“Better than the terms we first proposed? That’s a bit…”
The head of distributor TIC asked Chester, almost on the verge of tears.
“We’ll revise it so there’s TV advertising, theater marketing, and the ratio leans more toward Seonghyeon Production’s side. We came because these were at least acceptable terms, not because they were good terms. You know that.”
“There are already quite a lot of screens… then the promotional support money that would go out….”
Chester went into the negotiation with a completely different expression from when he had negotiated with Everest Pictures.
This time, he was definitely confident.
It was because of Gyeong Chanhyeon’s advice. Thanks to that, they now had proof in the form of a screening in Koreatown.
“Do you know how people are crowding into Koreatown right now?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. Haha.”
The head of distributor TIC looked at Chester’s face and nodded repeatedly.
But then, with an awkward smile, he said to Chester,
“But since it’s a Korean film, of course a lot of Korean Americans are watching it…… it’s hard to use that as proof of box office success… terms like this are for distributing Hollywood blockbusters…”
“Hah.”
Chester let out a snort of laughter, as if dumbfounded.
“Revise the terms? I think it’d be better to ask if you’ve got dementia instead. Hehe.”
Chester burst out laughing by himself, and the Seonghyeon Production staff could only show awkward smiles.
But the TIC distributor’s representative felt like his insides were about to burst.
A screen contract on this scale was enough to determine TIC distributor’s fate.
“No, Chester… these terms really are just…”
Chester cut him off and asked,
“Have you even gone to Koreatown before saying that?”
“What?”
“You think only Korean Americans are watching that movie right now?”
“Still, it’s an undeniable fact that the majority are Korean Americans, isn’t it?”
At the representative’s words, Chester shook his head back and forth.
“That’s a problem with the theater location. This is the kind of movie where even in New York, no, even in Texas, cowboys would come riding in on horseback to watch it. It’s the kind of movie where even people digging up potatoes in Ohio would throw down their hoes and come running!”
“Ha… seriously.”
The distributor’s representative looked at Chester with a dubious expression.
“And these friends here are apparently getting support from KMD and are even going to make a production company in Hollywood soon.”
“What!? In Hollywood?”
The Seonghyeon Production employees spoke to Chester, pretending to be surprised on purpose.
“Ah, Chester. That…!”
“Hmm… I misspoke. Let’s pretend you didn’t hear what I just said.”
The distributor’s representative frowned and asked,
“No, if it’s KMD, isn’t that the famous Korean… company?”
“I said let’s pretend you didn’t hear it. Hm.”
“No, that doesn’t make sense.”
“I heard the head of that production company is the son of KMD’s chairman. Well, that must be why.”
“Chester!”
At the Seonghyeon Production employees’ shout, Chester smiled awkwardly.
“Hehe, did I go too far? The rumor’s going to get out soon anyway. You just heard it a little earlier than everyone else. News about a company that big coming in, that kind of big story spreads fast.”
“Ha…”
As the distributor’s representative looked up at the ceiling with a hesitant expression, Chester met eyes with the Seonghyeon Production employees, and they nodded at one another.
A story they had already arranged in advance.
Of course, it was not a made-up story. It was something he had heard from Gyeong Chanhyeon.
They had only scattered bait in order to make the terms more favorable.
“That enormous capital. And think about it. Look at that director’s potential. It’s a movie made with just 25 billion won. Could you make a movie in Korean and create something people would watch regardless of race?”
“I’m not even a director….”
At the representative’s unconfident answer, Chester asked with a smile at the corner of his mouth,
“Do you know any director with that kind of ability? I don’t.”
“Ha…”
“Look here. Try looking a little farther ahead. I’m telling you to look at the crumbs that will fall to your company. These friends know how to repay kindness. You don’t know what might happen in the future.”
At Chester’s words, the representative blinked.
“What do you mean by what might happen…”
“Doesn’t it make you excited? He might be the kind of person who turns upside down a Hollywood that’s full of nothing but flashy garbage on the outside. If that start happens with you, what do you think that means?”
“But if we distribute under this contract right now and it goes wrong, we’ll go under! I don’t have that level of faith!”
Chester asked with an easy smile, as if he did not care at all about loud voices.
“So you’re saying you’ll miss the jackpot and the crumbs too?”
“Good grief… but we can’t stake the company on that possibility.”
Originally, the contract TIC had proposed was for limited release only in Los Angeles, to first gauge the reaction across the city as a whole, not just in Koreatown.
But Chester was not satisfied with that and had added New York as well.
The number of screens was far larger than in the original contract, and there was even a condition saying that if it did well, it should open in other states too.
“Ah, and I almost forgot this. Hehe.”
Grinning, Chester pulled out the bundle Gyeong Chanhyeon had handed him.
He still did not understand what Gyeong Chanhyeon had meant by “the geek of geeks is the Western geek.”
But for now, he had decided to trust him.
For some reason, he strongly felt as if someone were helping Gyeong Chanhyeon.
“Now… take a look. See what these people are doing.”
Chester carefully opened the bundle.
