Chapter 034
Park Jeong-ho let out a deep sigh before continuing.
“I really loved this movie.
That’s why I turned down offers for other projects and waited.
But is this what I get in return?”
“I’m sorry…
Producer Choi said that because you kept delaying the contract with us, you were also keeping your options open between our project and other projects.
And honestly, at the time, I thought he might have been right…”
“Ha…
That…”
“Jeong-ho, let me explain that part.”
Manager Jung stepped in.
“Actually, Jeong-ho’s contract with his agency ends next month.
He was planning to leave the company with me and start our own agency.
But if he signed the contract for this movie now, it would mean signing while he was still under his current agency.
That’s why we kept delaying it.”
“W-Wait a minute.
You said his agency contract ends next month?
That can’t be…
The agency CEO never said anything like that…”
The assistant director spoke in confusion.
“Of course the agency CEO assumed that Jeong-ho would renew his contract.
Actually, there are some complicated issues between the agency CEO and us.”
At Manager Jung’s words, Park Jeong-ho spoke firmly, clearly disappointed.
“Hyung, you don’t need to go that far.
The important thing is that the director didn’t trust me.
I’ll say it again.
I’m not doing this movie.”
“Jeong-ho!”
“I’ve thought about it enough.
If it had been another director, I might have just thought, ‘Well, things like this happen,’ and let it go.
But because it’s you, Director, I can’t do that.
I really trusted you.
That trust is broken.
I think I’ll leave now.”
Park Jeong-ho stood up and left the hotel lounge.
After hesitating for a moment, Manager Jung followed him.
The assistant director tried to stop Park Jeong-ho.
But Director Park seemed to have already decided that it was too late to change Park Jeong-ho’s mind.
He shook his head at the assistant director, telling him to stop.
“Unnie, when are we going to start casting the supporting and minor roles?”
For once, the office was quiet.
Everyone else had gone out for location scouting or external meetings, leaving only scriptwriter Hwang Hyeon-hee and me in the office.
Unlike the independent movie directed by Director Song Jae-hyeon, there had been very few opportunities for the production and directing departments to become close during Director Park Jun-beom’s movie.
Even so, I had gone out of my way to build a relationship with Hwang Hyeon-hee noona by buying her snacks and other things.
There was a reason for that.
Hyeon-hee noona was in charge of casting the supporting and minor roles.
“I’m almost done with the list.
I’m planning to discuss it with the director and start around next week.
Why?”
At the words ‘next week,’ my mind began working rapidly.
“Ah, well…
There’s an actress I know.
Noona, you know Gil Bo-young, the former child actress, right?”
“Gil Bo-young?
Of course I know her.
But why are you suddenly asking?”
“She worked with me on my previous project, and she was really good at acting.”
“Didn’t Gil Bo-young retire?”
“Come on, retire?
Not at all.
She’s actually been looking around for a new project lately.”
“Really?
What was your previous project?”
“Ah, it finished filming not long ago, so it’s currently being edited.
She appeared in it with Moon Hyeon-bin.”
“Wait.
Moon Hyeon-bin?
You mean the actor who appeared in the movie ‘Eye of the Typhoon,’ which was released last month?”
“Yes.
Did you see it?”
“Hey, Moon Hyeon-bin is getting really popular these days.
We actually put him on our list because we were considering casting him as the Crown Prince in our movie.
Is he close to you?
He doesn’t have an agency, so it was really hard to find his contact information.”
“Of course.
I know his number.
I can contact him right now.
But Hyun-bin hyung aside, what do you think about Bo-young noona?”
“Gil Bo-young?
Well…
For now, get her profile and show it to me.
The director will make the final decision anyway.”
“Yes!
Then I’ll get it and bring it to you!”
‘Yes!
All those snacks I’ve been buying her were worth it.’
Just as I happily turned around, the assistant director entered the office with an extremely stiff expression.
Judging by his face, something very serious had clearly happened.
“Oh, are you already back from location scouting?
But did something happen?
Where is everyone else…?”
Hyeon-hee noona cautiously asked.
“Something came up, so the director and I came back to Seoul first.
Hey, Gibaek.
Where are Producer Choi and Manager Baek right now?”
“Ah, both of them are out for a meeting about the set team.”
“Call them right now and tell them to come back immediately.”
“Pardon?”
I asked again because I had no idea what was going on.
The assistant director frowned.
“Park Jeong-ho has withdrawn from the movie.
So tell them to come back immediately.”
‘What the hell is going on all of a sudden…?
Park Jeong-ho refused to appear in the movie…?!’
CEO Han Tae-seong, Director Park Jun-beom, Producer Choi Moon-ho, Manager Baek Seong-han, and Assistant Director Jung Min-hwan spent late into the night trying to come up with a solution to Park Jeong-ho’s refusal to appear.
“Since things have come to this, how about holding auditions and choosing a new actor?”
At Baek Seong-han’s suggestion, Han Tae-seong frowned.
“That won’t work.
Even getting the investors to accept Park Jeong-ho was a struggle.
And now you want a complete newcomer?
The investors will never accept that.”
The possibility of the investors even withdrawing their investment caused the atmosphere in the office to become heavy.
“Tch.
Since when did investors in our movie industry invest based on actors?
This is ridiculous.
Damn it!”
