Chapter 096
Choi Kyung-min’s sudden question caught me off guard for a moment, but I tried not to show it and answered calmly.
“Why did you think that?”
“Well... back then, you definitely said you had no intention of letting this matter end quietly...”
Choi Kyung-min said he had heard that Writer Hong Yeon-hee had discovered by chance that Won Se-chang had hired a ghostwriter.
However, the timing was almost too dramatic to be called a coincidence.
Because of that, he had begun to wonder if I had somehow planned this entire situation from the beginning.
On top of that, he also found it strange that I already knew he had practically made Won Se-chang’s previous two works himself.
“Assistant Director Choi, seriously... I was wondering what you were talking about. It really was a coincidence. The kind of cliché coincidence that would be too obvious to even use in a drama... Haha.”
I laughed cheerfully.
The CEO of Big Picture, Han Tae-sung, informed Won Se-chang that his contract was being terminated, holding him responsible for everything that had happened because of the ghostwriter incident.
“I’m not saying I did nothing wrong, but terminating my contract over something like this?”
Won Se-chang repeatedly complained that the company’s decision was unfair.
“I think this matter is a little too serious to simply call it ‘something like this,’ don’t you?”
“Maybe you don’t know because you’ve only worked in movies, but things like this aren’t that unusual in dramas. And anyway, didn’t the issue with MBS get settled without any major trouble once I agreed to leave the project?”
Even when Executive Director Kim Eun-kyung criticized him, Won Se-chang shamelessly tried to paint himself as if he had sacrificed himself for everyone else.
His disgusting attitude made the corner of my mouth twist before I even realized it.
“You’re talking as if you sacrificed yourself for the production, Director, but that isn’t what happened. MBS chose Writer Hong Yeon-hee over you.”
“So what? You’re saying you’ll swallow me when I’m useful and spit me out when I’m not? If it weren’t for me, this whole project wouldn’t even have existed in the first place!”
When Won Se-chang snapped at me, Kim Eun-kyung, who had remained calm throughout the conversation, finally raised her voice.
“That is exactly why we’re ending this nicely with a simple contract termination. Otherwise, we would have filed a lawsuit for every loss we suffered, including compensation for emotional damages.”
She continued without giving him a chance to interrupt.
“The reason for the contract termination lies entirely with you, so we could demand a penalty fee as well as reimbursement for every expense you’ve used so far after sending you the supporting documents. We’re choosing not to do that as a concession to you. Do you understand?!”
The moment words like penalty fee, supporting documents, and lawsuit came up, Won Se-chang finally lowered his head.
He knew there was nothing he could do.
If things actually went to court, there was very little that would work in his favor.
The sudden news that the director had been replaced threw the actors and staff into confusion.
However, once the actors learned what had actually happened, they soon accepted the situation without much resistance.
After things settled down and everything finally began returning to normal, I offered Cha Seung-jun the position of on-site producer for the drama.
“An on-site producer for a drama?”
Cha Seung-jun was clearly surprised by my sudden offer and couldn't answer right away.
That was understandable.
Unlike movies, dramas did not really have the same concept of a production producer.
An on-site producer mainly handled large and small budget-related matters on set, so if you compared it to film production, it was somewhat similar to production accounting.
Of course, in movies, the accounting staff mostly gathered receipts and kept financial records.
An on-site producer in a drama had far more authority than that.
“I don’t know... I don’t really know much about dramas...”
Seeing Cha Seung-jun hesitate nervously, I continued.
“Hyung, do you think anyone is born knowing how to make dramas? Everyone starts somewhere and learns while doing it. This is my first drama too.”
“That’s true, but... finishing one drama takes what, six months? Seven months? What if Director Song’s script comes out during that time?”
Cha Seung-jun was currently preparing the next project with Director Song Jae-hyun at New Wave, the film company Director Song and I had founded together.
He had been desperately waiting for Song Jae-hyun to finish writing the screenplay.
Ha... Director Song Jae-hyun’s script won’t be finished until the second half of next year, but it’s not like I can tell him that...
“Hyung, Director Song’s script doesn’t look like it’ll be ready anytime soon anyway. And I really think you’d be perfect for this.”
“I don’t know... No matter how much I think about it, I’m still not sure I can do it well...”
Cha Seung-jun remained cautious.
“Hyung, Big Picture isn’t planning to make just this one drama and quit. We’re going to keep needing on-site producers in the future. If things go well, you might even be able to continue working at Big Picture as a full-time employee.”
“A full-time employee? I don’t know... At the end of the day, that just makes me a salaried worker. I have a dream too, you know. I want to start my own film company. Haha.”
Cha Seung-jun laughed jokingly.
Ha... How can someone have this little sense of reality...?
Then again, that was probably why a single betrayal from the director he had been developing a screenplay with had caused his entire life to collapse.
He had left not only the film industry, but Korea itself.
I didn't want to see Cha Seung-jun leave the film industry again.
No.
I didn't want him leaving Korea at all.
“Hyung, seriously. Try being serious when it matters. Movies are great, but dramas are going to become more important from now on. This is a good chance for you to experience how a drama set works too.”
After I repeatedly persuaded him, Cha Seung-jun finally agreed to join the drama as the on-site producer.
With that, our entire production staff was finally complete.
Time passed quickly.
Before I knew it, there was only about a month left until filming began, and we held the full script reading.
However, during the reading, one immature junior staff member caused a problem.
They took a picture and uploaded it to their social media account, Face the Book, with part of the script clearly visible in the photo.
It was their first time participating in a full script reading, so they had probably uploaded the photo simply because they wanted to commemorate the occasion.
Unfortunately, people who saw the picture began posting theories about the contents of the script.
For a moment, we nearly faced an unprecedented story leak.
Fortunately, only a very small portion of the script was visible in the picture.
In fact, the incident ended up increasing public curiosity and anticipation toward the drama.
So it passed as nothing more than a brief incident.
Well, after that, everyone became much more careful about security.
Maybe it was one of those blessings in disguise.
Time continued to pass.
At last, the long-awaited first day of filming arrived.
