Chapter 29: Release Strategy
Three days after announcing the release date.
A list of theaters covered the meeting-room table at Bridge Pictures.
Dates, times, and seat numbers were written beside independent theaters and multiplex branches.
Yoon Jihye studied the list and crossed several out in red.
"Remove this one."
"Another one?"
Assistant Manager Min looked disappointed.
"If we remove these too, we lose three more multiplex branches."
"What time are they offering?"
"Monday at eleven in the morning."
"Hardly anyone comes to movies at that time."
"It still counts toward the number of theaters."
"It only counts toward the number."
Jihye crossed out another line.
"What about this one?"
"Tuesday at one in the afternoon."
"Remove it."
"Thursday at 11:40 p.m.?"
"Public transportation won't even be running when the movie ends."
Assistant Manager Min counted the removed locations.
"Team Leader, our first-week scale will look too small."
"Those branches require marketing costs too. Posters, banners, separate schedules."
Jihye pointed at the rejected locations.
"There's no reason to divide money and staff across screenings audiences will struggle to attend."
She slid the materials toward Geonwoo.
"So far, 31 theaters have said they're willing to screen the movie."
"If we accept every time slot, we can exceed forty screens."
Geonwoo asked,
"If we only keep good time slots?"
"About 24 theaters, 36 screens."
Geonwoo looked over the list.
Independent and art theaters generally offered weekday evenings and weekend screenings.
The multiplexes were different.
Most offered dead hours.
"What do you think, Team Leader Yoon?"
"I want to start with 24 theaters."
"Reject the rest?"
"Yes."
Assistant Manager Min interrupted.
"Still, 36 screens and 42 screens look very different in articles. People might say our release is too small."
"We can't scatter the audience into weekday daytime and midnight screenings just to inflate a number."
Jihye pointed at the rejected slots.
"If we appear on many screens but those seats are empty, they'll cut us immediately in week two."
"We'll only waste more marketing money and labor."
Assistant Manager Min still looked unhappy.
"What do you think, Director?"
"Let's go with 24."
"Are you sure?"
"I'd rather begin with 36 screens that people can actually attend than start at 42 and lose half of them immediately."
Geonwoo personally crossed out the Monday morning slot.
"We fill these during week one, then use the numbers to expand in week two."
"Understood."
Assistant Manager Min deleted the rejected theaters.
Jihye separated the independent theater list.
"We can accept all of these. They may not give us many screenings, but audiences there actively choose what they watch."
"Only Seoul?"
"Busan, Daegu, and Daejeon too. We contacted regions where we saw strong festival interest first."
She pointed to several TGV branches.
"We'll focus our multiplex strategy here."
"Gangnam, Yongsan, and Daehangno."
"Those branches have audiences similar to BIFF attendees. People who actively look for award winners and independent films."
"What time slots?"
"Gangnam gave us Saturday at four, on the condition that we hold a GV."
"Yongsan isn't confirmed."
"Right. That's why it isn't counted among the 24 yet. They're waiting for the press screening reaction."
"Busan gives us Sunday at two."
"We can target people who failed to get festival tickets."
Geonwoo circled the Busan branch.
"I'll go there."
"Sunday?"
"Yes."
"You already have a GV in Seoul on Saturday."
"I'll take the morning train Sunday."
"You're planning to travel between Seoul and Busan during the first release weekend?"
"If my presence helps us secure a good screening, why wouldn't I go?"
"Fair."
Jihye wrote his name on the schedule.
"Don't complain that you're tired later."
"I think you'll be the one saying that first."
"I don't rest during a release."
"Then I won't rest during the release either."
Assistant Manager Min looked between them.
"If both of you act like this, doesn't that mean none of us get to rest?"
Jihye smiled.
"You only realized now? Everyone was so happy when we signed the contract."
"I was immature back then."
Laughter filled the room.
Jihye returned to the theater list.
"That's enough for screens. Next is the trailer."
"We're thinking around ninety seconds for the theatrical trailer."
"We'll also need thirty-second and fifteen-second cuts for online advertising."
"I brought the main trailer."
"What?"
Geonwoo removed an external drive from his bag.
"I edited it yesterday."
"Already?"
"We have a release date, so I thought we'd need one."
Jihye looked between Geonwoo and the hard drive.
"You made it yourself?"
"Yes. I'd like you to review it first. If it's missing anything for marketing, I'll revise it."
Jihye stared at him, then handed the drive to Assistant Manager Min.
"Connect this to the meeting-room display."
The file appeared.
"One minute twenty-eight seconds."
"Yes."
"We only need the distributor logo and release-date card. Let's play it first."
The lights went out.
Against a black screen came the sound of a camcorder running.
Then Seoyoon appeared, walking through the alley with his old camera.
"Noona, what happens when all of this disappears?"
"What?"
"The things that were here."
Seoyoon turned the camcorder.
A cracked wall.
A tightly closed empty house.
Sensor lights turning on one by one as people passed.
The screen abruptly went black.
Something hit the floor.
Seorin appeared at the funeral.
"They said it was an accident."
"The police concluded the same thing."
Every time Seorin looked around, neighborhood residents turned away.
The grocery-store woman fidgeted with her hands.
The neighborhood leader stared into his water cup.
Minjae stopped at the funeral-hall threshold.
"Minjae."
Seorin called him, but he couldn't enter.
The trailer began cutting quickly.
