The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 218

218. A Great Record Beyond (1)

Documentary director Park Joo-bin considered himself a lucky man.

“Ah, I’m a bit dazed. I was just curious about how my useless younger sibling, who lazes around at home every day, was living. I never imagined that a project I filmed out of curiosity about what she does outside would receive such a big award… Thank you.”

He was worried about what to do for his graduation project, but filming his pathetic younger sister, who was sprawled out in the living room eating snacks, turned out to be a huge hit. A director in the Korean film industry was once struggling to find a gangster for his movie, but when he came home, he found one in his own house. Park Joo-bin was in a similar situation.

The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

They said he had perfectly captured the bare face of Korean elite sports, as well as the unwavering spirit of a young girl challenging it, with an angle that seemed dry but was actually full of affection.

For the record, Park Joo-bin still didn’t know what the ‘dry but affectionate angle’ that was attached to his documentary meant.

In any case, he suddenly received such a big award, so many opportunities came his way. He would have originally had to scratch and claw his way up from the bottom to get a chance, but that period was skipped. However, it was clear that this opportunity was not created by years of accumulated connections and skills, so it would only happen once.

He pondered fiercely.

What was he really good at?

“Excuse me? 5 billion won [approximately $3.7 million USD]?”

And that fierce pondering ended absurdly, making him wonder why he had even bothered to think about it. It was truly an overwhelming condition. This was a deal he had to accept without even thinking about it.

“Ah, of course, after deducting various fees and such, the actual money available for filming will be around 4.5 billion won [approximately $3.3 million USD]… You know that includes Park Director’s labor costs, the filming staff’s labor costs, and equipment rental costs, right? And this is a condition where you can’t get anything extra even if it’s a huge success, right?”

“Oh, I know the Netflix policy well. But 5 billion won is an amount you wouldn’t get even if you had three or four big hits. How many people would have to watch it in theaters to make 5 billion won…? No, are they doing charity work? Pouring 5 billion won into a single documentary.”

“No, to be precise, it’s not one film. It’s a 5-episode series, with a production cost of about 900 million won [approximately $670,000 USD] allocated per episode.”

“That’s still great. There are many who can’t even get 500 million won [approximately $370,000 USD] per episode. I’ll do it. I absolutely have to do it.”

Connections?

I don’t need them. I can solve everything with this much money.

“But wait a minute. Why did this come to me? There are so many directors with amazing careers and skills.”

“I’d like to say it’s our company’s ability, but that’s not really it. It’s true that we put in a quote, but in the current situation, the one being filmed is the boss. They called your name.”

“Excuse me? Choi Soo-won asked for me?”

“Yeah, your documentary was quite famous. And Choi Soo-won was a high school player until recently, so maybe there was something emotionally relatable?”

***

“Hello.”

Park Joo-bin jumped up from his seat and greeted me first. Messy, frizzy hair, a weak physique, and big glasses. Moreover, the glasses had quite a high prescription, so the distortion was severe, and his eyes looked really small. As someone who knew Park Joo-bin 15 years later, it was a funny sight.

‘Seeing him like this, I can really believe that this guy was a virgin until he was thirty-two.’

15 years later.

That is, the Park Joo-bin before I returned to this time was very different. He wore a suit tailored in England and shoes and a belt tailored in Italy. Even in his 40s, his full head of hair was always neatly slicked back, and his body, honed by exercise that he never skipped no matter how busy he was, was quite solid for an ordinary person.

“…So, that’s how I plan to film it. What do you think?”

“Wouldn’t that schedule be a bit tight? I think they’d want to upload the first episode before the Korean Series [championship series of the KBO league].”

“That’s true, but instead of filming everything and then editing it, I’ll edit it bit by bit at night and on weekends while filming, so the front part will be finished anyway.”

Is this guy really Park Joo-bin, talking about burning his life away so casually? The Park Joo-bin I remember wasn’t this energetic at all, probably because he knew he was capable.

That’s because this Park Joo-bin guy, exactly 8 years later, wins an award at the Academy Awards for a feature documentary. And he even makes a movie in Hollywood, which becomes a huge hit with a production cost of 30 million dollars and a worldwide gross of 240 million dollars, and he even makes two more sequels.

Ah, the reason I remember all this is because the guy who ruined the fourth movie of that series, which would have been perfect if it had only been three, came back as a documentary director and filmed my documentary. At the time, he rattled off his resume so much that I was really sick of it.

Nevertheless, the reason I chose this guy again was simple.

Ability.

So, even if he’s not exactly a world-renowned master born in Korea, as he says, he’s definitely a very capable director. In fact, documentaries just film things as they are, so you might think that ability isn’t important. But documentaries really show the director’s ability in its rawest form.

In movies, there’s room for the director to create the picture they want by adjusting this and that about the actors. But documentaries film people and show something to people based on the vast amount of data that is filmed. The important thing here is that what is shown must ‘captivate’ people.

Of course, great people captivate people simply by being depicted.

