The Face Genius Actor

Episode 107

After the commotion caused by the bombshell announcement that wasn’t really a bombshell,

The conference room regained its calm.

Amidst this, CEO Jung Yoon-seok opened his mouth.

“I think I understand what you were thinking. But Festa Entertainment supports your choice for your next project.”

“Really?”

“In fact, I also think that if you have an interest in independent films, now is an appropriate timing. Like taking a break with one project.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Of course, if you only film independent movies continuously, it might be a problem, but I know you’re not that kind of person.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Moreover, the fact that you wrote such an excellent screenplay yourself… It seems like a good opportunity to gain artistic recognition in the independent film sector.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“By the way, you’ll need investment funds for filming. Do you have any plans?”

“I’m planning to cover about half with my own money… Does Festa Entertainment have any plans to invest in independent films?”

CEO Jung Yoon-seok smiled as if he understood what I wanted.

“We do. As we’ve officially entered the investment business, we can’t just sit back and watch the independent film sector. It would be even better if we could start with your ‘I Am Not a Villain’.”

Independent films still faced great difficulties in receiving investments easily.

But more companies were interested in independent films than before, and the reason was the emergence of a new revenue model called OTT.

The emergence of OTT.

This changed the flow of the film industry, which couldn’t generate revenue unless it was in theaters.

Of course, it was still more profitable to release in theaters first and then move to OTT.

But it was fair to say that a new path had opened up in the sense that it wasn’t necessary to insist on theaters.

Perhaps because of this trend, in Hollywood, there were many cases of large production companies acquiring places that specialized in producing and distributing independent films.

Moreover, it didn’t stop at just acquisition, but even led to the establishment of specialized studios.

This was judged to be the most effective way to nurture indie directors with competent and fresh ideas in the long term,

And to bring them into commercial films.

In the end, independent films were no longer films that didn’t make money.

They became the foundation of the film ecosystem that could make some money while nurturing competent indie directors.

‘And this trend is also flowing into the domestic market.’

In fact, because Director Kim Pil-sung, who had only been active in the independent film sector until recently, succeeded with “Escape,” there was high interest in various investment opportunities.

There was an expectation that if they invested in indie directors, someone would make a film like “Escape,” if not right now.

Also, investment in independent films was essential for a healthy ecosystem in the Korean film industry.

The fact that the government was supporting this through various programs was proof of this.

Festa Entertainment was clearly interested in the independent film sector because they were aware of this trend.

As expected, CEO Jung Yoon-seok brought up related topics, and

Kim Bo-mi also agreed, seeming to have the same thoughts.

I also nodded as I liked Festa Entertainment’s direction.

“Anyway, Festa Entertainment is approaching the film investment business with a long-term view. So investing in independent films is natural. In that sense, I hope we can definitely invest in your ‘I Am Not a Villain’.”

* * *

So I received a promise of investment from Festa Entertainment.

In the process, I naturally learned how Festa Entertainment was planning their investment business.

Festa Entertainment didn’t just aim to invest in films.

They wanted to get into production in earnest and expand their operations.

Kim Bo-mi brought up related topics.

“Investing in ‘Escape’ at your request was a big help. Thanks to that, a lot of teams have emerged in a short time.”

“…It’s really diverse. I didn’t know our company had so many teams.”

As I had been affiliated with Festa Entertainment as an actor until now, it was difficult to interact with many teams.

In fact, the teams that helped me with my work were the manager team, stylist team, business planning team, and PR team.

I also knew about the existence of the new talent development team led by Kim Jun-man, but had almost no interaction with them.

My relationship with Kim Jun-man was just exchanging greetings when we occasionally met at the company.

But now I gained the status of a producer for a project.

So the number of teams I had to work with inevitably increased.

“The CEO wants ‘I Am Not a Villain’ to be produced internally within the company.”

“Yes, I think it’s better to do that if possible. If the investor and production company are different, things might get complicated.”

“So I’d like to introduce you to the team in charge of production within the company, if that’s okay?”

“That’s good. Please arrange for me to meet them as soon as possible.”

Fortunately, I was able to meet the people in charge of film production at Festa Entertainment not too late.

Various people gathered in one place, including Jang Jin-wook from the Film Production Team, Kwon Woo-hyuk from the Video Shooting Team, Park Hye-mi from the Video Editing Team, and Kim Hyung-woon from the Music Business Team.

At the same time, problems with the production of “I Am Not a Villain” emerged.

Jang Jin-wook, who was in charge of overall film production, opened his mouth.

“The screenplay is certainly good. But I’m not sure if there’s a director who would be interested in a work where the screenplay is already out.”

