Chapter 18

Chapter 018

After finishing their meals, the staff gathered in small groups to avoid the rain.

Everyone looked exhausted from the cold and fatigue.

“Well, talk about bad timing.
Of all days, it had to rain today.
You must be having a hard time.”

Just as lunchtime was coming to an end, someone who was a senior from Director Song's university visited the abandoned factory carrying snacks.

“Ah, you didn't have to bring something like this.
You could have just come.”

“I heard there were about seventy people, so I bought seventy portions.
But there are more people than I expected.
What if there isn't enough?”

“Not at all.
It's more than enough.
We'll enjoy them.
Oh, this is our production manager.”

Producer Jung seemed to know Director Song's senior well, so he greeted him comfortably before introducing Cha Seungjun, who was standing beside him.

“This is Manager Baek Seonghan from the film company ‘Big Picture.’
He's Director Song's senior from university.
He came all the way here today to sponsor snacks.”

“Hello.
Thank you for sponsoring the snacks.”

Baek Seonghan looked somewhat embarrassed as Cha Seungjun bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“Oh, goodness.
I didn't do this to receive such praise.
Haha.
Anyway, enjoy the snacks.
But where's Director Song?”

“Ah, Director Song is on the second floor.
You can go up and see him.”

Baek Seonghan handed over the snacks he had brought and headed to the second floor where Director Song was.

Producer Jung handed the snacks to Cha Seungjun and spoke.

“By the way, I don't see Gibaek.”

“Ah, yes.
He said he was going somewhere for a moment.
He'll be back soon.”

Just then, the cinematographer hurried over to where Producer Jung and Cha Seungjun were.

“Producer Jung.
You were here?
Where's Director Song?”

“Director Song is on the second floor.
Why?
What's wrong?”

“The radio just said that today's rain probably won't stop until late in the evening.
I just checked with the weather service, and they said it might not stop until around nine tonight.”

“What?
When we checked a little while ago, they said it would stop around three...”

The cinematographer said that this did not seem like rain that would stop easily.

He suggested checking with the weather service once again.

If the rain really would continue until nine at night, they would have no choice but to cancel today's filming.

“W-wait a moment.
I'll check too.
Ah, Seungjun, go get Director Song and bring him here.”

“Yes!”

Cha Seungjun quickly ran up to the second floor where Director Song was.

A short while later, Director Song and his senior came down from the second floor together with Cha Seungjun.

“Did you check with the weather service again?”

After roughly hearing the situation from Seungjun, Director Song immediately looked at Producer Jung and asked impatiently.

“What happened?
They definitely said earlier that it would stop before three, didn't they?”

“Yes.
It's just as the cinematographer said...”

If things continued like this, the situation was serious.

“Director Song, what are we going to do?
We can't just keep waiting like this.
Shouldn't we cancel the shoot and pack up for now?”

At the cinematographer's words, concern spread across Director Song's face.

Producer Jung spoke as if representing Director Song.

“We can't do that.
You know our situation.”

“I know.
If we cancel the shoot like this, we'll lose an entire day's expenses.
But look at how cold it is.
If this continues, all the kids are going to get sick.”

“It's not simply because of the expenses.
If we cancel today's shoot, the schedule afterward will become too difficult.”

Today's abandoned factory shooting schedule was supposed to continue from the morning until the following morning.

But if they stopped filming now, they would have to gather again tomorrow morning and continue shooting until the next morning.

Then, they would have to immediately return to Seoul the following day and continue filming.

It would be an extremely demanding schedule for both the staff and the actors.

“That means they'd basically have to film for at least forty hours without sleeping.
That's too much for the staff and actors.”

At Producer Jung's words, the cinematographer spoke again.

“But even if we do that, it will still be too much for the actors and staff.”

The cinematographer complained in frustration.

If they waited until nine, filmed throughout the night, and then started filming all the scenes they could not shoot today from tomorrow morning, wouldn't that still mean everyone would have to work for forty hours without sleep?

“Besides, making everyone wait outside for more than seven hours without a proper place to rest is really too much.
Look at them.
They're already exhausted.”

Director Song let out a heavy sigh at the situation that seemed to leave them with no good choice.

Then he turned toward Baek Seonghan, who had been seriously listening to the conversation beside him.

“Hyung, do you happen to have any idea what we can do?”

After thinking for a moment, Baek Seonghan opened his mouth.

“Actually, the best thing would be to find nearby motels as quickly as possible.
Then everyone could sleep at the motel until evening.”

“Ah...
But...”

Producer Jung sighed in frustration at Baek Seonghan's suggestion.

“I know.
You probably don't have enough budget to book accommodations.
That's why I was hesitant even while suggesting it.”

