Chapter 109: To the Limit.
Chapter 109 < To the Limit. >
(Director, are you really not going to interfere?)
“Hey, don’t you trust me?”
(Director, I know you have a good eye for people.)
The person on the phone with Director Cheon Seong-min was the scriptwriter who had worked with him for a long time. In dramas, the writer had a lot of power, but not in movies.
The director often wrote the scenario, and in the movie industry, the scriptwriters who were hired by famous directors had more power than the original writers.
(But you haven’t answered his calls for days.)
“People can miss a few calls when they’re busy, what’s the big deal?”
(Wow, our director really likes him, huh?)
Yoo Yeon Seo was still a hot topic in the industry. He had the money to sway the production companies and he had the distribution rights. No matter how hard they worked, if the theaters didn’t play their movies, they would fail. The distribution rights were as powerful as anything.
Everyone was watching Yoo Yeon Seo’s moves, wondering if he would have a positive impact or if he would revert to his old habits and send the movies he didn’t like to the remote theaters with few audiences at dawn or early morning.
“He’s a good guy, I saw it myself.”DiiScôver new stories on no/v/e()/lbin(.)com
Yoo Yeon Seo’s clash with the director during ‘Emergency’ was a shock to the industry people, so Director Cheon didn’t like him very much either.
Yoo Yeon Seo was well-versed in both domestic and foreign movies. He would ask, have you seen that? And he would say, yes, I have. And he would talk about the scenes he liked or disliked.
[Especially that director’s work ‘Howling’...]
[I don’t recognize that title, is it a recent work?]
[No, it’s not.]
It wasn’t the right time to bring that up... He muttered and sometimes said strange things, but it was better to have someone who knew this side than someone who didn’t.
Besides, his mother, Choi Yoo-jin, was a big shot who shook the market, and she was famous for her love for the movie industry. She was also known for her flawless work, so she wouldn’t neglect her successor’s education.
[What are you going to do now that you have a foot in the distribution company?]
[I don’t know...]
And there was something that Director Cheon especially liked about him.
[Actually, I’m a bit embarrassed by the modifier ‘the hope of the rookies’ that’s attached to me, but it’s a positive image, right?]
[Yes, it is. So?]
[I want to keep doing that. It’s nice to burn unlimited money on works that have been proven by box office and awards like you, director, but... I think it would be fun to nurture someone like you from the beginning to the end...]
The famous directors who had a name for themselves already had their preferred actors. So he thought it would be nice to grow them from the sprouts and become their persona.
It was a somewhat impure thought, but Director Cheon didn’t know his thoughts, so he was impressed by his answer. He thought he would have a positive influence on the movie industry.
[I guess I made the right choice.]
[Thank you.]
He had a good taste, and he matched well with him, and JSENM was the largest investment and production company and distribution company in Korea, so he had no reason to refuse based on rumors.
(You make me curious when you say that.)
“Then let’s have a meal together sometime.”
(Yes, director.)
When Director Cheon hung up the phone with the scriptwriter and was thinking about the movie, his phone rang again. The caller was Yoo Yeon Seo.
“You.”
(Director, hello. How have you been?)
“What happened? You didn’t answer my calls for a while...”
(I was feeling a bit sick.)
“Oh, are you okay now?”
(Yes. Don’t worry, I’m handling everything related to your work.)
He sounded tired, maybe because he said he was sick.
(I’ll see you soon. There will be a lot of talented actors, right?)
“You’re going to start your own agency at this rate.”
(That sounds good.)
He left the casting authority for the audition to Director Cheon. Yoo Yeon Seo could give some opinions, but he didn’t evaluate the actors. He wanted to be stimulated by seeing the acting of the undiscovered gems. He was also curious about how Director Cheon saw the actors.
It was as if he was saying, “Do you like our scenario? How about investing and playing the lead role?” He chuckled. It was nice to have such an opportunity. He didn’t have to look for scenarios; they came to him. But none of the productions that showed such desperate eyes appealed to him.
And there was a rather interesting pitch.
“The lead actor for our planned project is Mr. Jin Suho. Thank you.”
The man who casually stepped onto the stage as if he was going for a walk in the neighborhood said this short sentence and stepped down. Some people clapped and cheered. It was as if they meant, “Our movie is settled with one word from the lead actor Jin Suho.” If a top actor joined, investors would flock and the screening would go smoothly.
“That’s what we did for ‘White Tiger’ too.”
Hanna Kyung from Halo Media whispered to Yeon Seo, who was next to her.
“Did you announce that I was the lead actor?”
“Yes, we said that you were participating and investing in our movie, so we asked for a lot of interest. That’s why we got a lot of calls for the remaining investment spots.”
As it turned out, ‘White Tiger’ was so famous in the production industry that it was called ‘The Miracle of White Tiger’. The usual movie production period was from script development to five years at most, and three years at least.
And ‘White Tiger’ was also a scenario that had been floating around for a long time. It required a lot of production costs for the monster special effects, and no top actors who were interested in the synopsis had joined.
But when Yeon Seo, who had gotten out of bed after shaking off his illness, said, “I’ll do this,” the production to screening took less than a few years. And the results were good too.
“Those people will probably look for you a lot, Yeon Seo.”
“Thank you for the information.”
“Don’t mention it. The president told me to take good care of you.”
Maybe that’s why he seemed restless to tell me something. Was the president behind him? Yeon Seo smiled lightly and listened to the pitches from each production company and had various conversations with the movie industry insiders. The DJ played music, and a dance floor opened in the center.
“It would be fun to have both Seunghwan and Yeon Seo.”
“That sounds good. But can you afford the production costs?”
“If Yeon Seo invests, it’s possible.”
“Then why do you have to produce it there? I’ll do it.”
“Hey, just do it once.”
When he heard the joking words mixed with sarcasm from a production company insider, he turned his head carelessly and saw two legs in a white skirt flickering behind Park Seunghwan.
“...”
“Yeon Seo?”
Yeon Seo, who stared at it as if he was piercing it, picked up his phone and made a call.
“...Mr. Lim Seunghyun. Get the car ready.”
The party was over.
***
Yeon Seo, who ran away and came home, lay down on the sofa in the living room, staggering.
“Ha...”
He wanted to stop seeing it. Could he end it by catching Jinbeom?
But that was the only clue he had. He got up with a start after being immersed in his thoughts with his eyes closed for a while.
“Beta.”
<Yes, master.>
He thought that the decisive clue came when he pushed the memory synchronization to the limit as before. Then maybe now...
“Memory synchronization, to the limit.”
<I do not recommend it.>
“Start.”
<I recommend calling someone. Have a secretary or a manager nearby.>
“Start it.”
He knew it wasn’t enough to kill him because he had tried it before.
His voice, which sounded like it was tearing, was threatening. When Beta realized that persuasion wouldn’t work, he said after a brief silence.
<Understood. Be careful.>
<...With the 45% memory synchronization bonus, you can access ‘memories within memories’.>
<Another bonus, ‘replay memory’, has been added.>
His vision went dark.