Genius Manager Who Hears Voices - Chapter 110



Only Krnovel

Episode 110

After breaking up with Kim Jae-han, Hee-sung headed to the production company ‘Onewol’.

The place he delegated authority to after the cultural exchange agreement with Saudi Arabia.

It was where they decided which movies and dramas to produce with the money invested by Prince Ali.

It was impossible for Heesung to handle that much work alone, so he chose this company after careful consideration among numerous production companies.

Knock, knock.

I let out a short sigh before finishing parking and getting out of the car.

He said he gave his number to Choi Yun-won, so I think he’ll contact him soon.

I thought about what to do while I was coming, but I was leaning towards meeting him first and then deciding.

Of course, I could have just rejected it outright, but on the other hand, I thought it would be a good challenge.

Until now, I have been attracted to artists by their voices and the promise of a secure future, but this time it’s not like that.

I thought it was time to try to achieve success solely through my own abilities.

“If I get a call, I’ll meet up, if not, I’ll just leave it at that.”

If they actually contact you, it means they are desperate, and if not, it means they are going to do it themselves.

Either way, Heeseong had no regrets.

-It’s the 8th floor.

I went down to the floor where the production company was and rang the bell at the entrance.

Then, the female employee sitting at the nearest desk hurriedly ran over and opened the door for me.

“Oh my, Manager! How did you come here without even calling?”

“I happened to have a dinner appointment nearby, so I stopped by to grab some coffee on the way.”

With those words, Hee-sung hands over the coffee carrier he was holding in both hands to the employee.

Then, the other employees inside also came out and expressed their thanks, saying, “Wow!”

“Thank you, Manager! I will enjoy my drink!”

“You always come here with your hands full. Thank you for always thinking of us, Manager.”

“I’ll charge up on caffeine and work harder, Manager! Let’s go, let’s fight!”

Why come empty-handed? I’m just going to buy some coffee.

There also happens to be a cafe on the first floor of the building.

Every time he received such an enthusiastic thank you, Heeseong felt even more embarrassed.

“Oh my, you’re here? I was going to call you anyway.”

While exchanging greetings with employees, the door to the CEO’s office opened and CEO Je Young-jun and Director Lee Se-jeong came out together.

He saw Heeseong standing in front of the door and pointed to the fingerprint recognition machine and asked.

“You still haven’t registered your fingerprints, have you?”

“Oh, yes. I’m not an employee of May or June. Haha, isn’t that obvious?”

In response to Heeseong’s reaction that it was natural, they refuted it, saying that it was nonsense.

“Of course. It’s something I should have done a long time ago! You, Manager, are like an executive of our company. Not only me, but everyone thinks the same.”

Director Lee Se-jeong also nodded with a smile as if she agreed.

“Thanks to the manager choosing us, Onwol, out of all the production companies, I’m having an unbelievable day-to-day life. I get off work at the crack of dawn every day, but I don’t feel tired at all. It’s the same for me and the other employees.”

When I glanced around, wondering if the employees would do that, they nodded vigorously with bright eyes.

“That’s right! After all the busy work, the CEO promised to raise all employees’ salaries! So I can’t be tired, hehehe.”

“These days, I go to work with the mindset that this is truly the company I will work for my entire life. I can’t tell you how happy and proud I am!”

“You know this is all thanks to you, Manager, right? Thank you, Manager.”

Oh, so you promised me a raise. Well, that makes sense.

Honestly, looking at the way their eyes sparkle, it seems like they have quite a wide impression range?

It almost feels like people who are into religion… … .

“First, please register your fingerprints and then go to my room, Manager. Since we’re here, there are some things we can discuss.”

“Oh, yes. I understand, sir.”

With the help of a female employee, I completed the fingerprint registration procedure so that I could enter the office at any time.

I wondered if it was really necessary to do this since I only visit there a few times a month anyway, but I obediently complied since they asked me to.

As we entered the CEO’s office, Director Lee Se-jeong handed us warm coffee and spoke.

“I was planning to contact you sometime today or tomorrow anyway, because of the production cost and the actors’ salaries.”

Hee-sung raised his eyebrows and asked at the mention of appearance fees.

“Appearance fee? Why, is there a problem?”

“Sigh, it’s because actors are demanding too much in salary. They’re all the same, whether it’s this actor or that actor.”

“How loud are you screaming? Is it too loud?”

When Heeseong asked, CEO Jeyoungjun, who was sitting at the top, let out a deep sigh.

“Yes, it’s so excessive that it’s shocking. Of course, it’s natural for a star with high recognition and a S- or A-class to demand a high appearance fee, but this seems a bit excessive. It’s a level that completely ignores the existing industry price list.”

