New Project, New Director
"Hmm, wouldn't it be better for you to rest a bit, Yeon-woo? You've already finished three projects back-to-back."
"I'm fine, Representative. I feel like I've already rested for about forty years, so I want to take on a lot of work."
At the cryptic joke from the barely twenty-year-old Yeon-woo, Representative Kim Ju-seong tilted his head and let out a snort of laughter.
"Mr. Fenton. You don't mind if those people join us, do you?"
"Oh, of course not. I was glad to see Director Yo-han again after so long myself."
Beep—.
"Please tell the two waiting outside to come in."
- Yes, Representative.
Moments later the door to the representative's office opened, and Hwang Min-gwon and Jeong Yo-han stepped inside.
"Thank you! Just please review it once. I'm confident in the scenario."
Hwang Min-gwon kept bowing his head in greeting as he entered, then pulled three printed copies of the scenario from the backpack he was carrying and handed them out to Yeon-woo, Representative Kim Ju-seong, and Bernard Fenton.
"Hmm, I don't know a word of Korean, you see. I'll just catch up with Yo-han after all this time."
"Oh, Mr. Fenton, shall I explain the scenario for you then?"
Jeong Yo-han's eyes lit up as he spoke, and Bernard Fenton nodded.
"Well, all right. Let's hear it. Is this a project Yo-han is involved in?"
"It turned out that way somehow. This friend here is the director—he's my bosom buddy, after all."
Yeon-woo took the scenario and began reading from the first page.
Hmm? A medical action piece...?
The cover of the scenario listed the working title White Blood along with the genre: medical action.
Interesting enough, but what on earth is medical action supposed to mean? Do they fight with scalpels and stethoscopes?
Yeon-woo immersed himself in the scenario and began reading in earnest.
The same went for Representative Kim Ju-seong sitting across from him.
Before long more than twenty minutes had passed, and Yeon-woo, having skimmed through most of the scenario, lifted his head.
Hmm, this...
Just then Representative Kim Ju-seong also finished reading and raised his head to look at Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo opened his mouth toward the representative.
"Representative."
"Ah, I already know what you're going to say. But Yeon-woo, even if you re-enroll after a leave of absence, you know you have to stay enrolled for at least one semester this term, right?"
Under Hankuk University regulations, if a student maintained a leave of absence for more than two semesters after admission, their enrollment would be canceled.
Since Yeon-woo was scheduled to apply for reinstatement next week, Representative Kim Ju-seong was getting ahead of things and confirming it with him in advance.
"...Yes, that's right."
Sitting quietly in the corner and watching their reactions, the unknown director Hwang Min-gwon felt his nerves burning down to the last thread.
"Um... how did you find it...?"
Looking at that Hwang Min-gwon, Representative Kim Ju-seong spoke.
"We've read the scenario carefully. The material is fresh and quite interesting, but the structure and development are scattered and amateurish. If LN were to produce it, we'd have to overhaul it extensively."
Most creators hated having their worlds invaded more than anything.
Yet even after hearing criticism that could easily bruise his pride, Director Hwang Min-gwon's eyes sparkled.
"As long as it can be produced, you can revise it as much as you like! Haha, I'm good at coming up with material, but my writing and structural skills are absolute trash."
Watching Director Hwang Min-gwon scratch the back of his head with a foolish grin, Representative Kim Ju-seong stroked his chin.
Yeon-woo looked at him and thought,
When the representative strokes his chin like that, it means he's on the fence and deliberating.
Having made his decision, Yeon-woo turned to Director Hwang Min-gwon and spoke.
At times like this, you had to drive the stake in.
"Director, do you want me as the lead?"
"Huh? Ah, yes! Of course! If it's at all possible."
Hwang Min-gwon nodded vigorously, and Jeong Yo-han, who had still been talking with Bernard Fenton, widened his eyes as well.
With Ryu Yeon-woo—a guaranteed box-office draw—they would have to welcome him with both hands and both feet.
"Then my opinion is the same. Major story revisions will be unavoidable, and since I have to reinstate at university soon, shooting time will be limited for the next five months. Is that all right with you?"
"Oh my, of course. We'll adjust everything to Actor Ryu Yeon-woo."
Watching Hwang Min-gwon nod emphatically, Yeon-woo shifted his gaze to Representative Kim Ju-seong.
