Hollywood Hunter

The Korean branch of Daenerys Entertainment is also located in the Hannam-dong area where foreign companies gather, in a six-story office building near the Han River.

South Korea began to allow overseas film and television companies to distribute films directly in South Korea in 1983, without going through agency channels like China Film Group. Therefore, the Korean distribution of films produced by Daenerys Entertainment has been done by itself in these years. In addition, the Korean distribution business of Daenerys Entertainment's TV, music, and games is also in charge of the branch here.

The performance in recent years has been excellent.

These are the results of the conscientious weaving of Mark Belford, vice president of global operations for Daenerys Entertainment.

Compared with Europe or neighboring China or Japan, before the financial turmoil, Daenerys Entertainment's Korean branch was not involved in the production business.

When the news began to spread recently, the Korean film and television circles almost flocked to it.

Simon's plan is to support local companies, just like China, with Daenerys Entertainment standing behind the scenes. Therefore, although the news that Daenerys Entertainment will directly invest in the production of films in South Korea will be released, in the future, they will basically be produced in the name of other shell companies.

The corresponding shell companies, although related to Daenerys Entertainment, are basically fighting on their own.

Sung Tae Hee is quite special among them. Only she can have an office in the headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment Korea Branch, and she can only contact some filmmakers she likes. The teams of other shell companies are actually selecting projects, but they don't have this kind of treatment.

In an office on the third floor of the Korean branch headquarters with a good view of the street.

It's Thursday, November 20th.

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

After lunch, Cheng Tae-hee, who had already browsed through a thick stack of project materials, welcomed his first guest.

This is a young man in his twenties wearing glasses, wearing a meticulous black suit, not tall, and his biggest feature is his fluffy hair, which is like a bird's nest, although it has been clearly groomed.

As soon as he was ushered in by the secretary, the young man bowed very humbly to Sung Tae Hee: "Senior, hello, I'm Bong Joon Ho, thank you very much for taking the time to see me."

Sung Tae-hee is used to these days, even if some people are much older than her, all kinds of honorific titles such as "senior" and "madam". This is the case in Korea. In terms of seniority, if your rank is lower than others, you must be honest Go low and make small.

He nodded to the young man named Feng Junhao, and signaled him to sit down in the reception area. Cheng Taixi patiently read the materials of a project in his hand, then picked out a folder on the desk, got up and came to the reception area. In the area, Feng Junhao hastily got up and made some concessions.

The secretary brought coffee at this time, and when the other party left, Cheng Taixi opened the document in her hand, and she was not too polite. Her time was very tight, starting at two o'clock and finishing get off work at five o'clock, three hours, she arranged six meet.

As for Bong Joon-ho in front of him, it was indeed through the back door that he got an appointment with Sung Tae-hee.

To put it simply, Bong Joon Ho was recommended by Lee Jang Ho, a senior in the Korean film industry.

Lee Jang-ho, like Lim Kwon-taek, another famous Korean filmmaker, can be said to be the only local director who can make a lot of achievements in the downturn of Korean movies in the 1970s and 1980s. Bong Joon-ho, 28 years old this year, has been working in Lee Chang-ho's films after graduating from university. In the past few years, he has assisted Lee Chang Ho in filming and produced several short films of his own.

Like Hollywood, or even more demanding than Hollywood in the Korean film industry, it is very difficult for filmmakers who are not even 30 years old to independently produce their own feature films.

The main reason is limited resources, and seniority.

Those famous directors don't have any films to shoot. It's hard to imagine how difficult it is for a young boy to pick up the guide tube by himself. Although South Korea’s film cooperation system last year ushered in a turning point for domestic films in South Korea, and various capitals began to increase investment in the film industry, the first batch of “new generation” directors who emerged were basically over 30 years old.

Besides Bong Joon-ho, Sung Tae-hee has read the script called "Kidnapping Dogs at the Door" sent by the other party. This is a black comedy about the entanglements between two little people at the bottom of the market and three dogs.

After all, Cheng Tae-hee has just entered the industry and doesn't understand anything. In just these few days of inquiring and pondering day and night, she has come up with her own film selection strategy.

The cost should not be too high, and there must be box office potential.

