Chapter 7: The Production Company’s Circumstances
“Hello. I’m Cho Miyoung, the CEO of Square Film.”
In a meeting room at Seoul City Hall,
the employees of Square Film, who were in charge of producing the promotional web drama, and government officials gathered together. It was time to make final adjustments before starting production.
“Let’s keep it casual. Casual. But when I looked at the report, it seemed fine. We can just go with it, right?”
The head of the promotions department flipped through the documents carelessly. He clearly didn’t want to work. After all, he had outsourced the work to be handled independently, but they kept calling for meetings.
“We need to adjust some details.”
However, for Square Film, the client was not just any company but the government. It was one of the largest projects they had ever undertaken, so nothing could be done carelessly.
“Details? What kind?”
Cho Miyoung displayed a tentative title on the large screen.
‘Late Night Pocha’
The story was mainly set in a small snack bar that opened in an alley every night. The main plot revolved around the protagonist, an ordinary person, and the customers who visited the bar, creating a sense of comfort and empathy.
“Have you checked the PPL list by any chance?”
And the food that would be placed between them was particularly important.
The so-called K-food.
This was the main subject of the promotion and the core material of the drama. A large number of Korean dishes, including Korean cuisine and popular Korean food from MeTube, were scheduled to appear.
“Uh, yeah. There were a lot, right? Spicy chicken ramen, Bibeara mandu, Ottogi curry, Mirak sikhye. The big ones were about that, weren’t they?”
The manager gestured to his subordinate and said this. However, the list he had checked contained more than nine product names.
“Including the Korean dishes requested by Seoul City, a total of twelve foods must appear. Of course, drinks and snacks are excluded.”
“So?”
“As you know, seven episodes are the standard.”
If the response was good and surpassed a certain number of views, they would produce up to ten episodes. That was the contract. The manager frowned as if wondering what the problem was.
“There’s an excess of food items.”
“Put two in each episode. Then.”
Crunch. The employees standing near the CEO noticed her teeth grinding. However, the indifferent officials seemed uninterested.
“The sponsors don’t like that, so I think it would be difficult. Moreover, since the video length is between 15 and 20 minutes, focusing on multiple items would reduce the concentration on the work.”
“Hah! Damn, they’re so damn picky!”
When the manager uttered a harsh word, the atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly froze. He nonchalantly waved his hand.
“I’m not talking about the CEO, I’m talking about those companies. Don’t get me wrong.”
Cho Miyoung simply smiled.
Client and contractor. She kept repeating those words. Otherwise, she felt like she would lose her grip on reason.
“Anyway, there’s too much food compared to the number of episodes we need to shoot right now, right? That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. So, if possible, I was thinking of removing the Korean dishes requested by Seoul City—”
“No way! That’s the most important part! Bibimbap, bulgogi, and what else?”
The subordinate answered the manager’s question readily.
“Cupbap.”
“Right. Cupbap! That’s what we planned to promote—!”
The manager, shaking his hands and firmly maintaining his stance that it was absolutely not possible, seemed adamant. The other officials appeared to share the same opinion.
Cho Miyoung had not expected such a reaction either.
“Then how about reducing the PPL?”
“Who’s going to pay for the set production? These days, if you misuse taxes, big things will happen! To put it bluntly, how do you know what the viewership will be like to spend the budget like that?”
Everything would be fine if they got corporate cooperation.
If there’s a problem with production, it’s the production company’s problem! They seemed to think it was none of their business.
“Since the main setting is an alley and a snack bar, we’ll find a suitable location to reduce production costs.”
“What’s this, what’s this? CEO, you’re acting like an amateur.”
The manager laughed derisively, saying, “Look at that.”
She had almost ten years of experience working in the field. An amateur?
The CEO’s smile deepened even further.
“It takes three days to shoot one episode, right? If you repeat that seven times, how many days is that? 21 days, right? For 21 days, if the staff keeps turning on the lights in the alley at night and coming and going, the residents won’t be too happy. It’s not an apartment but a multi-family housing alley.”
If the response was good and the number of episodes increased, it would be almost a full month. For a month, the neighborhood residents would live looking at lights instead of the moon.
“It’ll be a problem if complaints come in. A problem.”
It was unfortunate, but not entirely wrong. Even if Seoul City was fine, there would definitely be issues on site.
This meant the shoot itself could be canceled.
The manager scratched his philtrum and spoke as if doing a favor.
“Okay. You said twelve, right?”
“Do you mean the types of food?”
“Yeah, yeah. That. Then let’s make an additional contract. Keep the conditions the same but increase the number from ten to twelve episodes. If the response is good, we’ll be able to shoot them all without any problems.”
What a fucking asshole.
Cho Miyoung was smiling, but inside, all sorts of curses were bubbling up. It was only a matter of time before they came out of her mouth…… The employees were the only ones feeling uneasy.
“If you think it won’t go that far, just handle it well on your own. Our Square Film is capable, right? They’re pretty popular on MeTube these days, aren’t they? Right? Hehehe!”
At the manager’s words, the other subordinates laughed along, saying, “Haha, ho ho.”
Whether they put two food items in one episode or adjusted the video length, they were basically saying to just ‘handle it’ on their own.
Playing the role of a punching bag between the sponsors and Seoul City.
“Oh dear. Time has passed so quickly.”
“Shall we go have lunch?”
“CEO, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? How about we go together?”
They had no intention of wasting even a minute of the upcoming lunch break. The CEO refused with a bright smile.
“No, we have some things to tidy up.”
