Chapter 22: We Want to Distribute Your Film
"We'd like Bridge Pictures to handle the domestic distribution of Before the Light Reaches."
For a moment, the voices of passing audience members faded away.
Geonwoo looked down at the business card in his hand.
[Bridge Pictures - Distribution Business Team - Yoon Jihye]
It was surprising enough that Bridge Pictures had approached first.
But what surprised Geonwoo even more was the person making the offer.
In his previous life, Yoon Jihye had searched for films that won festival awards but still couldn't find theaters.
While other distributors calculated break-even points first, she first asked which audience the film could actually reach.
One independent movie she handled opened in barely more than ten theaters.
Some weekday afternoon screenings sold only a handful of tickets.
Theaters wanted to remove it in less than a week.
Yoon Jihye studied reservations by time slot and persuaded theaters to keep only evening and weekend screenings.
As a result, the second week's attendance exceeded the first, even with fewer screens.
By the third week, theaters outside Seoul were requesting screenings.
That independent film eventually became a notable success in Geonwoo's previous life.
Now that same Yoon Jihye had approached him first.
Geonwoo suppressed the smile trying to form.
"How are you thinking of releasing it?"
Hyunsoo turned toward him.
It seemed strange that Geonwoo was asking about release strategy when simply thanking her would have been understandable.
A brief spark of interest appeared in Jihye's eyes too.
"It's difficult to give exact numbers here."
She continued.
"But we aren't planning to secure a large number of screens from the beginning."
Hyunsoo's expression stiffened slightly.
Jihye noticed.
"That doesn't mean we plan to release it too narrowly. This film needs time for its audience to grow."
"Time for the audience to grow?"
Hyunsoo asked.
"If we take too many screens immediately, we can probably create a respectable first-week number. But we'd also create a lot of empty seats."
Jihye spoke calmly.
"Theaters will see the numbers and immediately cut the schedule."
Geonwoo listened silently.
She was exactly as detailed as he remembered.
His fingers pressed the edge of the card once.
He wanted to tell her immediately that he wanted her company.
But he didn't.
Meeting a good person and signing a good contract were two different things.
Jihye looked at him.
"Are you free tomorrow morning? I'll prepare concrete materials. Release timing and proposed theater strategy too."
Geonwoo thought through tomorrow's schedule.
The third and final extra screening was in the afternoon.
"The morning works."
"How about ten? I'll come wherever is convenient."
"Let's meet in my hotel lobby. I believe they have meeting rooms available. I'll text the hotel name to the number on your card."
"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow."
Yoon Jihye bowed lightly and left the lobby.
The moment she disappeared through the glass doors, Hyunsoo grabbed Geonwoo's arm.
"Hyung!"
"What?"
"She just said she wants to distribute our movie, right? Bridge Pictures is a pretty big company!"
"Calm down. She said she wants to. Nothing has been signed."
"For an independent film like ours, that's basically the same thing!"
"Not until there's a signature on the contract."
Hyunsoo stared at him like he couldn't understand.
"Hyung, aren't you excited?"
"Who said I'm not?"
"Then smile. Why do you look so serious?"
Geonwoo answered with a smile.
Even after they returned to the hotel, Hyunsoo didn't calm down.
While Geonwoo worked on his laptop, Hyunsoo lay on his stomach on the bed and fired questions.
"If we get a distributor, they'll make a new poster, right?"
"Probably."
"A new trailer too?"
"Probably."
"Will we do stage greetings?"
"If the movie gets released."
"In Busan too?"
"The first response came from Busan, so maybe."
Hyunsoo sat up with his phone.
"Shouldn't we start checking the actors' schedules?"
"We haven't signed anything."
"We can still think ahead."
Geonwoo looked up.
"You were about to message the actors, weren't you?"
"No."
"Put the phone down."
"I seriously wasn't."
Pouting, Hyunsoo turned his phone face down.
Geonwoo returned his attention to the laptop.
He began listing everything he needed to check tomorrow.
Domestic theatrical distribution rights.
Contract period.
Whether streaming rights and overseas rights were included.
Distribution fees.
Production and final approval authority over promotional materials.
First-look rights on his next project.
Each line he wrote cooled his excitement.
He definitely wanted to work with Yoon Jihye.
It was something he had wished for in his previous life.
But he couldn't accept a contract based on that feeling alone.
Moon Taeseok had once told him he would show Geonwoo's writing to the world.
He had said not to worry and to trust him.
Then he betrayed him.
Hyunsoo, who had been watching from the side, asked,
"Hyung, what are you doing?"
"Organizing the questions I need to ask tomorrow."
Hyunsoo got up and came closer.
His face became increasingly serious as he read the list.
"There are this many things?"
"Making the movie isn't the end."
Hyunsoo stared at the screen for a while, then returned to the bed.
This time, he didn't pick up his phone.
"Still, Yoon Jihye seems like a good person, right?"
"We'll know more after hearing what she says tomorrow."
The next morning, before ten, Geonwoo and Hyunsoo were already inside the hotel meeting room.
Water bottles and notepads were placed on the long table.
Hyunsoo kept sitting down, standing up, walking toward the window, then returning to the door.
"Hyunsoo, just sit."
"I'm nervous. It's a distribution deal."
"It's still not a deal."
"I know. You've told me ten times since yesterday."
A knock came.
Hyunsoo quickly opened the door.
Yoon Jihye stood there with a much thicker file than the day before.
"You're early."
"We only just arrived."
Geonwoo stood.
After greeting them, Jihye placed the file on the table.
"I summarized what we discussed yesterday. This isn't a formal proposal yet. I wanted to show you the direction we're thinking about first."
The first page contained a table of the movie's festival response.
Online mentions after the first screening.
How ticket sales increased.
Search traffic for the movie after Cha Myunghoon's video.
Geonwoo turned the page.
It wasn't merely a collection of numbers.
The data broke down exactly how people became interested in the film.
"When did you gather all of this?"
Hyunsoo asked in surprise.
"I'd already been monitoring it before watching the movie. I added the response after yesterday's screening."
Jihye turned to the next page.
It was a proposed initial theater strategy.
"We'd like to begin with independent art theaters in Seoul, but open in Busan during the same week."
"That makes sense, since we already confirmed an audience response here."
"Exactly."
She continued.
"People who watched the film at the festival are currently recommending it. If they can't actually see it in Busan once the festival ends, that momentum disappears."
She pointed to expected theaters in Seoul and Busan.
