Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 107

107

‘……SNS account, huh.’

Lee Minki blinked, phone in hand.

Frankly, it’s not that I dislike SNS itself.

SNS often sparks controversy to the point where people say it’s a waste of life, but there are also many people who benefit from it, right?

It’s not like married men and women can’t work at a company just because there’s an affair in the company.

[SNS is a good way for celebrities to consistently maintain buzz. If used moderately, the pros outweigh the cons.]

Director Seo Jungwoo’s statement is reasonable.

I even had a secret admiration for it.

He didn’t do it himself, but he did a lot of lurking.

I was very envious watching the reactions that poured out whenever successful actors posted something on SNS.

Moreover, related inquiries poured in every time from [Mingidan], which was selected as his official fan cafe.

[Why doesn’t our actor communicate with us?]

[ㄴ It’s not like we entrusted him with it]

[Still, when I see other celebrities’ fans, I’m sometimes a little envious ㅜㅜ]

[Maybe he’s trying to be careful]

[Let’s refrain from saying things like this, it might put pressure on Minki]

[Still, I wish there was a channel to officially upload pictures]

It was when my thoughts reached this point.

‘Didn’t I used to be like that?’

Didn’t I feel disappointed when I saw actors who rarely had news?

Didn’t I feel disappointed when I saw actors who filmed one project every three years and thoroughly hid their daily lives?

I couldn’t handle the thirst.

‘In that case, rather.’

What if I just upload pictures?

Let’s not bother with making sharp comments, mentioning ideologies, or throwing in a word on controversies.

If I ate something delicious, I ate it.

If I went to a good place, I went there.

If I wore pretty clothes, I wore them.

Let’s just upload those things.

‘If that’s a way to repay the fans who love me.’

Lee Minki, having made up his mind, opened his mouth.

“Okay. I’ll try creating an SNS account.”

It was that moment.

Director Seo Jungwoo smiled and opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.

“You’ve made a good choice. JC has already prepared all the related marketing procedures, so all you have to do is create an account right now, hand over the password, and you’re done.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to do anything. Our JC will be your hands and feet.”

The comment is good.

No, but isn’t this too fast?

Could it be that this person has already prepared everything?

This is like he’s trying to get a stamp on it this time, saying there’s no turning back.

Director Seo Jungwoo added fuel to the fire.

“Let’s start by getting 1 million followers within three months.”

“1 million? In three months?”

Isn’t that number too big?

Isn’t the number 3 months too short?

If it’s 1 million in 3 months, even if 10,000 people join every day, I won’t be able to fill it, right?

Lee Minki blinked, and Director Seo Jungwoo continued as if there was nothing strange about it.

“There’s nothing we can’t do. JC’s marketing team is quite capable. We will do our best to contribute to the actor’s income. Thank you.”

No, why are you so excited?

If you prepared that hard, you should have said something in advance.

If you had, I would have created it without much hesitation.

“Also, it will be easier to proceed with overseas expansion. Unlike local fans, overseas fans tend to pay more attention to SNS.”

Again, it’s the story of overseas expansion.

Manager Park Hanmo is also like that, why do they keep trying to tie me up with overseas?

“Isn’t overseas expansion still far off?”

It was the moment Lee Minki let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s not that far off.”

A person suddenly jumped into the conversation.

He was a middle-aged man with a very stern face and a voice that sounded like he had tremendous stubbornness.

“It would be easier than the actor winning an Academy Award.”

And also.

The identity of this man is.

“This is JC’s Director Seo Jungwoo. I am in charge of actor Lee Minki. I look forward to working with you.”

He was also a living legend in the Korean film industry.

“Director Hwang Uiseong.”

* * *

Do you know that?

Most actors calculate and enter into a project through the commercials they will be able to film through that project even before filming it.

Just like Lee Minki filmed a food commercial through [Cafe del Dia].

If they play a chaebol [conglomerate heir] character, they film a car commercial, or if they are a handsome and beautiful character, they film a cosmetics commercial.

They calculate the direction in which they will film commercials in various ways and enter into it.

Director Hwang Uiseong’s movie [Fashion & Passion].

The situation was not much different for this work either.

“You want to actually release and sell the costumes that appear in the movie as products. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes, I believe there is enough potential.”

Director Seo Jungwoo nodded.

“Since it’s a fashion movie, if we connect it with fashion, we believe it will be easier to attract marketing through future investors. It will also be a great help for overseas sales.”

From the moment the word [Fashion & Passion] came out of Lee Minki’s mouth, Director Seo Jungwoo had been planning to sell the fashion in this work as an actual product.

‘I’ve been holding back because Kyu-eon strongly refused, but he finally gave up his stubbornness.’

Yu Kyueon was the obstacle.

He usually seems like a gentle person, but he tends to have a strange stubbornness when it comes to commerciality.

This time it was the sale of collaboration products.

If you sell your clothes by borrowing the power of a movie, it doesn’t seem like real skill.

However, the moment he succeeded in launching the [Terminus] brand through Lee Minki, this kind of stubbornness had already become useless.

However, he set a condition.

[I don’t know, and you know this kind of thing well, Jungwoo, so take care of it.]

He was going to leave it entirely to JC.

That’s even better.

However, he added a condition after that.

[And this is not something that can be done by persuading just one person.]

It meant that he had to persuade even Director Hwang Uiseong.