After thinking for a moment, Director Song asked.

“Wait, don't we still have some emergency funds left?”

“We do have some emergency funds, but...”

Emergency funds were, of course, money set aside specifically for situations like this.

However, there were still more than ten filming sessions left.

No one knew what other problems might arise, so they had to conserve the emergency budget as much as possible.

But with more than sixty people needing accommodation, they would have to book at least twenty rooms.

The unexpectedly large cost made Producer Jung's expression grow darker.

“We do have a budget set aside as emergency funds, but we can't spend all of it on accommodation right now.”

At Producer Jung's words, Cha Seungjun scratched his head in frustration.

“Ah, this is giving me a headache...
We can't cancel the shoot, but we can't just keep waiting here and then shoot either...”

“I have a way!”

“Hey, Min Gibaek.
Where on earth did you go?”

Cha Seungjun demanded when I suddenly appeared.

“Sorry.
I only meant to go check something quickly, but it took longer than I expected.
Anyway, everyone must be cold, so let's go to the village community center.”

“The village community center?”

Unlike Cha Seungjun, who tilted his head because he did not understand what I meant, Producer Jung immediately understood my intention.

His eyes lit up.

“Don't tell me...
You went to borrow that place right now?!”

I explained everything that had happened.

If we canceled the shoot and packed up like this, not only would we lose money, but the entire remaining schedule would become tangled.

So I had been thinking of a place where we could escape the rain and cold.

Then I remembered the village community center that I had briefly visited recently while trying to persuade the village chief's father, an elderly man, about screening the movie.

The first floor, which was normally used as a senior citizens' center, consisted of one large living room and four rooms and was arranged like an ordinary house.

The second floor was a large open room designed for village events such as senior citizens' banquets.

It was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate at least forty people.

So I asked the village chief if we could rent the community center in exchange for paying the electricity bill.

Fortunately, the village chief, who had been cooperative with the filming after the movie screening, willingly allowed us to use the community center.

I also explained that I had received permission to use an empty room in his own house for the female staff who might feel uncomfortable staying in the community center.

“Hey, Min Gibaek.
How did you even think of something like that?”

“To think of the village community center in a situation like this.
The youngest member of the production department really came through.
Hahaha.”

Just moments ago, everyone had been trapped in a hopeless situation.

So everyone was delighted by my solution, which felt like rain after a long drought.

“The village chief is at the community center right now, so let's hurry down.”

“Ah, wait.
What about the equipment?”

“Ah, right.
The equipment...”

“It would take too long to move all the equipment out of here.
I think Seungjun hyung and I should take turns staying here to guard it.”

“All right, let's do that.
For now, let's move all the staff to the community center first.”

And so, Producer Jung and I immediately led the staff toward the village community center.

“That young man is meticulous and has excellent people skills too.”

“Right?
Actually, there are more than one or two things about Gibaek that have surprised me while preparing this movie.”

“Really?
In what way?”

“Well...
Even though this is an independent film, this must be his first feature-length movie.
But he's experienced.
It's almost as if...
he's someone who has worked in this industry for twenty years.”

“Really?
He's that good?”

At Director Song's words, Baek Seonghan's eyes lit up with interest.

Once things were more or less settled, all the staff went to sleep.

After trembling outside in the cold and finally lying down in a warm room, everyone quickly fell into a deep sleep.

I left the village community center to switch shifts with Cha Seungjun, who was alone at the abandoned factory guarding the equipment.

But at that moment, Baek Seonghan, who had been talking with Director Song outside, called out to me.

“I heard you're the youngest member of the production department.
Your name is Min Gibaek, right?”

“Ah, yes.
I'm Min Gibaek.”

Even amid all the chaos, I had already heard from Cha Seungjun that Director Song's senior had come to the set to sponsor snacks.

“Director Song has been praising you quite a lot.”

“Ah, no.
I haven't really done anything...”

“No.
Your ability to handle situations is quite impressive.”

“Ah...
Thank you...”

“When this movie is finished, give me a call.”

Baek Seonghan took out a business card from his wallet and handed it to me.

<Film Company ‘Big Picture’ Production Manager Baek Seonghan>

Baek Seonghan?

It was a name I had never heard before.

If he really was a successful producer, I should have heard his name at least once after twenty years in the film industry.

However, the film company ‘Big Picture’ was quite an interesting company.

It was still a small film company that had only made one movie, Youth Cries.

But film company ‘Big Picture’ was a company that would continue actively producing movies even in 2024.

Moreover, Han Taeseong, the CEO of ‘Big Picture,’ was unquestionably a figure in the film industry who was known as the Midas touch of the movie world.