Translator: Dreamscribe
The four synopses that Joseph was looking at were included with abbreviated scripts that contained brief initial content. Of course, the root of the synopses he was looking at was provided by the Hollywood giant film production and distribution company, ‘Universal Movies.’ At most, they were just concepts or ideas, which Joseph, the executive producer hired by the film company, had passed on to various screenwriters in advance.
This was before the recent team meeting.
That concept and idea was also something Megan Stone, the CD, had seen and knew about. This was because the film company, ‘Universal Movies’ had shown it to her at the time she was on boarded to the team. The concept based on ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ involved dissociative identity disorder, or in other words, multiple personalities. However, such a concept and idea was nothing until it passed through the hands of a writer.
It only gains life after passing through the hands of a writer and screenwriter.
-Swish.
The synopses in Joseph’s hands right now were the result of that process. It had taken quite a long time for the synopses and abbreviated scripts to come out, but they had been completed nonetheless. The interesting thing was,
‘Who would have thought they’d all be so different?’
The fact that the content and genre of the synopses and abbreviated scripts derived from the same concept and idea were all different. It was as if there were four different movie scripts laid out in front of him. This was the natural outcome, given that he had commissioned four different screenwriters, but the giant Joseph smiled, feeling a curious sensation once again.
‘The world of creation is mysterious.’
The Hollywood script production system shows a different aspect compared to Korea. Of course, there are cases in Hollywood where directors write scripts, but those are rare. Only the most celebrated directors in Hollywood do that, and usually, it’s like what Joseph is doing now, where Hollywood writers are given a concept to write.
Naturally, there isn’t just one writer.
Also, the writers who are offered the task of writing the script are never allowed to know each other or make contact. In this way, several Hollywood writers give birth to synopses from a single concept and idea. The completed synopses are handed over to executive producers like Joseph, and based on those synopses, the production company and producers work together to select just one.
Only after that selection is completed does the full scriptwriting process begin.
In other words, Joseph was currently in the moment of selecting a script that would be made into a Hollywood movie. Of course, there was some involvement from the production company, but most of the power was given to the producer. It was no exaggeration to say that this one choice could determine the success or failure of the film.
If it fails, everyone is in hot water.
That includes Joseph, the CD Megan, and all the famous Hollywood key staff members Joseph had gathered in advance for the first meeting recently. A massive sum of money could disappear into thin air.
-Flap.
That’s why the giant Joseph, who stood over 190cm tall, started reading the synopses he had already seen again. No, he would probably have to read them countless more times in the future. From the first synopsis to the second, third, and finally the fourth. Then, he went back to reading the first synopsis again.
-Flap, flap.
Joseph, who read synopses and scripts so often, read quickly, but time melted away just as quickly.
Finally.
-Thud.
Joseph tossed the synopses he was reading back onto the desk in front of him and crossed his long legs as he muttered.
“Thriller, noir, crime action, comedy. The genres are all different, making it even harder. Well, this is the fun of the job, I suppose.”
A smile spread across his lips.
“How grateful would I be if someone could just know the future of a work and choose for me?”
This was a common daydream Joseph had whenever he found himself in such situations. Although no such person existed, it was still a dream that executive producer Joseph always held onto.
‘There couldn’t be anyone with a divine gift like that.’
At that moment.
“No. There is one person who’s similar.”
One Korean actor flashed through the giant Joseph’s mind. It was Kang Woojin. In his filmography, there was no ‘failure’ to be found. Even more, it was still ongoing. In both Korea and Japan, they had even given him the nickname ‘Midas Touch’.’
‘Of course, it’s due to his sharp instinct and extraordinary eye for selecting projects, but still-at that level, it’s almost comparable to a divine gift.’
Joseph, who had been thinking about Woojin for a moment, muttered to himself.
“If time permits, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to casually show him these synopses.”
He shifted the direction of his crossed legs and gently pushed the synopses aside, pulling out other files. These files contained a list of numerous Hollywood directors, along with the personnel and schedule for the upcoming trip to Bangkok. Of course, the trip to Bangkok was related to Kang Woojin and at the location scouted for ‘Beneficial Evil’.
“We can decide on the director once the synopses are finalized. Let’s start with the easy stuff first.”
He opened the file related to Bangkok that he had organized in advance. The discussions with Woojin’s side and the ‘Beneficial Evil’ team were already settled. Joseph began reviewing the personnel who would be accompanying him. First of all, there was Joseph himself, CD Megan Stone, the stunt teams that had already been recruited, and a few executives from the production and distribution company, ‘Universal Movies.’
It felt like a fairly large group was moving.