“Is that so? Well then, good luck, everyone, and let’s do our best! Make it really awesome, okay? Huh? Hehehe!”
Led by the manager, the relevant employees rushed out. Only silence filled the meeting room. The CEO, who had been standing tall, leaned on the desk and bowed her head.
“Oh dear—”
At that moment, the team leader quickly opened the door and looked around. To check if anyone was there or not.
“Fucking bastards—”
“Not too loud. This is City Hall.”
“They keep calling people iron rice bowls, so they really are a bunch of rice bowl-headed assholes……”
Cho Miyoung collapsed into a chair, spewing vicious curses. Her head hurt so much. The customer is king, but this was too much, wasn’t it?
“It’s a completely poisoned chalice.”
The team leader also sighed, shaking his head.
They had only just begun to establish themselves in the market. They had thought that working on a project with a major client like Seoul City would be a great asset, but they didn’t expect it to come to a halt like this.
“What should we do now?”
In response to the employee’s question, the team leader organized the documents.
“What can we do? Starting tomorrow, we’ll have to go around to the sponsors and beg them.”
“So, are you going to put two items per episode?”
“If possible. It’s more comforting to think that there won’t be an extension. Don’t you think so, CEO?”
If they only put in one item each, anticipating an extension, and then couldn’t shoot some of them, it would be the worst-case scenario.
“……How far along is the script?”
The synopsis was already out. If more menu items were added, the storyline and directing methods would also have to change. The team leader stroked his chin and answered.
“Up to episode two is done.”
“Recite the synopsis.”
“Uh. Well. Just a moment.”
The team leader sat right next to the CEO. The employees also quietly followed and sat down.
It seemed like lunch was out of the question.
“Episode 1. The protagonist, who had been living away from home, hears the news of his father’s death. What’s left is a snack bar and a will left behind with it. -Son, I wish you would run the snack bar at night. There will be people who will be sad if the snack bar disappears- The protagonist has no choice but to start the business.”
“Cut out all that stuff. Who’s the customer?”
“For episode one, we decided on a retired father.”
A different episode every time.
Customers with their own troubles appear.
Cho Miyoung closed her eyes, thought quietly, and then spoke.
“Change it.”
“What? To what?”
“MeTube, what’s the main demographic that watches web dramas there?”
“Probably young people. Especially students and such.”
“Let’s start by capturing that group first. Change episode one from middle-aged to students. There was an exam-taker episode, right?”
A wandering youth, a high school senior.
A sad life spent cramming for exams without time to think about what to do or how to live in the future. It was suitable for gaining empathy from the main viewers.
“Yes. That was probably set for episode three.”
“Keep the script you’ve written for now and move that episode to the very beginning. And—”
The move they had to make.
To get to extended production, they had to become a topic of conversation no matter what. They only had seven episodes to produce results, so they had to hit hard from the start.
Cho Miyoung tapped the desk with her fingers.
“Tell them to be careful when choosing actors.”
“Is there a guideline?”
“Both acting and appearance should be top-notch.”
“Uh…… CEO, I’m not trying to be rude, but if it’s an exam-taker role, the age range will be pretty similar.”
Talents of that age who excelled in both looks and skills would undoubtedly already be working for large agencies.
Moreover, it was a one-time supporting role in a 20-minute web drama.
What did those kids have to gain from it?
“Let’s give up on one thing. I recommend focusing on acting. Enbin’s bad acting is already a tightrope walk as it is.”
Enbin, an idol selected as Seoul’s promotional ambassador, had landed the lead role in Late Night Pocha. He was quite handsome, but his acting was so disappointing.
“No. Look for someone. They’re still accepting first-round applications, right?”
“We’ll find someone, I’m sure. But what if we can’t? If we can’t, I’m the one who’ll die.”
At the team leader’s lament, Cho Miyoung waved her hand and muttered with confidence.
“There will be someone. Definitely.”
In this difficult situation, there would surely be a talent who could take charge and carry the project.
“Muyoung, straighten your back.”
Yuchan, holding a camera, gave instructions to Muyoung. Muyoung looked awkwardly at the lens and soon smiled bashfully, adjusting his neck.
“It’s really interesting. Usually, the first round is done with documents.”
“Acting has to be shown on video. Can you twist your body a little? Your left side looks better than your right.”
There was a reason why Yuchan was good at being in front of the camera. He knew his face objectively. And he was more active in exposing his better parts on screen.
“Like this?”
“Good. You can start from that position.”
“I’m going. Get ready.”
“Okay— Action!”
As soon as the record button was pressed, Muyoung began with a greeting and introduced himself.
“Hello. I’m Ha Muyoung. I graduated from high school this year and am currently preparing to enter university.”
He couldn’t find any information about the web drama he was applying for.
Since the recruitment target was open to all ages and genders with no physical restrictions, Oh Seok also tilted his head, wondering what role they were looking for.
“I’ve only recently started acting, so I haven’t appeared in any works yet. Also—”
Moreover, what needed to be included in the video was not only a self-introduction but also life concerns.
“When it comes to concerns……”
Muyoung slowly read the paper attached next to the camera.
“Actually, this is something I’ve only been suffering from for a short time. As a senior in high school, I felt so lost about what to do and how to live. All I’ve done is study…… Then, by chance, I got to know about acting, and now I’m living with acting as my dream.”
Muyoung smiled bashfully. Yuchan watched this on the screen and gave a thumbs-up, as if to say it was very good.
“Then I’ll start the free acting.”