It is already a well-known fact that successful actors receive high salaries.

Ordinary people might wonder why they get paid that much for a single drama or movie, but from the producers’ perspective, they are willing to pay such a high appearance fee because it is worth it.

If I can just make the appearance happen that way, investment and box office success are guaranteed.

But that’s going too far. I wondered how far it had to go for CEO Jeyoung Jun to do that.

“How much do you want to charge? No matter how high you charge, isn’t there an industry standard?”

Whether it’s a drama, a movie, or an advertisement, there is something called an industry standard.

Because of that price tag, they can negotiate to an appropriate level.

Otherwise, everyone will raise prices through the roof like an auction, which will only intensify the competition.

“I think that standard itself has been completely broken since the advent of OTT.”

“OTT? Why OTT… … ?”

“They raised the actors’ salaries there by a huge amount. Once the actors experienced that, they started demanding the same level from other parties, so it was a headache. They were only asking for amounts that were beyond the appropriate level and could not be accepted, so, uh.”

The fact that the two CEOs and directors, who have been running the production company for over 10 years, are talking like this shows that the amount is truly a headache.

All money-related issues, such as actors’ appearance fees and production costs, are handled solely by the production company, so these people have reached a high level of negotiation and response skills.

If the appearance fee is low, they can lower the appearance fee of other actors or get more sponsorship or PPL to meet the desired conditions.

I could have thought of a thousand different ways, but this is still too much to handle.

At this point, Heeseong also became curious and asked cautiously.

“How much are you asking for?”

“It ranges from 500 million to 900 million per episode. That’s the case for dramas.”

“Yes? How much?”

For a moment, I almost doubted my ears.

Because it was so different from the industry standard amount that I knew.

“Is there perhaps a mistake? It’s not per piece, but per episode?”

Director Lee Se-jeong quietly nodded at those words.

“Yes, per episode. So, if it’s 16 episodes, it would cost close to 10 billion won to produce. And that’s just for one actor’s appearance fee.”

“But which drama only has one main character? It usually starts with at least two main characters. And if you add in some supporting actors… … Ha. This isn’t a drama. It’s almost like producing a Hollywood movie.”

Of course, since Hee-sung has actually been to Hollywood, I thought it would never be at that level.

No matter how high it is, that place is unreachable.

Still, I definitely thought it was excessive to have one lead actor receive a salary in the tens of billions of won.

“How did it come to that? You mentioned OTT a little while ago, but OTT and broadcasting companies are clearly different, right? And yet you are demanding such an absurd appearance fee?”

“From the actors’ perspective, they don’t understand that broadcast dramas have a much more rigorous production environment, longer airtime, and more episodes, but lower pay. OTT dramas are at most 10 episodes long, and most are 6 or 8 episodes, while broadcast dramas start with at least 16 episodes. Plus, the airtime is well over an hour.”

Certainly, OTT content is relatively short, lasting about 30 to 40 minutes per episode.

Since there are only half the number of episodes of a broadcasting station drama, it is inevitable that the energy consumption will be much less.

“Another thing is that domestic dramas are strictly for domestic use, but OTT is not. If they do well, they can become global stars overnight, so there are many advantages. But the position is, why should I appear here for such a small amount of money?”

“Hmm.”

“So it’s a really troublesome situation. If it were just one or two people, I wouldn’t know, but since the rumor has already spread, it’s as if everyone is colluding and saying the same thing. But you can’t just use anyone as the lead actor. It’s a headache, Manager.”

I thought it would be really awkward if something like that happened.

After thinking about it carefully, Heeseong asked.

“What about the supporting actors? Are they in the same position?”

“No, that’s not true. I think he knows that since he has less weight than the lead role, there are plenty of actors who can replace him. Instead, he can appear in multiple works at the same time.”

Unlike the lead actors who have to carry the project forward, supporting actors do not have very long screen time.

This means that you can be prolific by signing multiple contracts at the same time.

As long as you don’t show your face on multiple broadcasting stations at the same time, it’s fine.

“So, there are a few confirmed productions, but they are not progressing. Even if we receive investment from Saudi Arabia, this is too much.”

Director Lee Se-jeong also chimed in after hearing CEO Je Young-jun’s words.

“And, if we continue like this, it will never be a good environment. If we keep going up to the ceiling, the number of works that can be produced will inevitably decrease, no matter what.”

Hee-sung nodded obediently at those words.

Because if you think about it a little, you can see that it’s true.

At that moment, Heeseong saw a pile of documents piled up in front of him.

Heeseong, who had been looking at the documents carefully, pointed to them and asked.

“What are these? They look like application documents.”

Genius Manager Who Hears Voices