The representative looked at Yeon-woo and shook his head as if he couldn't win against him.
Beep—.
"Please tell Team Leader Jeong to come up to the representative's office."
- Yes, Representative.
Representative Kim Ju-seong was calling Team Leader Jeong Hyeok for precise schedule coordination.
Not long after, a knock sounded and Team Leader Jeong Hyeok entered the office.
"Representative, you called for me?"
"Mm, Team Leader Jeong. What does Yeon-woo have scheduled?"
"We've left it open because of the university issue, so nothing immediate. But there's additional filming for the Ian Tech commercial in May."
Hearing Team Leader Jeong Hyeok's words, Representative Kim Ju-seong stroked his chin again.
"Hmm, and they're already locking in a May schedule?"
"Ah, June is Patriots and Veterans Month, so we contracted to shoot a special commercial before then."
"Patriots and Veterans Month. I see. So nothing else besides that?"
"Yes. Casting requests pour in by the dozens every day, but per your instructions we're turning them all down."
At Team Leader Jeong Hyeok's words, Hwang Min-gwon and Jeong Yo-han's eyes widened.
Of course the whole country knew Ryu Yeon-woo was on a roll these days, but hearing the internal side of it hit even harder.
The thought that an actor who was rejecting countless casting offers might become the lead in the film he was going to shoot made Hwang Min-gwon's heart race.
Even while they discussed his own schedule, Yeon-woo showed little interest; his focus remained on the scenario he had received earlier.
Staring hard at the scenario and thinking it over carefully, Yeon-woo finally spoke.
"But you know. No matter how I look at this scenario, there's no way to cut the story down to fit a film's running time."
"Hmm, I think the same. Even with major revisions, it doesn't quite work as a film."
Representative Kim Ju-seong nodded at Yeon-woo's words.
From the corner, where he had been hunched over listening, Director Hwang Min-gwon opened the scenario and tilted his head.
"Um, sorry, but which parts would be good to change?"
At Director Hwang Min-gwon's question, Yeon-woo made a troubled face as he held up the scenario and spoke.
"Hmm, is it all right if I tell you exactly what I think?"
"Yes! Of course."
Flipping through the pages, Yeon-woo continued.
"First, the part where an alien spaceship suddenly appears out of nowhere—that all has to be cut."
"Ah, yes."
"Same for the part where dinosaurs pop out."
"...Ah, yes."
Flipping rapidly through the scenario, Yeon-woo went on.
"And the setting where the protagonist acquires an SSS-rank skill and the related world-building—that doesn't seem necessary at all."
"...Yes."
"About the supporting character who shows up midway. Broken, obsessive, yandere? I don't really know what that means, but my gut feeling is that the setting absolutely has to change—it just feels weird..."
"Ahem, understood."
Listening to the conversation between Yeon-woo and the man sitting across from him, Team Leader Jeong Hyeok's expression grew increasingly bizarre.
"Alien spaceships, dinosaurs, and some kind of skill...? What kind of scenario is this..."
Looking at Team Leader Jeong Hyeok, whose face suggested he couldn't possibly understand from the conversation alone, Yeon-woo smiled faintly.
"Team Leader Jeong, don't worry. I'll make sure every last bit of that is gone. Once those parts are cut out, the material itself is excellent."
If a scenario that had contained such bizarre elements could still look good, Team Leader Jeong Hyeok couldn't even begin to guess what kind of material they had brought. He turned to look at Representative Kim Ju-seong this time.
But the representative merely nodded in agreement from the side.
Just then Bernard Fenton, who had been receiving a running translation of the conversation from Jeong Yo-han beside him, spoke up.
"You said earlier that this scenario is too long to fit into a film, right? Then what about Netflix?"
"Netflix?"
They had gathered here today for discussions related to Netflix, but since it was outside their usual field, it had been an unexpected direction.
At the new topic, every gaze in the room focused on Fenton.
"As far as I know, LN Media has more than enough in-house production capability for both films and dramas. I can handle connecting us with the Netflix side."
Hearing Bernard Fenton's words, Yeon-woo seemed to have a sudden amusing thought and spoke.
"Mr. Fenton. The project I originally planned to audition for—when is its Netflix release scheduled for?"
