NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 285
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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 285. Connections
Meanwhile, news about “Survival Island” began to spread overseas little by little, starting on the internet.
At first, it began circulating through illegal downloads, and soon amateur subtitlers started adding subtitles.
Foreign netizens weren’t watching illegally because they wanted to, but because there was no official service available, they had no other choice.
TVM’s Entertainment Director Han Jung-cheol was deep in thought while watching the live broadcast in the Entertainment Department with other staff including PD Yoon Chang-jun.
“Hmm…”
“Survival Island” had already recorded a 9.2 percent viewership rating last week.
At this rate, it might achieve double digits, which was considered the devil’s peak for cable variety shows.
‘No, it will achieve it.’
He hadn’t originally thought it would do this well.
He had been satisfied just being able to do some marketing thanks to Ryu Yeon-woo joining.
But thanks to Ryu Yeon-woo’s performance that far exceeded the director’s expectations, the viewership ratings were steadily rising.
‘And according to PD Yoon, the later parts that haven’t aired yet are even more amazing than what we’ve seen so far.’
He didn’t know where Ryu Yeon-woo had learned such skills, but he knew well that now was the right timing to ride the wave.
He was actually aware that his subordinates whispered behind his back that he had gotten old and lost his touch, being stingy with expensive projects.
‘What can you do. There are hardships that only someone in that position can understand.’
When PD Yoon Chang-jun first submitted the proposal, he had almost thrown it in the trash because it seemed like it would just eat up a lot of production costs.
The broadcasting station’s budget was limited, so what could he do?
But on the day PD Yoon submitted the proposal, he happened to get harsh criticism at the Monday regular meeting that TVM’s Entertainment Department should come up with more novel and diverse projects to expand their spectrum, so he gave the okay in a fit of anger.
‘But who would have thought it would lead to such a huge hit.’
Director Han checked his email on his smartphone while tapping the desk with his finger.
“Hmm…”
Then he nodded as if he had made a decision.
“Alright, let’s go Chang-jun. We need to row when the tide comes in.”
“Excuse me?”
Yoon Chang-jun, who had been tilting his head while watching the director continue to sigh despite the soaring ratings, turned to look at him after hearing this unexpected comment.
“Go where, sir?”
“Let’s go to Netflix.”
“What?”
TVM Broadcasting Station had its own platform called Grand M, an OTT service operated by an affiliate company, so their content was tied to it and couldn’t advance to Netflix.
But Director Han felt that with this level of success, it would be right to present it on the world stage even if it meant convincing the management.
Netflix Korea had also contacted them after catching the scent of the savory ratings, and since Ryu Yeon-woo had considerable international recognition, he decided to advance to Netflix.
“Anyway, it seems like everyone overseas is watching through illegal downloads, and that won’t do.”
“That’s true, but… will the board of directors and management give permission? Honestly, even though they know we can’t compete, don’t they somehow block Netflix advancement because of the domestic market?”
“Hey, Chang-jun. I’m Han Jung-cheol. When something seems promising, you have to push it through like a rhinoceros horn.”
***
Meanwhile, “Survival Island,” which had begun gaining momentum toward Netflix thanks to the director’s decision, was airing the nerve-wracking tug-of-war between Yeon-woo and the rope team.
‘Looking at the terrain, it seems like the part where he went up to the northern end of the island and got the hit count reset privilege.’
On TV, it was portrayed as if the allied team moving in a group and Yeon-woo had passed by each other at close distance, but that couldn’t be true.
He had moved while predicting the opponent’s route to some extent, and if they had come close, there was no way Yeon-woo wouldn’t have known.
In fact, PD Yoon Chang-jun had been using clever editing to make it seem like Yeon-woo would encounter the allied team, creating thrilling tension for viewers several times.
‘The power of editing indeed. They call it reality variety, but only the production team knows whether it’s really real or not.’
After making viewers watch with sweaty palms several times like that, Yeon-woo finally encountered two people from the scattered allied team while trying to obtain a mission box.
And as viewers expected, Yeon-woo waved his hand widely to reassure his opponents before approaching them.
This scene was captured from the angle of a camera installed behind Yeon-woo.
10 meters.
5 meters.
As the distance closed, he slung his rifle over his shoulder to indicate he had no intention of attacking, putting his opponents at ease, and finally that moment came.
In the instant when one of the two turned around to say something, he lightning-fast drew his pistol from his waist.
Simultaneously, he aimed the pistol at the distant opponent while wrapping his arm around the nearby opponent to subdue and use them as a shield.
Bang─.
Rat-a-tat-tat─.
Close combat action reminiscent of a spy movie flowed over the airwaves in real-time without any editing.
In fact, there was only one camera that captured all three – camera 41 behind Yeon-woo – so there was no way to do much editing, but showing it in one breath with a fixed camera actually brought the action scene to life even more.
– Kittaa!!wwwww Watashi believed in you, Yeon-woo-chan
└ 5252 Did Survival Island make even otaku fall for it? Your happiness isn’t in 3D though
└ What are you saying, kono yaro! I’m watching it together with Mayu-chan
– Ryu Yeon-woo spy noir movie appearance prayer day 17.txt
– He must have been so nervous inside when he approached her, worried he’d get caught ㅜㅠㅜㅠ It’s cool but thinking about what he was feeling inside makes it kind of cute ㅋㅋ
└ He didn’t seem nervous at all though…? Seems like only we were nervous
– Is that even possible in real life? Holy crap
– Wow if it becomes like that, now only two teams remain from the alliance team, scattered into groups of two and one, so he might really be able to win??
Not only were the internet reactions positive, but exclamations of admiration burst out even among the people in the main conference room who weren’t easily surprised by ordinary action anymore.
