A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 58
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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 58
* * *
I didn’t smile to provoke Ju Yeong-hun.
I didn’t have any particular intention either.
It was just genuinely funny.
At the same time, a very unexpected memory came to mind.
“Hyeon-u is a god of casting.”
“Actors, regardless of whether they’ve succeeded or not, are people with incredibly strong stubbornness.”
“Do you think it’s easy to change such a person’s mind in just a few minutes?”
When was that again.
Ah, right. So Jeong-hun.
The words I heard when I went to cast So Jeong-hun with Chae Seo-hui.
I thought it was a bit strange back then.
The stage was already set, and all I did was place the actor on top of it.
So I thought, ‘It’s something anyone could do, so why are they impressed?’
But seeing Ju Yeong-hun’s confident gaze, I understand now.
These people don’t know actors.
They might choose projects well, work well, and cast well, but…
They don’t know what artists truly want.
Of course, I’m not saying I’m going to do art.
Accomplice had that concept, but 【Caught at Fingertips】 is undoubtedly a commercial drama.
But even if it’s a commercial drama, they’re ultimately people who create a world.
If capital and systems alone were enough, big corporations would have devoured everything.
“Are you crazy?”
“Ah, sorry. It was suddenly funny.”
I was being sincere, but Ju Yeong-hun’s face twisted up.
“Team Leader, you don’t know much about actors.”
I heard gasps from the onlookers, but I’d already crossed all the lines that needed crossing.
Ju Yeong-hun crossed them first.
I knew this would happen from when I refused the offer to stay in Team 3, but it was a bit early.
“I guarantee it. Kim Ra-un absolutely won’t do that. Even if he doesn’t do our project.”
“This bastard…!”
“Senior Ju Yeong-hun. Don’t forget what you said earlier. That it applies to the opposite position too.”
“Hey! Won’t you stop there?”
“I’ll be going in.”
I bowed and turned around.
Had I walked about three steps?
I remembered something I needed to say and turned around.
“Ah, and I almost forgot.”
This was something I didn’t need to say.
It was a story without basis too.
But I felt like I needed to say this to give my best effort.
Without being satisfied for even a single moment.
“Our project will do much better than that one.”
* * *
I came out of Team 3.
Certainly, until I went to find Ju Yeong-hun, I was in the worst mood.
I was angry, my pride was hurt, and I was embarrassed.
But now my head is clear.
I also know what path I should take as a CE.
I pressed the elevator button and made a call.
The connection was quick.
“Kim Ra-un, let’s do a reading.”
-…A reading?
“Yeah. I’ll give you what you want.”
* * *
The air was stifling.
Empty water bottles of unknown age were scattered around, and my head was hot to the point of pain.
Even so, I couldn’t take my eyes off Kim Ra-un.
It was Kim Ra-un’s house, Kim Ra-un’s sofa, Kim Ra-un’s space.
But sitting in front of me was Park Seong-hwa.
This wasn’t just my own perception.
Kim Ra-un, clutching the script, couldn’t escape from Park Seong-hwa either.
“…”
This is why I laughed when I heard Ju Yeong-hun’s story.
What did he say? That a sulking Kim Ra-un would want Director Go?
Ridiculous.
Actors aren’t a species that thinks that way.
They’re people who throw themselves into new worlds and break themselves apart to reassemble.
I don’t intend to say this is the hardest job in the world.
In terms of physical difficulty, it would actually be quite easy.
But when you suddenly wake up one day and think you’re acting as ‘Dohyeon-u’.
When a vast loneliness like being swept away and isolated in the open sea strikes.
There’s no one who can comfort that feeling.
So what Kim Ra-un would hate more than dying would be standing up with someone else’s strength.
Conversely, what he wants most is to stand up with his acting alone.
Watching Kim Ra-un gradually break away from Park Seong-hwa, I opened my mouth.
“You know now too, right? How well you suit the role of Park Seong-hwa.”
“Yes. I can see it. This kind of thing, it’s been a really long time…”
“You said it yourself, that you couldn’t take my hand. But I’m not telling you to take my hand. Stand up on your own, with your own strength.”
“…”
“When you spend a long time together, there are things you come to know. What kind of person Jae-hyeok, Jae-yeon, and you are. What you fear most, what you like best.”
What Kim Ra-un fears most is failure.
But…
“No matter how I look at it, I think you’re going to fail.”
Kim Ra-un’s eyelids trembled slightly.
“I’m not cursing you. I’m saying that everyone must experience failure in their life.”
Only then did Kim Ra-un’s gaze rise.
I imagined it.
What kind of face Kim Ra-un would have if he failed.
The answer was simple.
“It would probably be that face right now.”
Park Seong-hwa’s face.
That’s why I desperately want Kim Ra-un.
Yeom Jae-mun, Park Seong-hwa, and Kim Ra-un are strangely similar.
The only difference is that Yeom Jae-mun failed, Park Seong-hwa denied it, and Kim Ra-un hasn’t experienced it yet.
“That’s why I thought it would be good if you played Park Seong-hwa.”
“Like a rehearsal?”
“No. To realize that it’s actually not a big deal.”
Kim Ra-un chuckled softly.
“So in the end, you want to cast me because I failed recently, right?”
“How is 7% viewership a failure? What I’ve been doing for 8 years would be the real failure.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that.”
As they exchanged smiles for the first time in who knows how long, Kim Ra-un asked.
“But if I get cast, won’t people go crazy?”
“Let them go crazy. I’ve made my decision, so what can they do?”
“Seo Jae-yeon will go crazy too.”
