Chapter 192
“Hello?”
“Hello, Director Min. This is Jessica. Have you been well?”
Her cheerful voice came through the phone.
“Yes, Team Leader Jessica. I’ve been well, thanks to you.”
I had only spoken with Jessica a few times over the phone, but there was something so naturally warm and friendly about her bright personality that it already felt as though we had met several times in person.
“We’ve finalized the date for our arrival in Korea.”
“This Thursday at one in the afternoon.”
Thursday? That’s only two days away.
The schedule was earlier than I expected, but I quickly regained my composure.
“That’s great news.”
“Then we’ll arrange your accommodations on our side.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
“We’re coming with the possibility of establishing our Korean branch during this trip, so we’ve already arranged long-term accommodations.”
“You don’t need to worry about us.”
So they’re planning to use this trip to finish setting up the Korean branch too.
“Even so, I feel like the least we can do is meet you at the airport.”
“We appreciate the thought, but there are more than ten of us traveling together.”
“Let’s skip the unnecessary formalities and meet officially on Friday.”
Jessica politely declined and said they would come directly to Big Picture on Friday.
“All right.”
“Then I’ll send the exact meeting time and location by email.”
“Oh, and our side just emailed you a draft of the contract.”
“It’s exactly that, a draft meant to establish a starting point.”
“Please review it, and we can discuss the items that need adjustment during Friday’s meeting.”
They want to get straight into the actual contract negotiations from the very first meeting?
My thoughts grew complicated, but I kept my voice calm.
“Understood.”
“We’ll review it carefully.”
“Then I’ll see you Friday.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
After ending the call, I lowered my phone and looked toward the team gathered in the conference room.
“Network Flex just sent us a draft of the contract.”
“And they’ll be visiting our office this Friday.”
As expected, the room immediately stirred at the earlier-than-expected schedule.
“W-Wait, Friday?”
“That’s only three days away.”
“Isn’t that too little time to review the contract?”
Anxious eyes turned toward me.
“Yes, the schedule is tight.”
“But there’s no need to panic.”
“They said themselves that this draft is only meant to establish a starting point.”
“Separately from that, we should continue setting our own standards just as we’ve been doing.”
“For now, finish organizing the materials for your assigned areas by tomorrow.”
“Then the day after tomorrow, we’ll hold one final internal review meeting.”
“Yes, sir!”
Their answers carried more strength now.
Before my regression, when global OTT platforms first entered Korea, the industry had been swept up in excitement.
Production budgets two or three times higher than those offered by terrestrial broadcasters.
Worldwide simultaneous release.
The labels sounded dazzling.
Everyone rushed toward them.
But blinded by the money right in front of them, production companies handed over entire rights packages without revenue sharing and surrendered even their rights to secondary works.
It took less than two years for that to become standard industry practice.
And that practice had never truly been broken before my regression.
Only a few years later, Korea was creating some of the best content in the world, yet we still couldn’t escape being treated like subcontractors.
Even when the platforms made tens or hundreds of billions of won from the content we created, we had no rights to claim.
But this time would be different.
I knew that future.
I knew how powerful a weapon Korean content would become.
I knew just how badly they would eventually need us.
So this time, we had to establish the rules first.
From an equal position.
A single contract could decide the future of an entire industry.
And I had been given the chance to rewrite that very first contract.
Three days passed quickly.
We spent late Wednesday night organizing materials.
Then all Thursday morning, we held an exhaustive pre-negotiation review.
We checked expected questions and answers.
Negotiation strategies.
Even contingency plans for the worst possible scenarios.
“One final thing.”
I paused and slowly looked at every member of the team.
“The most important thing in tomorrow’s meeting is confidence.”
“We are people who create world-class content.”
“There is absolutely no reason for us to shrink back.”
I could see their gazes harden at my words.
“And one more thing.”
“Negotiation is a constant process of pushing and pulling.”
“But never forget that our ultimate goal is to create a structure where both sides can win.”
“Yes!”
Their loud response filled the conference room.
Friday, 2:00 p.m.
The first-floor lounge of Big Picture headquarters.
Executive Director Baek Seonghan, Department Head Ju Hanyoung, and I were waiting in the lobby for the Network Flex delegation.
“Nervous?”
Baek Seonghan smirked when he noticed me discreetly wiping the sweat from my palms onto my pants.
“A little.”
“That’s not like you.”
“Why are you so nervous?”
“I know.”
I gave him a bitter smile.
“I guess the other side is still Network Flex.”
Just then, the first-floor doors opened.
Four Western men in black suits entered, accompanied by one Asian-looking woman.
I quickly walked toward them.
“You’re from Network Flex, correct?”
The blond man in his mid-forties standing at the front extended his hand and greeted me in English with a strong British accent.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m Tyler, Director of Network Flex’s Asia Division.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Min Kibaek, the director overseeing this project.”
