Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 100
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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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Episode 100
The next day.
Kim Ji-hu headed to SBC accompanied by Baek Do-kyung and Choi Tae-geon.
In the past, Choi Tae-geon alone would have been sufficient, but now that Kim Ji-hu had grown in stature and the scale of his contracts differed from others, Baek Do-kyung came along as well.
‘It’s reassuring to have the CEO with me.’
Before he could be swayed by emotions or end up signing a contract with poor conditions because of a mission, if Baek Do-kyung stepped in, such things wouldn’t happen, which was very reassuring.
After all, when it came to contracts, the CEO had made him think ‘I’m glad he’s on my side’ several times.
“Ji-hu, may I confirm one thing?”
At that moment, Baek Do-kyung spoke up.
Kim Ji-hu nodded.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you really want to do this project? I need to take a different approach depending on that.”
Kim Ji-hu pondered briefly at that question, then nodded.
“Yes… I want to do it.”
“Understood. However, we might not be able to get extremely favorable conditions.”
“That’s fine. I really want to do this project even if I have to accept that.”
While he had done projects according to the System’s decisions until now, this time it was a project he chose even while rejecting the System.
So a small loss was acceptable.
As they entered SBC Broadcasting Station, Jo Gi-hyeok welcomed them.
“Ji-hu, it’s been a while!”
“I think this is the first time we’ve met since Trauma. It’s been a while.”
“Haha! But I’ve been watching you continuously on broadcasts, so even though it’s been a while, you feel familiar. Oh! I subscribed to your YouTube too!”
“Thank you…”
“CEO Baek Do-kyung, hello! We met during Trauma, right?”
Baek Do-kyung nodded.
“Yes, it’s been a while. This is manager Choi Tae-geon.”
“Haha, hello. Well, shall we go inside and talk?”
When they entered the inner meeting room, PD Seo Min-sik was waiting.
“Ji-hu, it’s been a while. Thank you for choosing the project.”
“Not at all, since we decided to work together.”
When Kim Ji-hu said this with a bright smile, PD Seo Min-sik pressed his lips together.
“Thank you…”
Watching this, Jo Gi-hyeok smiled and said.
“These days, PD seems to be going through menopause or something, he’s become very emotional.”
“Haha! If he becomes more emotional, that’s actually better. Shall we sit down first?”
Baek Do-kyung spoke in a gentle tone, and they all took their seats.
“First, to talk business, Ji-hu said he really wants to do this project, so we came with the intention of doing it if possible.”
Baek Do-kyung laid out their cards first. Since Kim Ji-hu had already said he really wanted to do it, he thought there was no need to hide it.
Hearing this, PD Seo Min-sik said.
“Are you saying to meet the minimum conditions?”
“Yes, if the conditions are too inadequate, we’re planning to somehow dissuade him. Ji-hu is currently running through the prime of his life.”
It was true.
There was no guarantee he could maintain his current prime forever, and as he aged, he would transition to age-appropriate roles, so it was important to do many projects he could do with his current appearance.
His current age was the best age to play leading roles.
PD Seo Min-sik nodded as if he agreed.
“As someone who wishes for Ji-hu’s success, I agree with that point. But you know our situation, CEO Baek.”
“Yes, I heard your situation is quite difficult.”
“So there isn’t much we can guarantee. However.”
PD Seo Min-sik presented contracts on a tablet. Two of them.
“We’re confident we can guarantee the maximum if it succeeds.”
Baek Do-kyung checked the contracts.
Both were running guarantee format conditions.
One was a condition to give 41% of pure profit after recovering production costs.
“Ah?”
Baek Do-kyung’s eyes widened.
Even for Baek Do-kyung, who usually didn’t show much emotional change, he couldn’t help but react to the mention of 41% of pure profit.
“Is this… a possible condition?”
“We already got permission from above, so there’s no problem.”
“…Uh.”
Baek Do-kyung seemed quite flustered.
Of course, Kim Ji-hu felt the same.
‘41% means… they’re barely keeping anything for themselves?’
Of course, since it was divided after surpassing production costs, meaning the break-even point, if the project didn’t do well, he might not receive anything at all.
But still, 41% was an enormously large number.
“Hmm, let me look at the other contract a bit first.”
The other contract was a revenue sharing method.
It was a contract to give 10% of total revenue.
This was also an enormous contract.
While not as shocking as the previous condition, it was still a sufficiently amazing contract.
It was essentially saying they’d give industry-best treatment.
Baek Do-kyung pondered.
In terms of stability, the latter was better, but the former condition was so shocking that it was hard to decide.
Then PD Seo Min-sik said.
“However, there’s a reason we’re proposing this.”
“…Is there something specific you want?”
“I’d like Ji-hu to participate deeply in production.”
“Deeply means…”
“Actor auditions, editing direction, and even the flow of the work – I want to produce it together with Ji-hu. More precisely, together with Armchair Reviewer.”
One of the few people who knew Kim Ji-hu was Armchair Reviewer.
That’s why he could make such a request.
‘Ji-hu’s perspective will be a tremendous help.’