Director Park’s complaint wasn’t entirely wrong.
Until the early 2000s, when investors considered investing in a movie, their first priority was the production company, followed by the director.
However, as fan culture centered around singers and actors began spreading rapidly in the 2000s, the influence of stars with strong fandoms grew day by day.
It had reached the point where the term ‘star power’ was being used.
“So we need an actor at least on Park Jeong-ho’s level.”
At Baek Seong-han’s words, Han Tae-seong nodded.
‘Ha…
The rumors must have already spread throughout this tiny industry.
And since they’ll think they’re in a position of power, their demands are probably going to be ridiculous…’
That was when Director Park, who had been sighing in frustration, suddenly turned his anger toward Choi Moon-ho.
“Hey, Producer Choi.
If you have a mouth, say something.
You’re supposed to be the main producer.
If you let things get this bad, shouldn’t you at least come up with some kind of solution?!”
Choi Moon-ho, who had remained silent while constantly watching everyone’s reactions, became angry.
“Are you saying I’m the one who made things get this bad?”
“Do you seriously have to ask that?
You’re the one who wanted to bring Lee Kyung-hoon in instead of Park Jeong-ho after all the effort we put into him.
And now we find out he’s involved in assault?
How could you recommend someone with such terrible character as the lead actor?!”
“Well, how was I supposed to know?
Ahem…”
“In the end, we never even had a proper meeting with him, but rumors spread everywhere and made me look like someone who keeps testing different actors!”
“Th-That…
Ahem…”
“No.
Fine.
It’s all my fault.
It was my mistake for being swayed by such a proposal in the first place.
Sigh…”
“Director, please stop.
What’s spilled can’t be put back into the cup…”
The assistant director tried to calm Director Park down.
Han Tae-seong, who had been quietly watching the situation, finally spoke heavily.
“Right now, dealing with the situation is more important than arguing emotionally.
First, Manager Baek and Assistant Director Jung, reorganize the list of actors at Park Jeong-ho’s level and bring it to me.”
“Yes.
But we really don’t have much time…”
“Exactly.
That’s why we need to hurry.”
While the meeting was taking place in the CEO’s office, there was also a heated discussion about the situation among the production and directing staff.
“From Park Jeong-ho’s point of view…
I think he has every right to feel hurt.”
“Even so, he shouldn’t have withdrawn first when we hadn’t even said anything to him yet…”
“That’s not right.
The director was actually the one who tried to stab him in the back first.
If Lee Kyung-hoon hadn’t caused that incident, Park Jeong-ho would have ended up being abandoned anyway.”
“Come on, we don’t know that.
The director never even met Lee Kyung-hoon in person.
He only considered the idea.
Isn’t that right?”
“Ah…
But what are we going to do now?
Isn’t our movie going to fall apart like this?”
Kim Gi-nam from the production department sighed anxiously.
Well, who could possibly remain calm in a situation like this?
Honestly, I had thought that after finally getting Lee Kyung-hoon out, everything would return to normal.
But Park Jeong-ho’s sudden withdrawal left me with complicated feelings too.
Cha Seung-jun patted Gi-nam on the shoulder encouragingly.
“Hey, Kim Gi-nam.
Why are you so serious?
Why would our movie fall apart?
Don’t worry.
We can just find another actor.”
“Exactly.
I think it’s because this is Gi-nam’s first commercial movie.
Things like this happen all the time with commercial films.”
“Right.
If you worry yourself sick every time something like this happens, you’ll die of a heart attack before you’re old.
There was a movie once where the actor said he couldn’t do it just fifteen days before filming.
The movie almost collapsed, but they somehow found another actor within those fifteen days and eventually started filming.”
“That’s nothing.
There was another movie where an actor disappeared after only five shooting sessions, saying he couldn’t do it.
Everyone was on edge wondering whether the movie would collapse.
Eventually, they found another actor two months later and had to start filming everything from the beginning.”
“Oh, I think I know which movie you're talking about.”
Everyone began adding their own stories.
Before long, they were laughing and chatting among themselves.
But to my ears, their words sounded like a spell they were using to reassure themselves.
Just like the countless movies that had somehow been completed despite facing seemingly impossible difficulties, they were telling themselves that this movie would never collapse either.
It made me feel strangely sad.
‘Right.
We just need to find another actor.’
I tried to think as positively as possible.
They say everything depends on how you look at it, don't they?
Besides, I was different from my past self now.
I knew the future.
Perhaps this situation would actually turn into a blessing in disguise, allowing us to find an actor even better than Park Jeong-ho.
Just as I had prevented Lee Kyung-hoon's casting because I knew the future, I could also find an actor who would have a positive influence on our movie.
‘Yes.
I'm sure we can find one.’
“So, you're saying we need to look for another actor at Park Jeong-ho’s level?”
“That's right.”
The next morning, we received an explanation from Manager Baek Seong-han and Assistant Director Jung Min-hwan about the meeting that had taken place in the CEO’s office the previous day.
“We don't have much time.
Because of how serious this situation is, don't divide yourselves into the directing and production departments.
First, find out if there are any actors who can secure the necessary schedule.”
“Yes!”
Without anyone waiting for someone else to start, we immediately began searching for actors whose images matched the characters and created a casting list.
I made the most of the future information I knew and recommended actors who would become more famous and successful in the future.
