.

 

The conviction that no other actor could portray Park Seong-hwa as well as Kim Ra-un.

 

“You didn’t meet with the CEO beforehand, did you?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“No, never mind. Then… go get Kim Ra-un right away.”

 

“Right away? Are you giving permission?”

 

“Whether we do SSK’s own production or persuade Tivic, we’ll handle it ourselves, so go get Kim Ra-un first. If you’re going to release a casting article, you need to do it now. The public remembers controversies but not explanations. You know that, right?”

 

I know that well.

 

Even if someone gets released without charges after being involved in an assault case, people only remember ‘Didn’t that guy hit someone?’

 

“When the smell of money that Tivic burned is lingering in the media. There’s no timing other than now.”

 

“I’ll get the approval within two weeks.”

 

“One week. If it goes beyond that, it’s really over.”

 

After thinking for a moment, he bowed his head.

 

“I’ll bring Kim Ra-un within one week.”

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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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