"Hmm, nothing firm yet, but roughly late this year or early next year."
It was still unclear how Director Hwang Min-gwon's scenario would be revised, but factoring in Yeon-woo's reinstatement period and the subsequent shooting pace, the timing lined up roughly the same.
"Sounds fun. Doing it through Netflix."
Representative Kim Ju-seong nodded as well.
"Too long for a film, too innovative in material for a regular drama slot. And yet too big to dump onto a generalist or cable channel..."
If they could open a channel for launching self-produced content on an OTT (Over-the-Top) service that delivered media content like broadcasts and programs directly over the internet, it would create another option entirely—and give them a stronger position when negotiating with broadcast stations on future projects.
If LN Media could pioneer the OTT market, the company would gain a powerful weapon.
If things went sour, they could even break with the stations and become an all-round production house capable of distributing content themselves.
With the calculations complete, Representative Kim Ju-seong made his decision.
"Let's go. This project."
Yeon-woo then looked at Hwang Min-gwon.
"How about you, Director? This means it won't be a film either way."
"Y-yes? Everything's fine!"
With the conversation surging forward so rapidly, Hwang Min-gwon felt his soul leaving his body.
H-holy crap. Wait, did Actor Ryu Yeon-woo just call me Director...? Insane! I should've recorded that.
Only a few days ago Hwang Min-gwon had been scratching his backside at home while eating cup ramen and beer.
To him, Ryu Yeon-woo was a national star he could only ever see on a monitor.
Hwang Min-gwon wasn't the only one failing to keep up with the sudden progress of the discussion.
Team Leader Jeong Hyeok, who kept tilting his head, finally spoke.
"By the way, listening to all this has made me curious. What genre is the project you're discussing right now?"
Even though they had said they would cut those elements from the story, the mere mention of alien spaceships and dinosaurs meant it wasn't an ordinary genre—hence the curiosity.
Hearing Team Leader Jeong Hyeok, Yeon-woo flipped the scenario he was looking at back to the very first page.
"Medical action."
"Ah, a hospital drama... Wait, what? Action?"
Medical was medical, action was action.
What on earth was medical action supposed to mean? Team Leader Jeong Hyeok's expression turned strange once more.
Of course, simply finding a scenario novel wasn't enough to sign a contract.
After telling them they would review it positively and sending them off, LN Media's specialists analyzed the previous works Director Hwang Min-gwon and CG Director Jeong Yo-han had been involved in to gauge their capabilities.
The next day, Representative Kim Ju-seong attended a meeting to hear the briefing on the results.
"...For the reasons explained earlier, this is our assessment, Representative."
The planning team staff member finished the briefing while looking at the various analysis contents displayed on the screen.
"Hmm, so there were no particular issues with directorial skill, but every project went off the rails midway through the story?"
"Yes. Exactly."
Alternating between the analysis on the screen and the written report on the desk, he tapped one name with his finger.
"The director is one thing, but this CG director named Jeong Yo-han is that impressive, is he..."
Hearing Representative Kim Ju-seong's mutter, the planning team staff member nodded firmly.
"Until last year he was a super-rookie in Hollywood—so booked that even with money you couldn't get him on the schedule for ages."
"Is the skill gap between individual CG directors that severe?"
"Yes, Representative. It's not just the technical side; like directing, individual sense plays a huge role. There are cases where they deliberately push a release date back more than a year just to get a good team."
These days it was getting harder and harder to find a project that didn't use CG at all.
As technology advanced, classic SF novels of enormous scale that had once been possible only in the imagination were being adapted into films, while the growing demand for fresher, more stimulating stories meant supply was following suit.
In that light, the increasing weight a CG team carried in a film's overall quality was only natural.
"This project will basically be all CG too..."
In a way, the important one wasn't Director Hwang Min-gwon but CG Director Jeong Yo-han.
"Okay. We'll proceed with this one. Dismissed."
Once the representative's approval came down, the planning team members rose quickly and scattered to their respective tasks.
Moving into a new self-produced project meant a flood of work was about to hit.
Meanwhile, Yeon-woo, who had been reviewing the scenario again and pondering improvements, received word that final approval had been granted and summoned Director Hwang Min-gwon and CG Director Jeong Yo-han to headquarters for a scenario meeting.