A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 98

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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 98

* * *

SSK employees who had gathered in the smoking area after lunch looked up at the sky.

“Is it snowing?”

“Isn’t this the first snow?”

It had been warm throughout November, but this was the first snow falling in early December.

I knew it from looking at the calendar, but it really hit me that the year was coming to an end.

“When I was young, I used to be happy when the first snow fell, but now I’m wondering if I washed my car for nothing.”

“This is how we age again.”

“We’ll get some incentives this year, right?”

The topic of conversation among the employees with cigarettes in their mouths changed.

“Quite a bit, right? All the company’s works did well. Super hits, big hits, and even medium hits in a row.”

“Handtip Crawl isn’t just a super hit, it’s a mega hit. It’s still doing well overseas.”

“I heard Dohyeon-u got hit with an incentive bomb.”

“Even if the overall incentive isn’t small, it wouldn’t be a bomb, would it?”

“No. They took special care of him from above. Enough to make you gasp.”

“A hundred million? Really?”

“There were rumors it was over a billion.”

“Does that make sense? Isn’t that nonsense?”

“It’s not impossible. Considering the money Handtip Crawl brought in.”

“…Shit. I should have gone to the CL team too.”

Frustration and jealousy appeared on the employees’ faces.

It was natural for the conversation to turn into gossip.

“But what happened to Dohyeon-u’s web drama?”

“It seems like he gave up on the push-and-pull and changed course to an original web drama?”

“Did he fail to buy the rights in the end?”

“His nose is touching the sky right now. He acted arrogantly and got screwed by SBX.”

“How badly did he mess up that he couldn’t even secure one web drama’s rights?”

“Isn’t it more off-putting that he’s stubbornly trying to film when he couldn’t secure the rights?”

The employees who had been enthusiastically badmouthing Dohyeon-u suddenly shut their mouths.

“Did you enjoy your meal?”

It was because Ju Yeong-hun had appeared in the smoking area.

“Mm.”

“I’ll head back in.”

The Research Team employees quickly disappeared, and Ju Yeong-hun lit a cigarette.

It was a story he happened to overhear, but it was wrong information.

While Dohyeon-u being arrogant was true, his failure to secure the rights wasn’t because of that.

It was a scheme SBX had orchestrated to steal Dohyeon-u’s work.

‘Steal…’

Ju Yeong-hun fell into thought amidst the dispersing cigarette smoke.

* * *

Around the time when the casting for 【Push and Pull】 Season 2 was almost complete, Team 4 had good news.

“It worked! It worked! It’s approved!”

“Amazing! Really?”

“Did it pass in one go? The Manager likes it?”

“Yes!”

The production of the undercover gangster drama that CE Kwon Cheol had been holding onto was confirmed.

After the last feedback, he really got the hang of it and produced episodes 1-4 brilliantly.

“Thank you. This is all thanks to Director Do.”

“Come on, it’s because CE Kwon did well.”

While it’s true I helped enthusiastically from the side, Kwon Cheol really did well.

I know he even went on research trips with the writer because he wanted to portray the real gangster world.

Perhaps heaven was moved by his efforts, as the production schedule was also very good.

Actually, just because a script is good doesn’t mean you can immediately enter production.

There are so many things to consider.

Whether there are similar works waiting, what the schedules of first-choice casting actors are like, whether there are production department rooms available for filming, and so on.

However, Kwon Cheol was lucky.

Since there hadn’t been undercover gangster dramas for a while, the higher-ups decided to enter production as quickly as possible.

Moreover, the first-choice actors’ schedules were free, and the production department could be operated immediately.

Of course, all of this proceeded smoothly because the script was good.

I was also impressed after reading the script.

I don’t know how long it will take to complete all 16 episodes, but I understand the script itself is fully written.

If things go really fast, they might be able to start filming in March next year.

“Wow, shit. A solo project…”

While congratulating the tearful Kwon Cheol, I looked at Chae Seo-hui, and she shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ll show you next week.”

“Finally?”

“Don’t look at me like I’m such a slowpoke. I’ve only been working on it for four months.”

Well, there are plenty of cases where script revisions take a whole year.

Making a decision to invest tens or hundreds of billions based on a few 40-page scripts isn’t easy.

“Let’s have a company dinner today. A dinner! I’ll treat!”

“Oh, how about fire tripe?”

“That sounds great?”

That’s when we were sharing laughter with the team members.

“What, Kwon Cheol. Did production get confirmed?”

At the familiar voice, I turned around to see Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok from Team 1 standing there.

Kwon Cheol, who was originally from Team 1, quickly ran over.