After this project failed, PD Seo Min-sik thought about many things.
In the end, aside from sponsors and such things, he admitted that he had been arrogant.
‘Unlike during Trauma, I desperately need advice now.’
This was why one should be more careful after success.
Having discovered Kim Ji-hu and created a work like ‘Trauma’ in a barren environment, how confident must he have been.
He proceeded with the next project with that arrogance, but the result was disastrous.
That’s why he needed Kim Ji-hu’s help.
“Would that be possible?”
At PD Seo Min-sik’s words, Baek Do-kyung looked at Kim Ji-hu.
“What do you think, Ji-hu?”
“Hmm…”
From Kim Ji-hu’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad condition.
After all, he had to achieve the huge success of 21% viewership rating.
However, the question was which way to go.
“CEO, do you think the former would be better, or the latter…?”
“I’d recommend the latter. Because it’s stable. But the shocking nature of the first condition can’t be ignored…”
While the first condition was shocking, it was too unstable.
If things went wrong, there was a possibility of not getting a single penny.
But it seemed there was no need to worry about such things.
“Then let’s go with the former. The 41% of net profit option.”
Watching Kim Ji-hu reach a conclusion without any hesitation, Baek Do-kyung smiled.
“As expected of Ji-hu. So decisive.”
“Ahaha….”
Of course, if it weren’t for the System’s conditions, Kim Ji-hu would have unconditionally chosen the latter option.
So Jo Gi-hyeok asked cautiously.
“Then… you’re joining us…?”
“Yes, let’s go. You’re all in the same boat now.”
“PD-nim…!!!”
PD Seo Min-sik nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Yeah, you did it, you bastard.”
Seeing the two embrace and celebrate, Kim Ji-hu and Baek Do-kyung were also pleased.
“Then I’ll send you the entire production schedule tomorrow. The contract too.”
“Understood.”
So PD Seo Min-sik said.
“Ji-hu, today’s such a great day, you should treat us.”
Since Kim Ji-hu had said he’d treat them last time, he readily accepted.
“Yes, shall we go right now?”
“Of course. It’s fine to eat together after a meeting. Representative Baek, why don’t you join us for the meal Ji-hu’s treating?”
“Haha… I have some work to do, so that might be difficult.”
“That’s too bad. Then let’s go, just us!”
So PD Seo Min-sik, a few staff members, and Kim Ji-hu all went to have a meal together.
‘But will this be okay?’
Baek Do-kyung thought as he returned to the company alone.
‘Ji-hu will find it difficult to handle production work as well.’
In reality, there were exactly two things Kim Ji-hu could do on the production side.
One was improving the work’s quality by participating in auditions or the editing process.
And the other was.
‘Being a figurehead.’
Securing related sponsorships or participating in various events to meet countless people.
Baek Do-kyung was just worried whether Kim Ji-hu would be able to handle this well.
***
“Uh….”
The next day, Kim Ji-hu’s eyes widened when he saw the schedule PD Seo Min-sik had sent.
Schedules packed densely together.
He couldn’t help but be surprised by a schedule more intense than during filming.
“It’s tougher than expected, right? Since you agreed to help with production, it can’t be helped.”
Choi Tae-geon nodded as if understanding Kim Ji-hu’s feelings.
Participating in production meant having to run hard from before filming even started.
Especially since Kim Ji-hu’s main duties of actor casting and establishing the work’s flow were concentrated in the early stages.
“But… what’s this?”
While weekdays had various production-related work, weekends had something a bit unusual written down.
It was ‘meals’.
Choi Tae-geon added an explanation.
“Probably meals with sponsors. It makes things look more legitimate.”
“I, I don’t think I heard about this….”
In fact, when it came to helping with production, Kim Ji-hu had only thought about things like participating in actor auditions or helping with editing.
But meals with sponsors?
‘Wh-what if I make a mistake in such places?’
He worried that if he somehow offended important people, he might walk the path to ruin.
As Kim Ji-hu was having such thoughts, Choi Tae-geon asked with a worried expression.
“If you dislike it that much… should I speak to them separately? To exclude the meal part….”
“Would that… be okay?”
“It should be possible. And what’s so good about eating with sponsors anyway. Other actors really hate doing that too. It’s just uncomfortable. Ah! I heard that Oh Jin-woo was once tricked by a production company into going, then stormed out!”
Oh Jin-woo was truly an amazing person too.
But Kim Ji-hu also understood the importance of sponsors.
‘Besides, if we get sponsorships, we can save on production costs.’
Kim Ji-hu had already looked into various things.
After asking Baek Do-kyung and Choi Tae-geon several questions, he learned that sponsorship money gets included in revenue!
The more sponsorships they received, the more production costs would be covered, so it was fair to say the work’s quality depended on it.
Moreover, with production costs reduced to almost nothing due to early cancellation, it would be like rain in a drought.
“I… I’ll try it!”
“Good. But after you try it once, if you don’t think it’s right, please tell me. You understand?”
“Yes!”
And so Kim Ji-hu’s production participation journey began.
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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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