In fact, it wasn’t easy to move such a large group all at once. Joseph and Megan were captivated by Woojin, so that was fine, but it was difficult to persuade the rest of the team. However, Joseph managed to get a definite answer from everyone under the pretense of it being a multi-purpose trip.
‘We’ll head to Bangkok and then go straight to France. It’s been a while since we’ve had such an exhausting schedule.’
Joseph’s team was planning to attend the Cannes Film Festival after Bangkok.
Meanwhile.
After a rather long meeting with Miley Cara, PD Song Man-woo, Kim So-hyang, and Choi Na-na, they boarded a flight back to Korea that same night.
They arrived in Korea on the 12th.
PD Song Man-woo had been pushing himself hard, but as soon as he arrived in Korea, he had to keep moving without rest.
“You all worked hard. Get some rest, and let’s meet tomorrow.”
“Yes, PD-nim. But are you going straight to the office?”
“I have to. Tomorrow is the script reading.”
“Ah- you should rest a bit. It’d be a disaster if you collapsed.”
“No worries, this is nothing. It’s not my first time.”
The script reading for ‘Beneficial Evil’ was scheduled for around noon on the 13th. Both executive director Kim So-hyang and writer Choi Na-na would be participating in the reading, but the only one who had to rush today was PD Song Man-woo. Tomorrow marked the first step in the global challenge that would signal the end of the long pre-production phase for ‘Beneficial Evil’. There was no time for rest.
Soon, PD Song Man-woo returned to DM Production.
At that moment, as one would expect, Kang Woojin was busy working through his packed schedule. In the morning, he had a grand fan signing event as an advertising model, and he was currently on his way to the set for an additional commercial shoot. In the evening, he had a simple live internet broadcast planned, related to his SNS activities. It was meant to communicate with his fans.
‘Ah- I feel like yawning. I should go into the void space and recharge like crazy.’
Woojin, deep in his concept, was trying hard to hold back a yawn when,
-Bzzz.
His phone vibrated briefly. Well, his phone hadn’t rested all day, , but what arrived now was a DM. It was from Japan’s top actor, Mana Kosaku, and the message was something along the lines of “Are you doing well?” along with some screenshots of several Japanese articles.
『Did they aim for noise marketing? Kang Woojin’s declaration for 「The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger」 spreads like wildfire!』
『Is it arrogance or confidence? The declaration of 「Kang Woojin’s」 on the Japanese film industry stirs mixed reactions among experts.』
The articles Mana Kosaku sent were all dominated by news about ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ and Kang Woojin.
‘What arrogance, I just said what I thought.’
Woojin let out a silent chuckle, replied casually, and then opened something else. He checked various Japanese portal sites, SNS platforms, and communities. After surfing for about 10 minutes, Kang Woojin’s conclusion was:
‘They’re really going all out with the promotion.’
The promotion and marketing for ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ were on another level. In fact, ever since the press conference, director Kyotaro and ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ team hadn’t missed a single day, continuously feeding the Japanese media with juicy tidbits.
『Following the press conference, the editing for 「The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger」 is expected to be completed by the end of this month, with a release date anticipated in late October.』
They were diligently carrying out the decision to expand the scale enormously.
『Inheriting Kang Woojin’s confidence? 「The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger」 team announces plans to expand the scale of the premiere and other events severalfold.』
Woojin quietly observed the situation in Japan and began to imagine.
‘After building up all this hype like a snowball, when ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ is released, won’t the Japanese people go absolutely nuts?’
Just imagining the aftermath after the release gave him goosebumps. But only for a moment.
‘Well, I don’t really have anything to be scared of.’
Woojin quickly brushed off the thought. To put it bluntly, it didn’t matter whether things went crazy or not as long as the project succeeded, right? By the time Kang Woojin arrived at the commercial shooting set, he had about 30 minutes of free time, thanks to the preparation period.
Recently, Woojin’s main interest had been focused on ‘Leech’.
The production company behind ‘Leech’, which had been quiet throughout the filming, had started to move in earnest after the completed screening test that took place a few days ago. As a result, ‘Leech’ was currently one of the hottest topics in Korea.
『[Movie Talk] ‘Leech’, a Cannes entry, completes screening test. All eyes on which section it will enter!』
At present, ‘Leech’ had been officially invited to the Cannes Film Festival and had completed the submission process. However, the specific section it would compete in had not yet been decided. The massive Cannes Film Festival, the pinnacle of the world’s three major international film festivals, has various sections. These are often referred to as award sections or competition sections, and the core and main event of the Cannes Film Festival is the “In Competition”. Below that are sections like “Un Certain Regard” and “Out of Competition”, among others.
