Chapter 113
At the word “IPO,” Ma Sanghee’s eyes shook in surprise.
“Go public officially? But I heard the procedures are extremely complicated, and that it takes at least two or three years...”
“That’s true. But if you think about the value of your shares, the other major shareholders’ stakes, defending management control, and the effect on the company’s brand value, I think it would be better to start preparing for an IPO slowly from now on.”
Ma Sanghee only looked thoughtful and didn’t respond.
So I continued.
“I’m not saying you need to start immediately. I’m just saying you should begin seriously considering it.”
Before my regression, if I remembered correctly, Starlight was acquired by the major corporation CCO Entertainment in the 2020s.
At the time, an investment firm that owned shares in Starlight sold its stake to CCO Entertainment.
Rumors spread that Starlight had failed to defend its management rights because of that deal.
I remembered it clearly because the entertainment industry had been noisy for quite a while over the news that Starlight, the third-largest actor management company in Korea, had been acquired by CCO Entertainment.
Even after the acquisition, it continued operating like a subsidiary of CCO Entertainment, and Ma Sanghee remained the CEO of Starlight.
But...
What if Starlight went public now?
Wouldn’t that reduce the chance of losing management control and being acquired by CCO Entertainment?
That thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Now that I hear you say it like that, I think you may have a point.”
Ma Sanghee nodded.
“I’ll seriously think about it.”
And just like that, actor casting continued smoothly, almost as if we had caught a perfect wind.
But the moment one problem was solved, another appeared.
“What do you mean we can’t find staff?!”
The situation was like this.
Since the beginning of the year, unusually many large-scale historical dramas and blockbuster-level dramas had entered production.
Because of that, productions were running not only B teams but sometimes even C and D teams.
As a result, there was a serious shortage of field staff.
On top of that, YTBS and the other general programming channels were all preparing to launch in the second half of the year and had begun producing dramas at the same time.
A large number of existing drama staff had already been taken.
Ha... I didn’t think about this situation.
Once things became this serious, we used every connection we had to find staff.
Director Kang Daesun had just finished another phone call.
He let out a troubled sigh.
“Ha... I’ve been in this industry for twenty years, and even I’ve never seen something like this.”
Just then, Director Jeon Jihyuk also finished a call and looked at me.
I immediately asked,
“Did it work? Can he do it?”
“No.”
Jeon Jihyuk rubbed his face roughly.
“Director of Photography Ha Kyungwoo already has his schedule filled for the second half of the year.”
“I see...”
I tried to sound calm.
“There’s nothing we can do about that.”
But a sigh escaped me anyway.
“Team Leader...”
Lee Hyunwoo approached after finishing a call with another outsourcing company.
“Yes. What did they say?”
“Well... they have an in-house production starting too, so introducing anyone to us would be difficult.”
He hesitated.
“And apparently, other production companies are going crazy because they can’t find staff either.”
The atmosphere in the office became heavy.
“Ha... what do we do?”
Worried sighs came from all around the room.
I was getting impatient.
For three days, we had practically lived with phones in our hands, but we had accomplished nothing.
At this rate, we wouldn’t be able to move forward at all.
Then suddenly...
An idea flashed through my mind like lightning.
Right.
There’s that option!
I quickly spoke.
“There might be a way.”
Everyone immediately looked at me.
“A way?!”
“What way?”
Director Kang Daesun and Director Jeon Jihyuk pressed me for an answer.
“Instead of drama staff, we hire film staff.”
“...Film?”
The two directors were so surprised that they went silent.
Everyone else looked equally shocked.
“But film crews... usually don’t want to work on dramas.”
Lee Hyunwoo blinked awkwardly.
“It’s not that they don’t want to.”
Kim Hana, the newly hired planning team member, corrected him.
“Film staff usually don’t even try because they can’t keep up with the speed required for drama shoots.”
Of course, films and dramas were very different.
Labor costs, shooting style, workflow, equipment, lighting setups...
Almost everything worked differently.
Films focused on what people commonly called cinematic technique.
They shot fewer scenes, but spent much more time polishing details.
Dramas were different.
Sometimes, a drama shoot had to cover more than a hundred shots in a single day.
To handle that many scenes in such a short time, speed came before detail.
Equipment choices were also different.
Films often used high-end, high-performance cameras and lighting gear.
Drama crews were experts at using limited equipment efficiently while dealing with enormous shooting volumes.
Because of all those differences, film and drama crews had very different working styles and specialties.
Drama staff often said,
“Film crews are too slow. You can’t use them.”
While film crews often said,
“Drama crews have no artistic sense.”
“Of course, films and dramas are very different in terms of their systems.”
I looked around.
“But I think that’s mostly a matter of adaptation.”
“A matter of adaptation...”
A few years from now, general programming channels and OTT platforms would become active.
As blockbuster-level dramas with budgets and quality comparable to films began appearing, many cinematographers and staff members from the film industry would move into drama production.
If I thought about it that way...
I was simply moving that change forward by a few years.
“Yes.”
I continued.
“And depending on how you look at it, there’s another advantage.”
Everyone watched me.
“We could try visual techniques and new approaches that you’d normally only see in films.”
“And for that, I’ll support you as much as possible with equipment, locations, and anything else you need.”
At the mention of new visual experiments and maximum support, Director Kang Daesun and Director Jeon Jihyuk’s eyes lit up.