Coupled with the box office miracles of "Ghost Story" and "The Conjuring 3" in the United States some time ago, when Cheng Tae-hee chose the script, although he did not limit the genre, he preferred horror movies in his heart.

Therefore, she only read the script of "Kidnapping the Door Dog" once and eliminated it immediately.

Because she really can't see what's good.

Then, it was Lee Chang Ho who called her personally, obviously admiring Bong Joon Ho, and hoped that she could find time to meet her.

After Sung Tae Hee got the job from Chen Qing, he quickly visited some seniors in Korea, Lim Kwon Taek, Lee Jang Ho and others, and expressed their cooperation intention very sincerely, and hoped that the other party would help to recommend them.

Since Lee Chang-ho called, Cheng Tae-hee had to give him this face.

Office reception area.

After quickly browsing the project outline again, recalling the content of the script, Cheng Taixi said, "Mr. Feng..."

"Junhao, senior, if you don't mind, you can call me Junhao."

Sung Tae Hee was noncommittal: "Let me tell you about the source of your inspiration for creating this story first?"

Feng Junhao sat upright, obviously prepared for this question,

Said: "The story comes from a life experience when I was a child. At that time, I lived with my family in a very crowded collective apartment, and I was often disturbed by the dogs raised by the neighbors so that I couldn't sleep. The urge to kill. Of course, senpai, I didn't really do that. Later, plus various other life experiences over the years, I finally came up with this script."

Cheng Tae-hee was still noncommittal, and continued: "I have seen a few short films you made before, and everyone said they were very good. Senior Lee Chang-ho also recommended you to me. The problem is, I don't see how this story will attract the audience. Can you tell me?"

Feng Junhao nodded quickly, took out a stack of shot sketches from his satchel, and handed them to Cheng Taexi respectfully: "Senior, these are some ideas about specific shooting that I drew up recently, you can take a look first."

Cheng Tae-hee took it and began to flip through the pages.

In the first picture, in an apartment in a tube building, a figure is running along one of the corridors, as if chasing something, and there is a strange sense of joy in the picture.

Sung Tae Hee recalled a little bit, and roughly remembered that this was the detail of the actor chasing the first dog in the script.

Won-joon runs after a poodle, down a long hallway.

The second one is the same Tongzilou apartment, but this time it is changed to the chasing between the male and female protagonists, with Yuan Jun in front and Qian Nan in the back.

Cheng Tae-hee also remembered that this was the most craziest detail when the apartment manager Qiannan found out that the hero had dropped a dog from the roof of the building.

The two pictures, the two shots, echo each other, indeed revealing a sense of absurd joy.

Then, in the third picture, a street, the hero is holding a dog, a beautiful rollover, and disappears into the bushes on the street like the details in some comics.

Also an interesting picture.

Sung Tae Hee also remembered that this was the picture of Yuan Jun kidnapping the old lady's puppy.

Next, continue to scroll down, and with the annotations on the sketches of the shots, Cheng Taixi gradually understands the comedy style that the young man in front of him probably wants to express.

Absurd, black, and all kinds of wonderful coincidences.

Feng Junhao patiently waited for Cheng Taexi to finish flipping through the sketches in his hand, then looked at himself again, and then continued: "Senior, these sketches are actually the style of "Kidnapping the Door Dog" that I want to show, a kind of absurdity that makes people laugh. Coincidentally, this is what attracts the audience to the film. Although it is not common, I believe that many people will recognize it when it is produced. In terms of analogy, about ten years ago, there was a western film called "A Fish Named Wanda". Comedy, also in a similar style, with a fish as the lead of an absurd heist story, or a movie starring Sandra Bullock of "Run Lola Run" fame, a very low cost of 7.5 million US dollars, in It grossed more than $60 million in the U.S. and was nominated for an Oscar for best director that year. I believe "Kidnapping the Dog" will have similar potential."

While listening, Cheng Tae-hee looked through some materials of this project again, and when Bong Joon-ho finished speaking, he raised his head and said, "7.5 million US dollars is indeed not a high cost in Hollywood, but your movie requires 1 billion won, according to the current exchange rate, is equivalent to 500,000 U.S. dollars, is it a bit high in South Korea?"

