A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 61

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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 61

 

* * *

 

“…Jeon So-ra?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Really Jeon So-ra? Did the Manager confirm it?”

 

“Yes. I spoke with the representative from her agency. It was So-ra’s older sister.”

 

“That’s, well…”

 

Gong Seok-jun chuckled as he watched Representative Han Seong-hun’s face.

 

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you like this, Representative.”

 

“Right. I think it’s been a while since I was this surprised. What happened?”

 

“From what I heard, nothing special? Hyeon-u just delivered the script, and Jeon So-ra said she wanted to do it. Her agency is also bewildered.”

 

“How did he think to give it to Jeon So-ra?”

 

“I don’t know that either… Hyeon-u told the Team 3 leader that he doesn’t know anything about actors.”

 

Han Seong-hun’s eyes deepened.

 

“Since he’s from an acting background, maybe he sees something we can’t see? Honestly, I was more amazed that he got Kim Ra-un in just a week.”

 

“Right… What kind of species are actors anyway.”

 

“By the way, what should we do about this? Even if we keep quiet for a while, it’ll spread quickly. Should we leak it to Tivic?”

 

Tivic was currently maintaining the position that they couldn’t allocate production funds to 【Caught at Fingertips】 if Kim Ra-un was used as the protagonist.

 

This had irritated SSK.

 

While production volume was Tivic’s business division’s decision, refusing to provide any budget at all was strange.

 

With the exclusive supply contract between Tivic and SSK not having much time left, there was suspicion that they were trying to fight for dominance.

 

And incidentally punish Dohyeon-u, who had fallen out of favor.

 

From what they heard, Dohyeon-u had pulled some bold moves at the Ethics Committee.

 

But the card that could overturn all of this at once was Jeon So-ra.

 

If Jeon So-ra’s comeback work was a Tving Original, they’d have no choice but to change their attitude.

 

Gong Seok-jun thought Han Seong-hun would naturally choose this method.

 

But after a fairly long silence, what came out of Han Seong-hun’s mouth was unexpected.

 

“Manager. We have three contracts remaining?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Two of them are going into production soon?”

 

“Yes. Team 1 and Team 2 each have one.”

 

The contract period with Tivic was until this year, but if they didn’t fulfill all the works, the period would automatically extend.

 

In other words, the moment they supplied the third work next year, their contract obligations would end.

 

Of course, they weren’t rashly preparing to part ways with Tivic.

 

Content production is a business where even one failure can make your back buckle.

 

They had built up internal reserves enough to handle one or two failed works, but you never know how things might turn out.

 

In this industry, a work that cost hundreds of billions could end up with 1-2 billion in sales.

 

“The next in line are Team 3 and Team 4?”

 

“Yes. Team 3’s 【Oxygen Alert】 and Team 4’s 【Caught at Fingertips】.”

 

“Manager, control the pace so that both works come out around the same time as much as possible.”

 

Gong Seok-jun understood the intention behind Han Seong-hun’s brief words.

 

Three works under contract with Tivic.

 

Four works that SSK was preparing.

 

In other words, there was no obligation to give the fourth work to Tivic.

 

Especially if they weren’t receiving Tivic’s production funds.

 

What Han Seong-hun wanted was tightrope walking.

 

If 【Caught at Fingertips】 had low box office potential, they’d extend the contract with Tivic.

 

Conversely, if the work became a huge hit?

 

They could say goodbye to Tivic.

 

For that to happen, Team 3 and Team 4’s works needed to come out around the same time.

 

But tightrope walking doesn’t always end in success.

 

There’s also falling.

 

“But then we’d have to bear all the production costs for 【Caught at Fingertips】. We can’t contact other channels while tightrope walking, can we?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“If things go wrong, we might end up shouldering all the production costs alone.”

 

“We can handle it, can’t we?”

 

“We have to consider the worst-case scenario too. All the works we put out from now on could fail.”

 

Gong Seok-jun, who had been tapping on a calculator for a moment, spoke.

 

“Exactly 10 billion. Absolutely no more than that.”

 

“That’s tight. Director Do is going to have a hard time.”

 

But you need to be able to handle even that tightness to rise to higher positions.

 

“Let’s proceed. We can’t keep selling works only to Tivic forever.”

 

Gong Seok-jun, who had been hesitating for a moment, asked.

 

“Representative, are you confident about 【Caught at Fingertips】’s success?”

 

Representative Han Seong-hun chuckled.

 

“Don’t think so grandly. Manager, if Tivic can’t provide production funds, do you want to drop this work?”

 

Gong Seok-jun shook his head without needing to think.

 

It wasn’t because of Jeon So-ra.

 

When Dohyeon-u first said he’d revise a 15-year-old volleyball story, he had tilted his head, but after seeing the script, he knew.

 

This is a work that needs to go out into the world.

 

Even if it receives harsh criticism and fails.

 

“Since we’ve decided to place our chips, we’re just planning strategy for when we win.”

 

Gong Seok-jun didn’t object further and changed the subject with a light voice.

 

“Now that it’s come to this, it’s actually better that we have unknown actors.”

 

When they pushed Kang Min-sik and Oh Ha-eun, he had passionately argued that they were different from Accomplice, but looking at it now, it was fortunate they saved on fees.

 

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to afford Jeon So-ra.

 

The DVX members would also help quite a bit with copyright sales.