“Senior! I made it!”

“Really? That undercover drama?”

“Yes! The Manager reviewed the script and said it was so interesting! Right there he even called the first-choice actors’ agencies…”

From what I’ve heard, Ryu Hyeon-seok has the best reputation among the CL team seniors.

Even if he’s not an exceptionally outstanding person, he’s a boss who acts in understandable ways.

That was the evaluation of Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok.

I heard that while seniors engage in politics among themselves, act like old-fashioned superiors to team members, and get angry when works don’t go well, he doesn’t give personal humiliation.

Compared to Ju Yeong-hun, that alone makes him a saint.

The Team 2 senior also has quite a nasty personality.

If Ju Yeong-hun is fucking crazy, should I say the 2nd Team Leader is sinister?

Moreover, I heard that quite a few projects specifically request Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok because he’s excellent at providing stability and doesn’t make mistakes.

Especially for big tentpole projects.

In some ways, he could be seen as a senior CE with a style completely opposite to mine.

While I was thinking about that, Ryu Hyeon-seok, who had been congratulating Kwon Cheol for a while, turned his head toward me.

“Director Do.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“Oh, yes.”

Did he come to see me?

What’s this about?

Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok, who led me to the vending machine, bought me a coffee and opened his mouth.

“You know I’m currently setting up 【Familiarly, Strangely】, right?”

“Yes. I heard about it.”

“Thanks to that, I’ve been seeing a lot of SBX people, and there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“I’m listening.”

“How about you stop being stubborn and contact SBX first? It seems like they’re waiting too.”

I thought he might be giving advice based on rumors, but that wasn’t the case.

“Their staff said so. That the director is waiting for a lot of contact from Director Do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t hear it directly from the director, but the way they talked to me felt like they wanted me to pass it on to Director Do. At that level, pride becomes important, you know. It’s a bit awkward to contact first.”

This is somewhat unexpected.

Did CP Nam perhaps convey the wrong nuance in the middle?

No, but I suddenly demanded 500 million? Is there really right or wrong in this?

“Director Do isn’t going to work in this industry for just a year or two, so being too rigid isn’t good either. You know what I mean?”

It was advice I could fully understand.

“I’ll take it to heart.”

“Good. Do you know the director’s number?”

“No.”

“I’ll send it to you.”

After Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok gave me the contact information and left, I drank my canned coffee and fell into thought.

I do have something planned, but Senior Ryu Hyeon-seok’s words aren’t wrong either.

I’m not going to be a CE for just a year or two, and I might end up in an awkward situation with SBX later.

If they really were waiting for my contact, we could have a reasonable conversation.

It doesn’t cost money to make contact anyway.

After making my decision, I sent a text to the SBX Director along with my business card, saying I’d be waiting for contact.

But a call came in less than 10 seconds.

“Yes. This is Dohyeon-u from SSK.”

-Ah, Director Do! We finally got in touch?

It was quite a bright voice.

-You’re contacting about the rights, right? Are you free this evening by any chance? Let’s have dinner together.

“Yes. That sounds good. Where should I go?”

-There’s an amazing omakase restaurant in front of the broadcasting station…

After making dinner plans, I tilted my head.

I wondered if CP Nam really messed things up in the middle.

Did he get greedy for something unreasonable because of incentives or something?

* * *

“Hey, it’s embarrassing when you try such shallow tricks, you know?”

As expected.

There’s no way that would happen.

* * *

The dinner with the SBX Director was friendly throughout.

When I brought up work, he said let’s do it after dinner, so I nodded.

But as soon as dinner ended, what came out of the director’s mouth was that ‘shallow trick.’

How should I put it, I was flustered.

I was flustered because I didn’t expect him to say it so suddenly…

But I kind of expected it.

I could feel him looking down at me as if I were cute throughout the meal.

The director, who had been carefully observing my expression, opened his mouth.

“I was being considerate so Director Do could at least eat comfortably. This place is delicious, right? Reservations are hard to get too.”

“Yes. It was delicious.”

“You can’t enjoy the taste if you can’t taste anything while eating something delicious, so I brought up the topic after we finished eating.”

“Thanks to you, I ate well and deliciously.”

The director tilted his head as if my reaction was unexpected, but his attitude didn’t change.

“Now stop putting on airs and let’s be honest. You already joined hands with D.P and started setting up the filming team, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But you’re coming out this rigid? Shouldn’t you be begging for the rights?”

“Begging?”

“Ah, was my word choice a bit harsh? Sorry. But still…”

The director smiled gently.

“Usually the side holding something important has the upper hand, right?”

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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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