A Genre I've Never Tried
With about a week of free time before the concert in Brazil, he began making thorough preparations.
There was quite a bit to do, both as an agent and as an actor.
Han Hae-un appropriately distributed the instructions Yeon-woo had given among the agents and busied himself as well.
Even if the agents arrived in Brazil, they could not simply meet illegal arms dealers the way a tour guide waits at the airport, so there was quite a lot to prepare in advance.
Of course, it was enough to issue the right instructions and detail everything that needed preparing; Yeon-woo himself did not have to run around doing it.
"Hmm. The agents will handle things fine under Han Hae-un's command anyway, so I really need to put in the legwork as an actor myself."
The problem was not Baeksol—it was the movie.
Yeon-woo shook his head as he reviewed the numerous scripts piled on the living room table.
I really want to do at least one film this year.
It was not that he was aiming for simultaneous awards in film and drama at next year's ceremonies, the way Son Jin-uk had put it.
He simply, purely wanted to shoot a movie.
Of course, dramas had their own pleasures—competing in ratings against rival shows from other networks while they aired, and being able to deliver stories with a longer breath than films—but if he had to choose, Yeon-woo preferred movies over dramas.
The work of cleverly and appropriately arranging every visual element within a limited runtime to weave them into a single picture is more appealing than anything.
In dramas, certain parts received emphasis each episode, and relatively light scenes were included simply to keep the story moving, whereas in films every scene and every line of dialogue had a clear reason for existing.
Whenever Yeon-woo watched well-made film sequences, he was reminded of the one-thing-one-word theory advocated by Gustave Flaubert, author of Madame Bovary and one of France's great men of letters.
To express one thought, there is only one word.
A well-made film was the same.
Every scene has a reason it must exist, interlocking with the scenes before and after like an organism, living and breathing with its own vitality.
He had felt that while shooting Master Plan and Sketch.
So he had planned to dive straight into film shooting once production of the drama Parabola, scheduled from summer into fall, was finished—but for that, he needed to start choosing a script soon.
A film was not something you could jump into production just by selecting a script.
Even if production support and investment could be handled through Saebyeol Media, selecting locations that fit the script and pre-planning how to capture each scene took quite a long time.
That was why, if he wanted to crank in this year, he had to choose a project and prepare well in advance.
But there was not a single work that caught his fancy.
Hmm, it's not that there aren't interesting stories…
Among them were several projects that were desperately hoping for Yeon-woo to join right away and sending love calls.
Even films that had been on the verge of production, ready to start shooting the moment casting was finished, had offered the condition that if Yeon-woo came on board they would wait indefinitely until the drama currently in preparation at Saebyeol finished shooting.
I can tell for sure the moment I see a work or a role I really want to do.
It had been that way with Jay in Sketch, and the same with the story of White Blood.
It did not matter if the genre was niche or the original story was a melodrama that went completely off the rails.
Because he could see the solid core inside.
But the problem now was that even after reviewing dozens of scripts, there still was no such work or role.
Should I really start contacting the directors like Jin-uk hyung said?
He had planned to call around to the directors he had worked with so far anyway, just to exchange greetings.
"First, maybe I should contact Director Hwang, who I worked with most recently."
Yeon-woo picked up his smartphone and dialed Director Hwang Min-gwon.
The dial tone rang, and before long the call connected.
"Ohhhh! The big star and superstar. The trendiest of the trendy, Actor Ryu Yeon-woo himself. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"······."
Yeon-woo briefly considered hanging up at the burdensome, excessive reaction, then opened his mouth.
"Director, are you drinking by any chance?"
When Yeon-woo asked, sure enough, noisy sounds came from around him.
Hearing his name and the murmuring, it seemed Yeon-woo had called right in the middle of a drinking session with other people.
"Hehehe. Aigoo, just a simple drink. Is our Actor Ryu. Yeon. Woo at home right now?"
The way he kept emphasizing Yeon-woo's name suggested he wanted to show off his connections to the people drinking around him.
Hmm, he's already the director of a globally successful series—is knowing me that big a deal?
Tilting his head but instantly catching what Director Hwang Min-gwon wanted, Yeon-woo said,
"Director, I'll call you right back."
"Huh?"
Leaving the questioning Director Hwang Min-gwon behind, Yeon-woo hung up and this time called back on video.
The connected screen showed Director Hwang Min-gwon's face, cheeks flushed red with drink.
"Director. I called to say hello. At the awards ceremony a few days ago I was so busy I couldn't even greet you properly. I should at least see your face and say hello this way."
The companions at Director Hwang Min-gwon's drinking table rounded their eyes in wonder at Yeon-woo's face connected through the smartphone, and the director's shoulders seemed to rise all the way to his ears.
"Kyaa, what is this, a separate hello call. I'm moved."
"Nothing much going on these days, right? Let me say hello to the people with you too."
At Yeon-woo's words, Director Hwang Min-gwon's mouth stretched ear to ear as he turned the smartphone camera sideways.