The “In Competition” selects around 20 films worldwide, and within that, the top prize, the Palme d’Or, is awarded.
Second-place prizes include the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Director Award, along with Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and so on. All these awards are the main attraction at Cannes, and actors and filmmakers from all over the world aim for these accolades.
The announcement would be made soon.
『Cannes Film Festival to announce official selections for the “In Competition” on the 17th, how many Korean films including ‘Leech’ will make it to the main section?』
The Cannes Film Festival would hold a press conference in France to announce the selections all at once. Of course, the announcement could also be viewed via livestream on platforms like YouTube. Only the “In Competition” selections are announced this way; the rest are simply posted on the official page.
In short, just getting into Cannes would be an honor, but to truly make waves on a global scale-
『Will Director Ahn Ga-bok’s meticulously prepared ‘Leech’ enter this year’s Cannes Film Festival “In Competition” section?』
-being included in the “In Competition” section was the first step.
September 13th, DM Production.
The door to the large conference room of DM Production, the company responsible for producing ‘Beneficial Evil’, was firmly closed. A few staff members stood guard outside, and on the glass door behind them, a laminated piece of paper was attached.
-[Beneficial Evil Script Reading Room]
That’s right. Inside, the script reading for ‘Beneficial Evil’ was currently in progress. The large ㅁ-shaped table in the spacious conference room was surrounded by numerous actors. Encircling the ㅁ-shaped table were various key staff members. This included the production manager, the martial arts director, the cinematographer, and many more. Of course, Ethan Smith from the foreign stunt team was there as well.
‘Korean script readings are pretty similar to Hollywood. Maybe just a bit more subdued.’
Among the attendees were Kim So-hyang, the executive director, along with representatives from Netflix, bringing the total number of participants to well over a hundred. At the head of the ㅁ-shaped table, naturally, sat PD Song Man-woo and writer Choi Na-na.
“Next is the actors’ introductions.”
Most of the actors were either rookies or relatively unknown. Among them, Hwalin, Ha Gang-su, and a few A-list actors who stood out were wearing their caps pulled low. Also present were newcomers Lim Hae-eun, who had a cute yet gloomy appearance, and Jo Moo-chan, who exuded freshness. However, they too were ultimately unknown actors.
The core focus of this crowded script reading session was,
“Kang Woojin, who will be playing the role of Jang Yeon-woo.”
“Hello, I’m Kang Woojin. I look forward to working with you.”
Despite being only in his second year since debut, Kang Woojin was already an actor with global recognition, and in terms of impact and influence, he was at the top domestically.
As Jang Yeon-woo in ‘Beneficial Evil’, he was now beginning his first steps.
A few dozen hours later.
Domestic media began pouring out articles related to ‘Beneficial Evil’.
『[Photos] Netflix’s ‘Beneficial Evil’, actors, including Kang Woojin, gather for script reading / Photos』
『Script reading for Netflix’s ‘Beneficial Evil’ successfully concluded, with Kang Woojin shining in the lead role, ready to take on the world』
Exactly four days later, on Friday the 17th.
With only about three days left until the first overseas shoot for the ‘Beneficial Evil’ team.
-Slide!
As soon as Kang Woojin got into the van after finishing his photoshoot schedule, he immediately grabbed his phone. Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, did the same. It was around 4 PM. While Woojin maintained his cool and indifferent demeanor, internally, he was quite anxious.
‘The Cannes Film Festival announcement must have started by now!’
It might be afternoon in Korea, but in France, it was morning, and right now, the Cannes Film Festival would be announcing its official selections on-site.
-Swipe.
Woojin quickly opened YouTube. The link had already been shared, so it didn’t take long for him to access the video. The live stream Woojin was watching featured the festival’s Director, the representative figure of the Cannes Film Festival. He was a balding foreigner, and under a shower of flashes, he calmly spoke into the microphone, announcing the 20 films selected for the “In Competition” section.
These were the films that would shine at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the ones that would become the main event.
‘Thankfully, they’ve just started announcing the films.’
Woojin focused on the video. The Director of the Cannes Film Festival in France began speaking in French. The first film was announced-it was a French film. The second was from Japan. The third was from Germany, followed by one from the UK. The announcements continued. Before long, the 15th film had been revealed. In the meantime, Japan was called again, but there was still no mention of Korea.
Finally.
‘19th!’
The announcement was nearing its end. However, the 19th film was also from France. Woojin nearly cursed out loud.
‘Ah, shit!’
But he somehow managed to maintain his composure.
At that moment.
[“The 20th film selected for the ‘In Competition’ section. From Republic of Korea, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s ‘Leech.’”]
‘Leech’ was announced last.
****
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