Chapter 156
Everyone from the film and drama planning teams, including Executive Director Kim Eunkyung and me, gathered at a small pub near the company.
We were having a team dinner while watching Movie Talk together.
The pub only had three or four tables, and every seat was filled by our staff.
The moment the opening theme of Movie Talk began playing on the TV mounted to the wall, the noisy pub instantly went quiet.
When Director Song Jaehyun and I appeared on screen after MC Jeon Hyunggyu’s introduction, Joo Youngjae from the planning team immediately shouted.
“Oh! There they are! Director Song and Team Leader Min!”
The other employees reacted just as quickly.
“Wow, Team Leader Min, you look really good on camera.”
“Seriously. You look way more handsome than in person... well, maybe not way more handsome, but somehow the impression is different.”
Even to me, the version of myself on screen looked surprisingly calm and intelligent.
My stiff expression from being nervous had been transformed into the charisma of a careful producer.
Even the moments when I stumbled over my words had somehow been edited into something humorous.
Wow.
This is beyond editing. This is practically magic.
I thought that as I focused on the screen.
[But CEO Min said he would return even the small amount of wages he was being paid and asked for a larger share instead.]
[He said he was certain the film would succeed and that he trusted his own judgment.]
[Wait, a twenty-two-year-old production assistant made a gamble like that?]
At Song Jaehyun’s words on the television, every employee in the pub turned toward me at once.
“Team Leader, is that seriously true? You really asked for equity instead of getting paid?”
“Wow, that’s insane. But it turned out you really did have the eye for it.”
Exclamations of disbelief came from every direction.
[No. I’m actually the opposite of selfless. I’m extremely practical.]
[I don’t treat creators well because I’m selfless. I do it because treating them well is the most efficient way to generate profit.]
Kim Hana spoke carefully after hearing that part.
“That’ll be okay, right?”
“The panelists responded positively, but couldn’t it make people think Team Leader Min sees creators as nothing more than tools for making money?”
Kim Eunkyung, who was sitting nearby, smiled.
“If we’re only thinking about Team Leader Min’s image, being seen as some kind of Daddy-Long-Legs or angel might sound nicer.”
“But as the image of a cool-headed, honest businessman, I don’t think this is bad either.”
Everyone nodded as though they agreed.
We focused on the television again.
After the program announced the release date of Kingdom of Crime and introduced the New Big Competition, the broadcast finally ended.
Kim Eunkyung looked around.
“We’ll probably start getting a lot of calls about the competition from tomorrow.”
“Who’s handling those inquiries?”
Film Team Leader Ju Hanyoung answered immediately.
“Oh Chaeyoung from the film team and Lee Hyunyoung from the drama team.”
“Will two people be enough?”
“Other team members will help as long as it doesn’t interfere with their own work, but I thought it would be most efficient to leave the actual inquiries to those two.”
Kim Eunkyung nodded.
Just then...
“Executive Director, reactions are already starting to come in online.”
Lee Hyunyoung was scrolling rapidly through her phone.
“Already?”
Everyone immediately pulled out their phones and went online.
[↳ Kingdom of Crime releases July 25! I’m seriously excited!]
[↳ More than a month left, but can I preorder tickets already? I’m absolutely watching it on opening day.]
[↳ I haven’t watched Home Sweet Home. I should see that first before Kingdom of Crime. Where can you even watch an independent film like that?]
[↳ DVD is already out.]
[↳ At this point, rerelease Home Sweet Home too!!]
“Oh, the reaction to the Kingdom of Crime release announcement is really good.”
“Yeah. There are even comments asking for a rerelease of Home Sweet Home.”
Kim Eunkyung smiled at their reactions.
Then...
“Huh? There are tons of comments about Team Leader Min on the MBS message board too.”
“Where? Let me see.”
[↳ The guy on Movie Talk just now, isn’t he the one who threw up on Han Hyejoo? LOL. He looks pretty normal.]
[↳ They said he’s a young planning-team leader and a film-company CEO, so I assumed he was some golden-spoon rich kid. Turns out he dropped out of college and started as the youngest member of a production crew? Self-made type? That’s a twist.]
[↳ Representative success story for someone with only a high-school education and a poor background!!]
[↳ He didn’t graduate high school only. He dropped out of university. LOL.]
[↳ Idiot, if you drop out of university, your highest completed education is still high school.]
[↳ I’m not going to college either!]
[↳ It’s not that you’re not going. You probably can’t get in. LOL.]
What?
Is this really the reaction I’m getting?
I couldn’t help feeling confused by the comments about me.
More appeared.
[↳ The stories between him and Director Song were ridiculously entertaining.]
[↳ Asking for equity instead of pay at twenty-two is actually insane. Dude was born with guts.]
[↳ That’s what you call having an eye for things.]
[↳ Anyway, that guy’s kind of cool. Hyung, starting today, let’s date!]
[↳ Look at the scale of the competition! 100 million won grand prize!!!!! 300 million total prize money!!!! Insane!!!]
[↳ I’m starting writing right now! Don’t stop me!]
[↳ Tch. Now every random person is going to say they’re a writer. Tsk, tsk.]
The response was far more explosive than I had expected.
Of course, not every comment was positive.
[↳ What’s with that CEO? Does he see writers as nothing more than tools for making money? I bet he won’t even look at writers who lack ability or commercial value.]
[↳ What kind of inferiority complex is that? Sounds to me like he was just refreshingly honest.]
Fortunately, comments saying things like He’s refreshing and I like how honest he is far outnumbered the negative ones.
Just as I had intended, the image of a capable and rational producer was taking hold.
The next morning, when I arrived at work, Lee Hyunyoung was already on the phone with someone.
“No. You need to send the proposal and script as a single file.”
“Yes, convert it to PDF.”
“And for the personal-information consent form, you can print it, sign or stamp it, then send it as an image file.”
“No, submissions are only accepted between September 1 and September 7.”
“Yes. You cannot send it in early.”
I turned away from her and looked toward Kang Jooyoung.
“Are calls about the competition already coming in?”
“Yes.”
“But since the submission period is still pretty far away, I don’t think we’re getting as many calls as expected.”
“And people seem to be asking more through email than by phone.”
“That’s a relief.”
Just then, the phone in my hand started vibrating.
I quickly checked it.
It was Writer Ki Jungtae from Movie Talk.
“Yes, Writer Ki.”
“CEO Min, the ratings report for yesterday’s episode just came out.”
Ratings?
For some reason, the ratings for a variety show I had appeared on made me more nervous than the ratings for dramas I had produced.
I tried to sound casual.
“Ah, did the ratings come out okay?”
“If they dropped because of us, I’d feel terrible. Hahaha.”
“Dropped?”