Feng Junhao felt the looseness in Sung Tae Hee's tone, suppressed his excitement, and said patiently: "Senior, 1 billion won is really not high. The current average ticket price in Korea is 3,500 won, and 1 billion won is only about 1 billion won. 500,000 moviegoers can cover the cost. Moreover, I think this is a very suitable project to be sent to film festivals in the West, such as Sundance in the United States and Toronto Film Festival in Canada. As long as it can get good reviews, Even if you can’t win an award, you can easily get it back by selling some overseas copyrights for $500,000. If, I mean, if you can win an award, it will be easier to make a profit.”

Feng Junhao said, and obviously gestured towards the surroundings.

This is the Korean headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment.

In other words, as long as he can make a good movie, Daenerys Entertainment should be happy to help run it.

Due to the decline of local films, some Korean filmmakers have also quietly operated overseas these years. Although they did not win many awards, because of the exchange rate, as long as they can sell copyrights, they will basically get a good harvest.

Cheng Tae-hee was also aware of this.

After asking for some details again, the half-hour meeting ended quickly, and Cheng Taixi finally said: "I will submit your project to the front, but, Mr. Feng, there is one more thing I need to explain in advance, if you want to communicate with us To cooperate, you need to sign three film contracts at one time, that is to say, we have the priority to choose your next two films."

"Of course, I understand."

"Then," Sung Tae Hee stood up and finally reached out to Bong Joon Ho: "I hope we can reach a cooperation."

Feng Junhao hurriedly got up, and shook hands with Cheng Taexi respectfully, knowing that the other party was seeing off a guest, he stood up and said goodbye.

Sending Bong Joon-ho off, Sung Tae-hee sorted out all the thoughts from the meeting just now, and at the same time signaled the secretary to call the next candidate to come in.

It's just that this time the two had just greeted each other, when suddenly there was a commotion outside the building, and the noise was getting bigger and bigger.

Cheng Tae Hee frowned, motioned to the filmmaker named Hong Sang Soo to wait a moment, called his secretary, and asked, "What happened?"

The secretary said: "Someone is protesting against the i agreement in the morning."

Sung Tae-hee is completely absorbed in his work these days, and he doesn't pay much attention to the negotiations between the South Korean government and i. He just vaguely remembers yesterday's meeting with i

My brother and sister-in-law had dinner, and they said that the negotiations between i and the authorities would end this morning.

The noise outside the window continued, and it was impossible to talk about things, so Cheng Tae-hee could only come to the window.

I saw a dense crowd outside the window, apparently gathered from the south bank of the Han River, and wanted to go to the Blue House in the north.

The team lasted for more than ten minutes and finally walked through completely.

Through the various signs raised by the crowd, Sung Tae Hee roughly understood the various contents of the agreement reached between i and the South Korean authorities.

However, these were not her concerns.

I'm just a little woman, I can't change anything, it's best to do my own thing seriously.

With such self-numbing thoughts, Cheng Tae-hee signaled the guests to come to the reception area to sit down again when the crowd gradually receded.

A middle-aged man in his thirties named Hong Sang-soo obviously didn't care much about politics, so he didn't make any comments. He just smiled and discussed his project with Sung Tae-hee.

This is also a play with a very interesting name, called "The Day a Pig Fell into a Well".

In fact, like Bong Joon-ho, this 37-year-old middle-aged man named Hong Sang-soo was also introduced by contacts in the circle. There is no way, the culture of Korean circles involves all aspects, and there is no way to hide.

When Sung Tae Hee and Hong Sang Soo were discussing the script, the whole of Seoul was boiling.

At 10 o'clock this morning, the South Korean government formally reached and signed a bailout agreement with i. The final amount involved was higher than many media expected. The amount involved was as high as 60 billion U.S. dollars, of which i contributed 20 billion, the other 40 billion, and other i Member countries and the World Bank together to raise funds.

Also, there is no free lunch in this world.

The $60 billion agreement means a series of harsh agreements.

It's just some of the terms, even people who don't understand them at all will understand the meaning after seeing them.

1. Increase the interest rate by at least 25% (even though Korean banks were already heavily indebted at that time);

2. Allow foreigners to open banks and securities firms in South Korea before mid-1998;

3. Allow foreign companies to acquire Korean companies, including hostile takeovers;

4. Open trade, abolish the import licensing system and export subsidies

5....