"These are my classmates. Everyone, say hello to our Yeon-woo."
Watching Director Hwang Min-gwon, who called him familiarly by name and briefly stammered from tension, Yeon-woo smiled slightly.
"Hello. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo."
"Oh my oh my, what a windfall is this. I'm an ajumma fan who's always cheering from afar!"
"Really, thanks to Min-gwon, what a treat. You truly shine even just on screen."
It seemed he had called right on the day of a class reunion.
"Thank you, everyone. Then Director, I'll contact you again next time. Don't drink too much—think of your health."
"See that, everyone? Our Actor Ryu even worrying about my health. Hehehe. Got it. You head on in too, Actor Ryu!"
After hanging up with Director Hwang Min-gwon, Yeon-woo scratched his cheek.
No real gain, huh…?
Well, he had not called to extract something; it was only a greeting.
Shaking his head once left and right, Yeon-woo looked through his contacts for the next director to call.
Ring ring—
The connection tone sounded, and a low baritone voice came from the other side.
"Hmm? Yeon-woo, long time no see."
"Director, I'm sorry if I disturbed your rest by calling so late."
"Not at all. It's not even eight yet—what's late about that. I just finished dinner with the family and was resting."
The one who answered was Director Park Chan-hong of Master Plan and Sketch.
At Director Park's words, Yeon-woo nodded and continued.
"I called to say hello. Nothing much going on these days?"
"Haha. What special would there be for me. I'm slowly thinking about my next work, but nothing particular is coming to mind, so I'm just quietly refining myself."
A laugh came through, as if he was pleased by the unexpected call from Yeon-woo, and at the words "next work," Yeon-woo's eyes lit up.
"I see. The next work Director is preparing… I'm already curious."
Yeon-woo lightly floated the topic, but a troubled-sounding answer came back.
"Is this putting pressure on an old man? Haha. If even a simple synopsis had come out it'd be one thing, but I haven't even decided what genre to shoot yet. If I'd written something, wouldn't I have shown it to you already?"
"Director, then you have to shoot a sequel to our Master Plan too."
The original Master Plan had ended in a way that hinted a sequel might come.
"Hmm, that's right. A sequel…"
Director Park Chan-hong seemed hooked by Yeon-woo's words.
But even if he started on the script now, the earliest would be next year.
What Yeon-woo was looking for right now was a film to shoot this year.
Master Plan 2 is too far off. Looking for the "next next work" can wait; first, as Jin-uk hyung said, directors share a lot of scripts with each other, so I should ask.
Recalling Son Jin-uk's words, Yeon-woo asked Director Park Chan-hong, who had fallen silent as if thinking about the sequel.
"Director. I'm looking for a film I can start shooting in the second half of this year—if there are any recommendable scripts among works that haven't gone into production yet, could you introduce them?"
"Oho. Recommendable scripts? Hmm, well. Let me think a moment."
Yeon-woo had never doubted Director Park Chan-hong's capabilities.
In terms of scriptwriting ability, he was second to none in Korea, so his eye for other people's scripts would also be top-tier in the industry.
After a brief silence, Director Park Chan-hong broke it with his low baritone.
"Aha. There's one that comes to mind, but I don't know if he still intends to produce it."
At Director Park Chan-hong's words, Yeon-woo's eyes lit up again.
"Whose script is it?"
"That person isn't a writer, and hmm, not a film director either…"
Yeon-woo tilted his head at Director Park Chan-hong's words.
Then what does he do?
As the question arose, Director Park Chan-hong continued.
"Do you know Director Lee Yong-su? He mainly shoots CFs and music videos. He's quite famous in that field."
Only then did Yeon-woo nod.
The director who had handled the telecom CF Yeon-woo first shot, and the Leehan Tech CF for Patriots and Veterans Month that featured fighter jets.
"Ah, yes. I worked with him on two CFs myself."
"As I thought. That friend originally worked and learned at my film company. The year before last, I think, he said he wanted to shoot a film himself and showed me a script—hearing you, that just came to mind."
Yeon-woo found it interesting that an unexpected name had come up.
He had only thought of Lee Yong-su as a successful CF director in the industry, and had never imagined the man dreamed of making films.
Well, Director Lee Yong-su is also a director I've worked with. Twice, even.
A feature film by the industry's top director specializing in short videos like CFs and MVs…
Yeon-woo already felt interest, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Director, about that film script—what's the genre?"
"The genre… It's romance."
At the unexpected answer, Yeon-woo let out a small exclamation.
"Ah…?"
Actually, it was not that unexpected.
Whether film or drama, the most common genre in Korea was romance.
But thinking about it, Yeon-woo had never shot a romance before.
Crime entertainment, humanism, fantasy, mystery theater.
If he had to stretch it, Summer's Closet and Star Beyond the River had romance elements, but their cores were campus youth story and historical drama respectively.
And Director Park Chan-hong's voice came again.
"I just imagined it, and it would suit you perfectly. That romance script, I mean."