 

“I’ll go to Tivic, so Manager, call Director Do and fix the budget.”

 

“Understood.”

 

A few hours later.

 

The words that came out of Tivic Korea’s representative’s mouth were as expected.

 

“If you continue to insist on Kim Ra-un, we have no choice but to withdraw.”

 

“Is it because of moral risk?”

 

“Don’t you know too, Representative Han? Director Dohyeon-u’s working methods were a bit extreme.”

 

“They were.”

 

“If you’re really confident, couldn’t SSK just produce it?”

 

Han Seong-hun nodded at Tivic Korea representative’s words.

 

“Then let’s do that.”

 

“You’ve thought well. After all,”

 

“No. I mean SSK will produce it.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I don’t dislike working aggressively.”

 

Representative Han Seong-hun was smiling.

 

* * *

 

A month ago, while handing the script to Min-sik Sunbae, my supernatural ability activated.

 

It was something I never imagined.

 

I had only thought the supernatural ability worked once per script.

 

Honestly, I still don’t know why the supernatural ability activated.

 

Because the recommended casting differed from the actual role?

 

If that were the case, shouldn’t it have activated when Gi-jun sunbae stamped his approval on 【Oxygen Advisory】?

 

Then a hypothesis suddenly came to mind.

 

The situation back then was that Gi-jun sunbae would join 【Caught at Fingertips】 if I just nodded my head.

 

But I rejected that.

 

And then I handed the script to Min-sik sunbae.

 

In other words, the moment I voluntarily rejected the supernatural ability’s casting, another supernatural ability was triggered.

 

This is definitely something to record.

 

I can’t reject the supernatural ability’s casting just to confirm the rules, but there’s no law saying a similar situation won’t happen again.

 

That’s how I saw something strange in the script I possessed.

 

The early part of the possession was the same.

 

Park Seong-hwa’s life hadn’t changed.

 

I guess the only gain was finding details that could help Kim Ra-un.

 

What confused me was after meeting ‘Han Guk-yeong’.

 

Han Guk-yeong had Kang Min-sik sunbae’s face.

 

That wasn’t all.

 

Sa Mo-yeon and Pi Do-seon, whose casting had fallen through, also had new faces.

 

Sa Mo-yeon was Jeon So-ra.

 

Pi Do-seon looked familiar but was someone I didn’t know.

 

I found out later that it was Luhan from an idol group called DVX.

 

The drama’s content itself didn’t change much after that.

 

The only change was that Sa Mo-yeon became a bit younger?

 

Since the character changed, the tone of relationships changed, but there were no changes in the development.

 

After the possession ended, I was dumbfounded.

 

I could understand Min-sik sunbae and the unknown actor (as I thought at the time).

 

Because it was a similar situation to Accomplice.

 

But Jeon So-ra?

 

Why on earth would Jeon So-ra do our drama?

 

She’s still a top star who can grab any role she wants.

 

But I couldn’t hide my greed at all.

 

Sa Mo-yeon played by Lee Min-seon was like a Paris Hell character.

 

She looks like a flower on the outside, but feels like she’d bind her opponent tight with sticky mucus.

 

In contrast, Jeon So-ra was a poppy flower.

 

So beautiful and glamorous that you’d covet her even knowing she’s poisonous.

 

To be honest…

 

They were on different levels.

 

Why did this happen?

 

If this was going to happen, shouldn’t I have recommended Jeon So-ra instead of Lee Min-seon from the beginning?

 

Whatever was going on, one thing was certain.

 

I wanted to cast Jeon So-ra.

 

So I sent the script to Jeon So-ra’s one-person agency.

 

Even if I got rejected, I felt like I’d regret it if I didn’t even try.

 

The manager cursed me with his eyes.

 

“My sister told me to bring everything that comes in for her, so I’ll bring it to her. But Director, this is a bit rude.”

 

“…I’m really sorry.”

 

But two days later, I got a call.

 

Asking me to bring the script for episode 5 and beyond.

 

After that, I felt like I was floating.

 

Should I say it felt like riding a train running on clouds?

 

Honestly, quite a few incidents happened while waiting for Jeon So-ra’s answer.

 

First, Hyen Games, which had been friendly, suddenly stabbed us in the back.

 

They said the higher-ups’ attitude changed due to moral risks related to Kim Ra-un, and demanded 3 billion won for worldwide usage rights.

 

Of course, 3 billion was the initial proposal, and there would have been room for negotiation.

 

But when we’re short even 100 or 200 million for production costs, how can we spend billions?

 

Saying it was a disaster and our drama was ruined, I went out with Yun Hyeon-sol, who wanted to dig a hole and hide, to find other game companies.

 

Then we contacted ‘TT Engine’, which made a game called 【TOOL】.

 

A company on the verge of bankruptcy after betting on AOS games like ROR.

 

According to Yun Hyeon-sol, enthusiasts made a big fuss saying a rival to ROR had emerged, but it failed due to poor marketing.

 

People think our drama can’t escape from ROR, but I think differently.

 

The game screen is only used as a tool anyway.

 

People who enjoy ROR might like it, but my judgment was that it’s unrelated to the drama’s success.

 

So we got permission to use TOOL from TT Engine and received 500 million won in investment.

 

Pure promotional expenses, not drama equity investment.

 

They begged us to please save their game.

 

“…?”

 

When I reported this, Manager Gong Seok-jun had a bewildered expression.

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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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