‘If I can persuade Director Hwang Uiseong, it’s over.’

Lee Minki had never opposed it from the beginning.

Yu Kyueon, who designed the clothes, succeeded in persuading him.

All that’s left is Director Hwang Uiseong.

However, this Director Hwang Uiseong was, in some ways, the biggest obstacle.

‘He rejects almost all sponsorships and marketing.’

It was because he was a picky person.

Yu Kyueon said that he was a person who twisted his fate by being drunk on art.

Director Hwang Uiseong was drunk on art, but he didn’t fail.

Because his skills were so good, he was making a good living with his artistic principles.

He said that in order for a work to be like a work, the invasion of capital must be blocked.

He was a person who almost refused the investment company’s intervention in the work, saying that he had to protect its purity.

‘There is no more troublesome persuasion target than a creator who has conviction, stubbornness, and skill.’

Therefore, getting past Director Hwang Uiseong was the biggest key to this collaboration.

“……In the case of overseas markets, the mascot of the work is often easier to promote than the work itself.”

Director Seo Jungwoo made his first move.

It was as if he was being careful not to offend him with every word he said.

“It becomes a hot topic when snacks that appear in movies are released as products, and sometimes dances are intentionally inserted.”

“Dance, you say?”

“It’s about making the dance popular and raising awareness of the work based on that dance. It is a technique mainly popular in the Japanese market.”

He looked lukewarm.

That doesn’t mean I can stop.

First of all, I have to add everything I can say.

Director Seo Jungwoo continued, maintaining a precarious smile.

“As the director knows, the collaboration between luxury goods and media has been a symbol of each other since ancient times. The one that appeared in the movie [A Drop of Paris]…….”

“Chateau Grande-Sainte, vintage 77.”

“Yes, that’s correct. You knew it well, as expected.”

Director Seo Jungwoo agreed with Director Hwang Uiseong’s words and continued.

“Chateau Grande-Sainte is a famous wine, but in fact, it was a fictional product that did not exist before the movie became successful. Conversely, it appeared as a real product after appearing in the movie.”

It was a famous story in the industry.

The Chateau Grande-Sainte, which gained fame as a fantastic luxury wine in the movie, was actually a fictional product that only existed in the movie.

Afterwards, they released it in reality due to the flood of inquiries from the audience asking [Where can I buy Chateau Grande-Sainte?] and it was a huge hit.

“With this incident as an opportunity, the French film industry has continued to collaborate with the wine industry. Of course, we paid close attention to ensure that the artistic quality was not compromised.”

‘If the collaboration with fashion has even a slight negative impact on the artistic quality, he will draw a line without question.’

Frankly speaking, the Chinese market is the leader in this field.

They seemed determined to collaborate on all the products that appear in the movie.

But I deliberately didn’t mention it.

Why?

Because Director Hwang Uiseong is well known for hating and even hating the Chinese film market.

[Hwang Uiseong ‘My movie cannot coexist with censorship.’ ‘Censorship? An idea that only Nazis would like.’ Controversy over remarks]

[Director Hwang Uiseong, Japan ‘The idea that it’s okay if it sells well ruins the culture’]

China is the world’s leading media censorship market.

There was also this situation in that Director Hwang Uiseong’s films were uniquely low-budget.

How can he attract a lot of investment if he can’t sell it to China, the world’s largest film market?

A Korean director who is on the blacklist of the Chinese cultural world.

That was the man named Director Hwang Uiseong.

He likes social criticism, so he wouldn’t have cared in the first place.

‘No, he would have been proud of it. That doesn’t mean I can quit the collaboration. You’re making a fashion movie and not doing a clothing collaboration? That’s crazy.’

Director Seo Jungwoo took a breath and opened his mouth.

“It’s okay if the emphasis on clothing brands is not included in the work. It’s enough if we can just release collaboration products and use them for marketing purposes.”

“Hmm.”

Director Hwang Uiseong did not say anything even after the long speech.

Whether he was contemplating or thinking it was a proposal that didn’t meet his standards.

He was just staring straight ahead with an endlessly calm expression.

It was that famous blank expression.

That blank expression that makes even the most nasty actors shut their mouths all at once.

Director Seo Jungwoo smiled outwardly at Director Hwang Uiseong’s signature-like expression, but was sweating inwardly.

‘Is he trying to refuse? Or is he considering it positively?’

I feel it instinctively.

Director Hwang Uiseong will end this decision with one stroke.

If he does it, he will do it, and if he refuses, he will refuse.

Once he refuses, he will not change his mind no matter what he says.

Gulp.

It was in the midst of such suffocating silence that the density of the air could be felt.

“I listened to the story well.”

Director Hwang Uiseong finally opened his mouth.

“First of all, let me ask you one thing, is it okay?”

“Yes, please feel free to say anything.”

The next moment.

Director Hwang Uiseong turned his head away from Director Seo Jungwoo and looked at Lee Minki and said.

“What does the actor think?”

“Yes?”

Lee Minki flinched.

The arrow suddenly came back.

Director Seo Jungwoo told me to leave this persuasion entirely to him, so I was deliberately refraining from speaking, but Director Hwang Uiseong asked for his opinion.

“What kind of thought?”

It was the moment Lee Minki carefully started to speak.

Director Hwang Uiseong asked with an expression that did not feel even 1 nanometer of emotion.

“Do you think this collaboration will actually help the work?”