Enflicks Original
Enflicks and Days.
The behemoths that had monopolized the top two spots in the OTT industry rankings for years.
But the gap between first and second place was wider than one might think.
Enflicks: Global market share 25%, Korean market share 40%.
Days: Global market share 12%, Korean market share 19%.
Practically double the score.
And their production pipelines weren't closing the gap in any meaningful way either.
Sure, Days had a breakout hit last year with Can Love Be Hacked?, but that felt more like a lucky shot from a low-expectation project.
So Gong Seok-jun had assumed Days would welcome At Your Fingertips with open arms.
With Jeon So-ra's comeback as the lead, it was the kind of title that would make their mouths water.
But the negotiations had hit a wall.
Selling broadcast rights was a no-brainer, but the problem was the revenue split.
SSK was fronting 100% of the production costs, yet they were proposing a cut of revenues beyond just the rights?
Absolutely unacceptable.
The real issue was that Days had SSK's situation pegged perfectly.
To gain leverage in negotiations with Tvic, they had no choice but to launch in August.
They could go terrestrial broadcast, but with e-sports as the theme, OTT was far more advantageous.
Days was banking on that and playing hardball.
Of course, they couldn't say it outright...
"We're concerned about the moral hazard. Even if things have quieted down, the rumors between actor Kim Ra-un and director Do Hyun-woo are still lingering, aren't they?"
It was just an excuse.
Gong Seok-jun knew it. Days knew it.
The controversy had sunk below the surface long ago, and even a close look at the causal links made it dubious to call it a controversy at all.
Do Hyun-woo introducing the Criminal Community cast and pocketing referral fees to manage Kim Ra-un too?
Was that supposed to make sense?
For that to hold water, D.P. would have to believe "Do Hyun-woo's projects always succeed," which was absurd.
If they did, they'd have thrown cash bundles at him, scouted him outright, and set up a production company.
It was just nonspecific hatred lashing out at Do Hyun-woo through flimsy causal chains.
But rebutting such excuses wasn't easy.
The term "moral hazard" hid the truth: "It doesn't matter what the facts are—public perception makes it a problem."
Frustrated, Gong Seok-jun downed some water to collect his thoughts.
Should we pivot to another OTT?
But if not Days, there was no reason to stray from Tvic.
Watchout or And And might edge out Tvic in overall market share, but Tvic had that killer image as the go-to for original dramas.
Strip away variety rights and sports broadcasting, and their original series fanbases were probably neck-and-neck.
That was when Gong Seok-jun noticed his phone flashing silently on the table.
"Sorry, I forgot I had a call to make. Mind if I take this one quick?"
"Of course."
He bolted from the conference room.
Not to actually take a call, but to reach out to CEO Han Sung-hoon.
Hyun-woo?
It was Do Hyun-woo calling, so he picked up.
When deciding the channel, they had to consider the input from total CE Do Hyun-woo anyway.
"Yeah, Hyun-woo."
"Team leader, you free to talk?"
"Speak."
"We haven't decided on a channel yet, right?"
"I was just about to ask you about that..."
"What about Enflicks?"
"What?"
"At Your Fingertips as an Enflicks original—sound good?"
Gong Seok-jun let out a chuckle.
"It'd be great if it worked. But it doesn't, that's the problem."
In the past, Enflicks had occasionally just bought broadcast rights and aired shows.
Stuff like Extraordinary Attorney Woo had exploded that way.
But a few years back, Enflicks started managing partners through strict tiered partnerships.
1st Tier: Subsidiaries or Enflicks-friendly production companies.
2nd Tier: Terrestrial broadcasters or S-grade mega-producers.
If you didn't fit those categories, you couldn't sell just broadcast rights while holding 100% IP.
SSK was dinosaur-sized by scale, but too distant from Enflicks.
With an exclusive supply contract still in place with Tvic, trying to sell just rights while clutching 100% IP? Impossible.
That was when Gong Seok-jun thought, Hyun-woo's still green on this stuff.
"They say it's doable."