“Ah, Director Min Kibaek.”
“So you’re the Director Min Kibaek.”
“I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Jessica.”
He turned slightly.
“Jessica, come say hello.”
“You’re finally meeting Director Min in person.”
As soon as Tyler finished speaking, the Asian woman stepped out from among the group and quickly approached me.
“Oh my, Director Min?”
“We finally get to meet in person.”
“I’m Jessica, the team leader you’ve been speaking with over the phone.”
Hearing that same bright, cheerful voice in person felt strangely familiar.
I learned later that Jessica had been born to a Japanese mother studying abroad in the United States and a Korean father.
“Ah, I see.”
“I’m very glad to finally meet you too.”
She smiled brightly as she extended her hand.
“You’re much younger than I imagined.”
“That surprised me. Hoho.”
There was a strange force in the way Jessica interacted with people, as though she could pull them into her rhythm almost instantly.
“Really?”
“You look much younger than I imagined too.”
Then I glanced behind them.
“By the way, I thought I heard there would be around ten people coming....”
“Oh, there are ten of us altogether.”
“But including me, only these four are directly responsible for this project.”
“The others came regarding the establishment of the Korean branch.”
“I see.”
Once I understood, I nodded.
Jessica quickly began introducing the group.
“Let me introduce everyone properly.”
“The gentleman you just met is Director Tyler, who oversees the Asia Division.”
“This is Attorney David Jones, head of the legal team.”
“And this is Manager Thomas, who handles Asia content strategy.”
“And beside him is Daniel, the CP in charge of content for the Korean branch.”
Jessica explained that there were more people present today because it was the first meeting.
Going forward, the practical negotiations would mainly be handled by Daniel, the Korean branch CP, Jessica as team leader, and David on legal matters.
Once their introductions were complete, it was my turn.
“This is Executive Director Baek Seonghan of Big Picture.”
“And beside him is Department Head Ju Hanyoung, who will be handling the practical side of this project.”
“The rest of our staff are already waiting in the conference room.”
Then came the rapid exchange of business cards between Baek Seonghan, Ju Hanyoung, and the Network Flex staff.
“Our CEO is unfortunately outside today due to filming-related business.”
“He asked me to apologize in advance and said he’d like to arrange a dinner with all of you soon.”
Baek Seonghan apologized beforehand for Song Jaehyun’s absence from such an important meeting.
“Oh, your CEO is Director Song Jaehyun, correct?”
“We heard that he recently became Big Picture’s new CEO.”
“All of us are actually huge fans of Director Song.”
“Really?”
“He’ll be happy to hear that.”
Baek Seonghan smiled.
“Then shall we move to the conference room?”
We took the elevator to the large conference room on the sixth floor.
The team members who had already been waiting immediately stood.
Only after another round of busy greetings did both sides finally sit across from each other and begin the meeting in earnest.
Tyler spoke first.
“We came today to discuss the specific terms of the agreement.”
“Why don’t we begin by hearing Big Picture’s thoughts on the draft contract we sent in advance?”
I opened my laptop and displayed the materials we had prepared.
“Yes.”
“We reviewed the contract carefully.”
“We understand the overall framework, but there are several important areas that we believe need adjustment.”
Tyler smiled calmly and nodded.
“Of course.”
“That’s exactly why we’re gathered here today, isn’t it?”
I changed the screen and began addressing the key issues one by one.
“First, the exclusive streaming period.”
“The contract states ten years, and also includes a clause requiring us to accept any renewal request after those ten years.”
“Ten years is already the minimum period from our perspective.”
Attorney David responded immediately.
“If we’re investing a substantial amount in production costs, surely we need to secure at least that much.”
“But ten years is excessively long.”
“We propose five years.”
The atmosphere in the conference room instantly tightened.
Thomas, the manager in charge of Asia content strategy, crossed his arms.
“Director Min.”
“Is this perhaps because of the OTT platform your company is developing?”
“What are you talking about?”
Baek Seonghan frowned.
Thomas kept his arms crossed as he looked between Baek Seonghan and me.
“So that reaction means it isn’t?”
“I’d appreciate it if you made your meaning clear.”
I met Thomas’s gaze without wavering.
“To be frank, from our perspective, the reason you’re trying to cut down the exclusive period this aggressively seems obvious.”
“We suspect you intend to place those titles on the OTT platform you’re developing yourselves.”
He continued without hesitation.
“And honestly, from our side, it feels like you’re simply trying to use us openly for your own benefit.”
Baek Seonghan and Ju Hanyoung’s expressions hardened.
As expected.
I knew they would come at us like this.
Suppressing the smile trying to rise at the corner of my mouth, I answered calmly.