“Seo Jae-yeon? Why would he?”
“Didn’t you tell him you’d use him in your next project?”
“I did?”
I never said that.
I said I’d keep an eye on whether he becomes washed up.
“But didn’t you say if I didn’t know the answer, it meant rejection? I couldn’t contact you because I didn’t know the answer.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Looking at Kim Ra-un’s clean-cut face, I said.
“That was a lie, you idiot.”
* * *
President Yun’s atmosphere is different from usual.
His lips, which always showed a smile, are tightly closed, and his brightly smiling eyes are hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses.
But I wasn’t nervous.
Because I think this is the best thing for D.P too.
After reading the proposal in silence for a while, the President took off his glasses and began to speak.
“Hyeon-u.”
“Yes.”
“Me liking you and approving Ra-un’s appearance contract are completely different matters. You know that, right?”
“I understand.”
“The next project is too important for Ra-un. We were trying to decide on his next work quickly, but we were thinking of having him do a relatively safe project.”
“Even if Ra-un says he wants to do this?”
“Yeah. We have a duty to take care of an actor’s marketability. Whether through persuasion or force.”
“But President, that’s exactly why I think Kim Ra-un should do our project.”
“Go on.”
I laid out the story I had prepared.
“To be honest, I think it’s strange that an actor of Kim Ra-un’s caliber gets disparaged for one project going wrong.”
“Aren’t you being too confident after you’re the one who made it go wrong?”
“Should I just laugh ‘hehe’ at that?”
If it were someone else, I would have argued it was because of PD Oh Ji-tae, but I can’t bring myself to do that to President Yun.
“Laugh ‘hehe’ and continue.”
“I think Kim Ra-un was a wrongly manufactured product. From the beginning, he should have grown as an actor, not a star. He would have grown sufficiently through skill rather than admiration.”
“Hmm…”
“Now that the wrapping paper of admiration has been stripped away might be the last opportunity. There might not be another chance to set things right.”
President Yun’s eyes narrowed.
5 seconds, 10 seconds.
The sound of tapping the desk with his glasses frame came steadily, then his tone completely changed.
“Hyeon-u.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to join our company?”
“Suddenly?”
“These days, entertainment companies are setting up their own studios a lot. We’ve also made plenty of money, but we have no intention of getting into idols… Then there’s nothing but studios, right?”
“Um, can I be honest?”
“Of course. When have we ever not been honest with each other? Honestly, if it weren’t just you being in a hurry for a contract, I would have dragged out setting up a meeting for at least two weeks. Usually, the side that’s in a hurry tries to buy time with money.”
Wow, that’s a scary thing to say.
“So honestly what?”
“Honestly, I’d like to consider D.P in about 3 years.”
“Don’t want to struggle from rock bottom?”
“Wouldn’t I be unable to struggle? I’m still a little CE crawling around on all fours.”
Joining D.P would be on a completely different level from heading Team 4.
“Good. Then let’s say you’ll join in 3 years?”
“I’ll just consider it, just consider.”
“You’re so cunning. You seem to be becoming like Seong Tae?”
“Take that back.”
After a brief joke, President Yun nodded.
“Alright, good. I wasn’t too fond of Director Jang’s methods either. I also agree that this is the last opportunity.”
“Thank you.”
“But there’s a condition.”
I knew this would happen.
I hope it’s not an unreasonable condition.
“Please tell me.”
“Before I set the condition, should I tell you something interesting?”
“Something interesting?”
“Do you know why that bone-head Ju Yeong-hun or whatever touched the actors you had your eye on?”
Isn’t it obvious?
It’s retaliation for being rejected by me, and hatred toward Seong Tae.
However, President Yun shook his head.
“That’s probably the smallest reason.”
“What?”
“You wouldn’t know, but when directors ruin one project, they want to dig a hole and hide in it. Especially if they’re older directors.”
President Yun rocked his chair as he spoke.
“Am I behind the trends? Are my eyes wrong? Has my eye for scripts disappeared? No, it’s me!! This repeats infinitely.”
“…”
“But he ruined Gyeongseong Bakery. You hit it big with a script he couldn’t even touch.”
“Yes. That’s what happened.”
“He wants to steal your eye for quality. Pretending it’s an emotional response is just packaging to protect his pride. It would look bad if people gossiped that Ju Yeong-hun is coveting Dohyeon-u’s actors, right?”
“Ah…!”
It was an aspect I hadn’t even thought of.
But it was convincing.
I had thought it was strange too.
That he would risk the casting of his own project just to attack my work.
“Do you understand?”
“Completely. So what’s your proposal, President?”
“The roles that get messed up because of Ju Yeong-hun. I won’t demand them unconditionally. That’s what I usually do… But since it’s our Hyeon-u’s work, I can’t be that aggressive.”
I understood immediately.
“Instead, first priority consideration goes to our company’s actors. Okay?”
* * *
【[Exclusive] Kim Ra-un, Next Project ‘Caught at Fingertips’ Confirmed】
【’Caught at Fingertips’, Next Project by Director Dohyeon-u Who Produced Accomplice】
【What Kind of Work is ‘Caught at Fingertips’? Sports Drama Examining the E-sports Industry】
* * *
Ju Yeong-hun kicked open the door to the 4th Team Meeting Room.
The moment Dohyeon-u, who had been in a meeting with Chae Seo-hui and Yun Hyeon-sol, leisurely stood up, a shout burst out.
“Are you crazy? You really want to try this?!”
Dohyeon-u smiled brightly.
“It’s not like you’re the only one in the world with an eye for actors, Team Leader.”
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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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