"Huh?"
"Director Cha Seong-woo from Enflicks is right here... Ah, want to talk to him directly?"
"Right now? He's there?"
"Yes."
"P-put him on."
Gong Seok-jun took the phone and, after a brief greeting, heard Cha Seong-woo's pitch.
It wasn't 100% equity.
Enflicks would take 5% stake.
But they promised top-tier promotion through their marketing network.
That alone saved at least 3 billion in marketing costs.
Top-tier included out-of-home ads, subway campaigns, SNS virals—the works.
And if the show hit big, would Enflicks sit idle?
They'd pour on more promo, especially overseas.
5% was eminently reasonable—and hugely appealing from SSK's side.
"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."
Hanging up, Gong Seok-jun strode back into the Days conference room with renewed confidence.
"Good call?"
The Days rep smiled, as if knowing he'd spoken to CEO Han Sung-hoon.
Gong Seok-jun smiled back.
"Four dollars."
"Pardon?"
"No, nothing. Where were we?"
The rep who'd been giving him indigestion moments ago now seemed almost endearing.
The channel was set.
Enflicks original.
Official title: At Your Fingertips.
Launching Thursday, August 23rd.
According to team leader Gong Seok-jun, Days staff had shown up at SSK in a panic once they caught wind, begging them to sell rights only—no split greed.
Naturally, SSK turned them down.
If it were a domestic-only drama, maybe, but e-sports demanded worldwide reach.
5% wasn't chump change, and there was every reason to link up with Enflicks.
Especially since series head Cha Seong-woo had personally pitched it.
Not crown prince treatment, but at least next-door royalty.
If Days ended up grabbing ankles from overreaching greed, Tvic Korea had ended up clutching phones from stubborn pride.
By now, I knew enough about the power plays swirling around our project.
In that light, accelerating Oxygen Alarm's launch had been a declaration of war, pulling At Your Fingertips to August too.
A blatant signal: testing the waters on renewing with Tvic.
Which meant Tvic had no choice but to obsess over our platform choice.
Team leader suspected Days' bravado stemmed from Tvic Korea leaks.
Days might've sniffed it out themselves.
But.
"The first contact with Days was right as At Your Fingertips shooting kicked off, right?"
"And they've been dragging their feet suspiciously from the jump."
There were grounds for suspicion.
In the end, At Your Fingertips hooked up with Enflicks, officially stamped on the slate of upcoming releases.
Tvic HQ might not know details, but they couldn't ignore SSK's name.
Per Sung Tae-hyung, the exec VP and senior VP were glued to their phones all day, sparks flying at their feet.
The CEO, who'd sided with them, wasn't looking too happy either.
Now Tvic Korea had to go all-in on Oxygen Alarm marketing.
Whatever else, it had to outperform At Your Fingertips to save face.
A brutal marketing war loomed, but...
For now, it felt great.
The folks who'd stubbornly refused a dime for our project were in a bind.
Given how they'd tried to squash the ethics committee like lightning-roasted beans, I suspected ties between Tvic Korea and Joo Young-hoon too.
And I wasn't the only one pleased.
"For real?"
"So we're an Enflicks original?"
The actors, who'd assumed Tvic original, lit up like kids with surprise gifts.
No matter Tvic's drama rep, nothing beat Enflicks in OTT.
The set, barreling toward wrap, buzzed with warmth.
I'd finished external schedules after Jae-hyeok hyung's premiere screening and was deep in shooting.
Then, one issue cropped up.
The young actors playing pro gamers from Singa Empire rebelled against director Im Woon-jae's directing.
Core characters Min Jae-yul and Ruan were exempt, but it wasn't trivial.
An actor defying the director was the worst accident on a set.
But framing it that way made it sound like the actors were at fault—which wasn't entirely true.
"It was a bit much."
"Right? Dragging kids in for hours every day."
"They kept shooting even when blood was drawn, from what I heard."
Such murmurs from other actors reached my ears too.
The young ones' rebellion had legitimacy.