For example, someone like ‘me,’ who is currently setting a new KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] home run record, is someone that anyone who watches Korean baseball would want to know about. Probably, even if you just turn on the camera and film it roughly, viewership will be guaranteed.

But that’s not what I want. Honestly, filming this documentary is very annoying. Still, the reason I’m filming it is because of recognition, but the fact is that I, who have achieved such an impactful home run record, don’t need to do annoying things because of recognition in Korea. At least, the most popular sports league in Korea was the KBO.

What I wanted was beyond that.

“My condition is simple. Rather than trying to upload it before the Korean Series, please make a really good promotional documentary that considers even after that.”

“Yes?”

Park Joo-bin looked at me with a blank expression for a moment.

And a moment of silence. His expression changed slightly, becoming a bit fierce. It was a series of appearances that were somewhat unsophisticated and unlike Park Joo-bin, but seeing his face change so fiercely made him look a bit similar to the Park Joo-bin I knew 15 years later, so I felt a sense of familiarity.

“No, Choi Soo-won. Of course, I’m going to film a documentary. And of course, it’s true that it will be a promotion. But Choi Soo-won, you know that it’s not Choi Soo-won who’s paying me, but Netflix, right? You also know that the side I have to please right now is Netflix, right?”

“I know. And I also know that I have to cooperate well for a good work to come out.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. Is this a threat right now?”

“A threat is saying that I can talk to Netflix and ask them to attach a verified documentary director from MBS [Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation] or KBC [Korean Broadcasting System]. Did you hear that? The reason I specifically chose Director Park Joo-bin.”

“Yes, you said you enjoyed my documentary…”

I shook my head.

“That’s not it. No, of course, it has to be fun for me. There’s a commonality between my younger sibling and me: elite sports. The part that I really liked was the results that documentary produced.”

“Isn’t that a bit too blatant to say that you picked me because I won an award?”

“It was the award and the commercial success. Doesn’t that mean that people who don’t know elite sports or archery were captivated by that documentary? I want my documentary to captivate the people who watch it.”

“No, of course, I want that too, but…”

“My documentary will naturally be a hit in Korea. What I want is more than that. Netflix probably really wants that deep down too.”

Yes, America.

Of course, you might ask, what’s so interesting about a documentary about a Korean playing baseball in America? But conversely, what’s so interesting about a documentary about catching snow crabs in the North Sea in Korea? But surprisingly, it’s fun to get into when you watch it.

For the record, a few people rated my MLB [Major League Baseball] documentary that this guy filmed for me before, that is, before I went back in time, as more interesting than just watching baseball games or baseball highlights. There were even stories of people who started watching baseball after watching this guy’s documentary.

“So, what you want is for it to be a hit not in Korea, but abroad? A baseball player documentary? This is… really different.”

“So, you don’t want to do it? If you’ve won an award in Amsterdam, you should be looking at higher places now. Netflix is an OTT [Over-The-Top] platform that is serviced worldwide.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to do it. And in the first place, where is there good or bad? If it’s 900 million won per episode, I have to say go no matter what. I understand. I’ll do my best to make a really well-selling, fun promotional documentary.”

Something about his appearance hadn’t changed at all, but the atmosphere I felt was similar to the obnoxious Park Joo-bin I originally knew, so I felt a sense of familiarity and it was good. However, time couldn’t be helped, and he was still clumsy.

“Director, let me give you some advice.”

“Yes? Again?”

“The one before wasn’t advice, it was a request for my documentary. This is advice with pure goodwill.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“Next time, be sure to find an agency with good skills. To meet what you said earlier and what I requested, 900 million won per episode will be really tight. How can you be satisfied with just that?”

“No, that’s because Choi Soo-won doesn’t know this industry well. A documentary with 900 million won per episode is huge.”

“I know. But I’m Choi Soo-won. ”

Park Joo-bin looked at me with an expression that said, what is he talking about again?

“And that’s why I said I’d do it with the director. If it’s an agency that knows how to negotiate properly… Anyway, it’s pitiful that you’re going to put all that huge amount into production costs and work 18 hours a day with passion pay [working for low wages due to passion for the field]. If you’re going to work with that much passion, you should at least exercise and make your body.”

“…”

For the record, the story I just told him was a bit similar to the story Park Joo-bin told me before I went back in time.

“No, how much is your portrait rights fee, but you’re just filming it as a promotional effect? Hey, change your agency right away. They’re really bad at their job.”

***

The game continued.

The home runs continued to pile up as well.

58, 59, and 60.

It didn’t take long to reach the Asian record for most home runs.

Thus, with only one left to break the Asian record for most home runs, the people watching Choi Soo-won suddenly had this thought.

“But you know, what’s the record for most home runs in a baseball season?”

“60, Choi Soo-won has one left now. Read the articles. It’s all over the portals these days. Don’t you know that?”

“No, no, not the Asian record.”

“Then?”

“The world record. How many is the world record?”