Park Hye-mi from the Video Editing Team responded to that.

“Certainly, film directors want to create works with their own screenplays. But in the case of this work, since Actor Lee Si-joon is confirmed as the lead, wouldn’t there be people interested?”

Several people agreed with Park Hye-mi’s opinion.

This was an advantageous point for “I Am Not a Villain” compared to other works.

Kim Hyung-woon from the Music Business Team nodded and replied.

“I think there might be some directors I know who we could approach. By the way, what kind of director do you prefer, actor?”

After thinking for a moment, I shared what I had in mind.

“Personally, I’d like someone who can handle the overall color tone of the film. If they excel in this area, it’s okay if they don’t have much experience.”

Hearing my words, everyone nodded as if they understood what I meant.

After that, discussions ensued about how to organize the on-site staff and when to start filming.

Perhaps because they were all experienced people, they made plans without much difficulty.

However, it was difficult to finalize everything as we didn’t have a director yet.

So, a few weeks later.

We gathered in the conference room again, and this time CEO Jung Yoon-seok, Kim Bo-mi, and Yeo Kyung-chan joined us.

And in everyone’s hands were profiles of film directors.

It seemed that five film directors had shown interest in my work.

Most of them were people I had never seen before.

CEO Jung Yoon-seok naturally led the meeting.

“We were worried if anyone would be interested in a work with an existing screenplay, but five is not bad. Let’s talk about them one by one.”

The first director had experience directing three independent films.

All three films had achieved meaningful results at small film festivals, so it was worth considering.

Others also said it wouldn’t be bad to give him a chance, given his excellent career.

The quality of the video on a free topic submitted along with the resume by the first director wasn’t bad either.

But unexpectedly, Kwon Woo-hyuk from the Video Shooting Team opposed.

“I’m not sure if this director is okay as he has had conflicts with on-site staff in all three works. Above all, he’s not someone who considers mise-en-scène important.”

Both were critical disqualifying factors for a director in my opinion.

Above all, I wanted a director who communicated well and valued mise-en-scène.

Certainly, as Kwon Woo-hyuk said, looking at the video again, it seemed to focus on events rather than mise-en-scène.

CEO Jung Yoon-seok spoke.

“The first one seems difficult. Let’s move on to the second.”

This director had only made one independent film but had received the Busan Cinephile Award at the Busan International Film Festival.

Yeo Kyung-chan, who seemed to have checked this, asked with wide eyes.

“If he received the Busan Cinephile Award, shouldn’t we go with this person?”

But Kim Hyung-woon from the Music Business Team immediately shook his head.

“The Busan Cinephile Award selects winners from Korean and Asian documentaries. It means he has only experienced documentary genre films so far.”

Documentaries were also an excellent genre of film.

But “I Am Not a Villain” was not a documentary film.

For this reason, it was questionable whether it was right to entrust the work to this person.

The video submitted by the second director was also in documentary format.

Seeing that, CEO Jung Yoon-seok summarized the discussion.

“It’s a shame he submitted a documentary video, but having an award record means his skills aren’t bad. Let’s put this on hold for now. Shall we look at the next one?”

The third wasn’t bad either.

He was a veteran among veterans who had screened a total of five independent films.

It’s no exaggeration to say he had the most experience among them.

The quality of the submitted video was also top-notch.

But Jang Jin-wook from the Film Production Team opposed as soon as he checked the profile.

“I don’t think this person will work. He’s famous for being too stubborn. He also has a strong pride as an artist, so it will be troublesome in many ways.”

Certainly, if that was the case, it was ambiguous to choose this person.

As I was in the position of a new writer, there was a high possibility of problems if I collaborated with such a person.

“I don’t understand why the third director wants to join our project when he could do his own work. Anyway, let’s move on to the fourth.”

Following CEO Jung Yoon-seok’s opinion, we checked the profile of the fourth director.

At the same time, everyone present showed interest in the fourth director’s profile.

“This looks good.”

“The number of works he’s directed so far is just right. Three works.”

“One work received the Chungmuro Independent Film Award. It seems he’s quite skilled?”

“As a graduate of Daeye-jong, he should have expertise in visual aesthetics.”

Indeed, the submitted video had beautifully composed mise-en-scène.

I also thought the fourth director seemed the best.

So the atmosphere in the conference room leaned towards the fourth director.

‘Yes. If the fourth director is this good, there’s no need to consider the fifth… Huh?’

But I couldn’t help but be surprised after casually checking the next profile.

The fifth director, a Daeye-jong graduate who had only directed a graduation project.

This person was someone who would later become a world-renowned master director.