Then, as if taking out something precious, he carefully lifted what was inside and placed it on the table.
“Th, this is…?”
The <Space Vagabond> figures.
At the sight of those figures, the distributor’s representative could only blink and fail to continue speaking.
Meticulously made figures that looked as if they had just stepped straight out of <Space Vagabond>.
Apparently shocked by visuals he had never imagined, the distributor’s representative stared blankly at Chester.
“I hear they’ve already completed all the Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, screening to export these to America right now. By the time this movie opens, they’ll be all over the market.”
“…”
When the distributor’s representative reached for one of the detailed figures, Chester snatched it away with a playful smile.
“Huh…?”
“I’m not finished talking yet. Listen. These figures and Space Vagabond are going to create enormous synergy with each other. I hear these are selling like hotcakes in Korea and Japan right now.”
The distributor’s representative looked at the Eagles ship in Chester’s hand and gave a slight nod.
Seeing that reaction, Chester smiled with satisfaction and said,
“The guy who thought something like this up is about to come over to Hollywood. And you’re still going to say no because there might be losses right now?”
“…”
At Chester’s words, the TIC distributor’s representative let out a deep sigh.
But there was one obvious fact that everyone who made money through movies knew.
‘The most important thing in making a movie succeed is marketing.’
No matter how good the story was, no matter how good the directing was, no matter how good the visual effects were, if people did not know about it, then none of it mattered.
But these figures were at a level that would draw people’s attention even if they had no interest in <Space Vagabond>.
Keeping his eyes fixed on the figure in Chester’s hand, the distributor’s representative turned it over in his head without saying a word.
“Ha, fine. Let’s do it once. Good grief. But if this fails, are you prepared for your name to disappear from the film world too, Chester? Why go this far….?”
A film critic pushing a movie.
But if that movie failed, then whether as a critic or in any other sense, his status would disappear, and Chester’s place would not survive either.
Chester knew that much too.
“This isn’t resolve. It’s certainty. Hehe. All right, then, we’re doing it like this?”
“Yes. Let’s do that…”
The distributor’s representative answered in a tone still thick with hesitation.
“Hehe, you won’t regret it. Don’t worry.”
“Ah, but…”
Looking at Chester as he gathered the figures back up, the distributor’s representative said,
“Could you give that to me?”
“Huh? This? This is mine.”
“I kind of want it too…”
At the representative’s embarrassed smile, Chester snorted and handed the bundle to him.
And after receiving confirmation on the contract and talking a bit more, they came out of the TIC distributor’s building.
“Email this to Seonghyeon Production and tell them to review it. We should hear what the heads of the production company have to say too, shouldn’t we?”
“Th-thank you, Chester. This contract really is…”
“That’s enough. It’s just a shame I couldn’t do it with a better place.”
A few days later, Seonghyeon Production.
“This is really okay…?”
An email from America.
But from the point of view of me, who was weak at playing around with numbers, I could not really tell what it was saying.
It already looked like it would be hard even if it were written in Korean, and the contract filled with English words I had never seen before would not go into my head at all.
“Good grief. You fool.”
At my question, Junseong, who had been looking at the same thing, clicked his tongue and answered.
“This isn’t just okay, punk. Just limited release in California alone is already an amazing contract. It’s at the level where I’d believe Chester used magic. And you still can’t recognize that?”
“R-Really?”
Junseong only stared at my question back, looking dumbfounded.
“Good grief. How is it that the moment numbers come out, you turn into an idiot?”
“I’m weak with numbers…”
“Is that something to brag about?”
Junseong answered with a snort.
“Fine. If there’s at least one thing you’re bad at, that makes you more human.”
“Right?”
“Don’t say that with that smug grin. It wasn’t a compliment.”
Junseong went back to his seat, kept reviewing the email, and let out one exclamation after another.
“Wow, these are absurdly good terms, like he held a knife to them and threatened them. This guy isn’t that sort of person, right? It really feels like he brought American mafia types and threatened them or something. He does look pretty scary.”
“He took our production company employees with him, so what mafia are you talking about……”
Certainly, visually, he did lean more toward the mafia side.
But what was certain was that he was definitely a good person to me.
That said, I still could not confidently say I really knew him well.
The only thing I sort of knew was that he was unbelievably rich…?
“Hmm…”
At this point, it was no longer anything unusual to be surprised every time I met him because of some unexpected action.
Flying all the way from America just to see my movie, personally looking into distributors for me.
All I could feel was gratitude toward him, the way he acted like a messenger sent by the god of film.
“What was Chester’s last name again?”
“Bacon.”
“The food?”
“…?”
When I frowned, Junseong said as if he had not intended to say nonsense,
“No, why are you making that face? I wasn’t saying that to joke around. I was making sure. I was going to search him up…”
“President Lee, those excuses are awfully flimsy. Huh? That joke just now was really rotten…”
“Damn… forget it.”
Junseong shoved his face toward the monitor and started investigating what kind of person Chester was.
And not long after, he widened his eyes at me and said,
“What, what kind of person is this guy?”
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