“At the company, Actor Ryu just sits quietly on the 3rd floor, spacing out and looking outside the window…”
“Exactly. There was a word that describes the charm coming from such contrasting different sides.”
“It’s called gap moe.”
At CEO Jeong Hyeok and Director Yoon Mi-yeon’s words, Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head.
When sitting in the 3rd floor cafe looking outside the window, it’s not spacing out but a habit of visually checking if there are any suspicious individuals near the building.
Even so, he opened his smartphone and quickly made a memo.
– New word list
Mangwaekbu
Byeoldajul
Gap moe
[Save]
***
Whether it was because of pushing forward like a rhinoceros horn, or to strike while the iron was hot.
The approval for Netflix distribution came through more easily than Han Jung-cheol had expected.
TVM’s board of directors and management were also keeping a close eye on the exceptional success of “Survival Island.”
In fact, it would be strange if they weren’t.
Among all the variety shows recently produced by TVM, it had the highest viewership ratings and was gaining more buzz with each episode.
Meanwhile, as soon as the article about “Survival Island” being serviced through Netflix appeared, the drama “Parabola” also signed a distribution contract with Netflix as if they had been waiting.
Since drama “Parabola” also airs on TVM broadcasting station like “Survival Island,” the affiliate Grand M had priority rights for OTT services, but since it was originally a drama produced in-house by Saebyeol Media, TVM didn’t bother to interfere or oppose it.
After finishing the survival island viewing session and returning home, Yeon-woo checked articles about the Netflix distribution deal on his smartphone.
– TVM variety show “Survival Island,” which continues to gather daily attention, signs distribution contract with Netflix.
– Will “Survival Island” ride on Ryu Yeon-woo’s back to target Asian and North American markets?
– Follow-up drama “Parabola” to the soon-to-end ‘Survival Island’ to be simultaneously serviced with Grand M through Netflix.
While reading the articles, Yeon-woo checked the report Han Hae-woon had submitted.
– [Lake Film Trend Report] Lake Film CEO Jung Yang-gi had drinks with Netflix Korea’s working-level staff. It appears to be a meeting to request active promotion of Daytona.
‘Hmm…’
Whether it was an entertainment gathering or they had existing connections, the fact that Lake Film arranged a meeting with Netflix’s working-level staff was likely for marketing Daytona, which was only about a month away from airing, just as Han Hae-woon judged.
And Lake Film’s backing was definitely Baeksol.
“Then I should use my connections too.”
Yeon-woo looked at his watch.
– AM 02:31
‘It’s 2:30 AM. Then it would be 10:30 AM local time. Perfect timing.’
Yeon-woo made a phone call somewhere with his smartphone.
After the ringtone sounded several times, his ‘friend’ in LA answered the phone.
– Oh! Mr. Ryu. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
“Mr. Fenton. How have you been? Nothing wrong, I hope?”
The person Yeon-woo called was Bernard Fenton, who had been in charge of the global service for “White Blood.”
– I’ve been losing sleep lately watching “Survival Island.” I didn’t know Mr. Ryu had such skills, but you were practically flying around?
“Oh, you watched it too, Mr. Fenton? You must have made a point to watch it since it’s a show I appeared in. Thank you for your attention.”
– Haha, I didn’t make a special point to watch it. Didn’t you know it’s quite popular in America these days too? Even my grandson watches it every day.
At Bernard Fenton’s words, Yeon-woo nodded as if surprised.
“Is that so? It’s doing quite well domestically, but I didn’t know there was interest overseas too. But since it’s not serviced overseas yet, the fact that you watched it, Mr. Fenton, means perhaps illegal download…”
– Ahem. Now it’s being serviced on our Netflix too, isn’t it? I was just checking it out in advance.
Bernard Fenton played along with Yeon-woo’s joke.
Smiling at Bernard Fenton’s words, Yeon-woo got to the main point.
“By the way, I contacted you because I need some help from a ‘friend.'”
– Haha, friend – that sounds nice. If it’s within my power, I’ll help you.
Originally, when making requests, it’s best to speak openly so the other party can clearly understand what you want.
So Yeon-woo also brought up the topic straightforwardly.
“I recently filmed a basketball-themed sports drama called 「Parabola」, but it seems like the competing work will do aggressive marketing through Netflix. Since that broadcasting company is larger in scale, I want to overwhelm them at least in terms of promotion through Netflix. Netflix is Fenton’s domain, after all.”
Whether he was pleased to hear that Netflix was under his influence, or whether he was happy to receive a request as a friend, Bernard Fenton laughed heartily and replied.
– Hahaha. If it’s that kind of request, I can grant it anytime. But next time you come to LA, let’s have a drink together. Don’t ostracize me just because I’m an old man.
“Of course.”
– Oh, right. What’s the name of that competing drama?
“It’s Daytona from SBC Broadcasting.”
***
The next day, CEO Jung Yang-gi of Lake Film jumped up from his seat while receiving a report.
“What? What are you talking about? I went there personally and already made all the arrangements, so how can things suddenly fall apart?”
“Well, they unilaterally notified us that it’s impossible because there’s a work already designated for the main banner on the date you mentioned…”
“No, what kind of bullshit is that? I definitely already got confirmation for that date, and I even got a verbal contract saying they could put up the main advertisement since it was a day without exclusive series!”
At CEO Jung Yang-gi’s words, the staff member continued with a troubled expression.
“They say it was decided and came down from the US headquarters, so they don’t really know what’s going on either…”
“Headquarters? You mean Netflix US headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“Damn, is some original series suddenly launching? Why would headquarters suddenly…”
Neither CEO Jung Yang-gi nor the staff member making the report could have dreamed that the person who directly moved Netflix US headquarters was Ryu Yeon-woo, the lead actor of TVM’s 「Parabola」, which they weren’t even paying attention to.
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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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