As Philip sprinted toward the underground parking lot like a madman, the people around him gave him strange looks.
But Philip didn’t have the leisure to care about such things.
The item under the glove box.
How did he know about it, and how did he get his hands on it?
He was filled with questions, but for now, he had to resolve this situation.
“Dammit.”
He spotted his car in a secluded area, but the valet parking attendant was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a massive, bald man smiling in front of the car caught his eye.
The man spoke first to Philip, who was breathing heavily.
“You should exercise more often, Philip.”
“……”
Realizing the man knew his name, Philip glared at him and spoke.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I don’t think this is the time to be acting like that.”
The man showed Philip a white powder inside a plastic zip-lock bag.
“Something like this was in the glove box? Don’t make me laugh.”
“What’s wrong? It’s just the two of us here; why would I lie? Would that even be meaningful?”
“Are you a paparazzi…?”
At Philip’s question, the man laughed loudly as if it were absurd.
“Me?”
“If not, then why….”
“Think whatever you want.”
Ding.
After checking a text message, the man spoke to Philip.
“Oh, the press conference is over. The client will be here soon. Just wait a moment.”
“Client…? Is it Robert Penn?”
“No. I only take VIP clients. It’s not Robert Penn.”
“VIP…?”
The sound of footsteps approaching.
At that sound, Philip hurriedly hid behind the car.
“You’ve arrived?”
Just as Philip was about to step out from behind the car, thinking the man knew the person…
“Thank you, Mr. James. Here is the commission fee. I put in more than we discussed. You may leave now.”
It was a familiar voice.
Hearing the voice he had just heard at the press conference, rage boiled inside Philip.
“Gyeong Chanhyeon…?”
“Oh. Mr. Philip. Haha. You were there? I think it’s time for you to leave, Mr. James.”
“Haha. Then next time, we’re doing soju and pork belly, right?”
“Sounds good.”
At the sight of Gyeong Chanhyeon, Philip asked through clenched teeth.
“What is the meaning of this? Do you want to be kicked out of Hollywood? I can send you away with a single article…”
“Kicked out?”
Gyeong Chanhyeon smirked and tossed a manila envelope at Philip.
“What is this…?”
“Don’t ask and just look. That mouth of yours will shut on its own.”
“……..”
As he opened the envelope, Philip frowned at the photos spilling out.
“This is….”
“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I have no intention of reforming people. A bug will remain a bug for its entire life.”
The photos ranged from Philip hiding drugs at the bottom of the glove box to Philip actually using them.
With all his dirty laundry exposed, Philip glared at Gyeong Chanhyeon, gritting his teeth.
“It was amusing. You’re quite famous. The Apostle of Justice in Hollywood? You’ve built a great concept. Even though all you do is pick on celebrities and frame them as villains.”
“……”
Philip gripped the photos tightly and asked.
“How much do you want?”
“Money?”
“Yes. Money.”
“Ay. That’s too predictable.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon looked like a completely different person, making one doubt if he was the same film director who had been smiling kindly at the press conference.
“I have far more cards than just these photos. You know, don’t you? Everything you’ve done.”
“……”
“You think you can buy that with money?”
Philip took a deep breath and looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon.
“Then what is it?”
“Don’t even think about touching Robert Penn from now on. Furthermore, if you interfere with my film work, the information, including those photos, will spread to the press in an instant. The true face of a famous journalist will be exposed. Fantastic, isn’t it?”
“……”
Philip nodded weakly and asked.
“Is that all?”
“Not quite. There’s a way I can use your ‘concept.’”
“What?”
“The righteous Hollywood journalist. The concept of cleaning up the filthy entertainment industry. Maintain that well.”
Philip glared at Gyeong Chanhyeon and spoke.
“You want me to maintain a concept?”
“Yes. I’ll ask for favors whenever I need them.”
“Who the hell does this bastard think he’s employing…”
“If you don’t like it, you can just release what you’re holding right now. How about it? Isn’t this a pretty decent contract for you?”
Philip took a deep breath and looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon.
Thinking coldly, it was right to accept Gyeong Chanhyeon’s terms.
The moment those photos went public, there was a high probability that everything he possessed would vanish.
“Fine. I’ll do as you say.”
“First, that article of mine you mentioned. Don’t even think about writing a follow-up. You were planning to take down the article to bash me while I’m trending, weren’t you?”
Philip nodded heavily without a word.
“Right. Let’s get along from now on. Consider yourself lucky that you survived because of your fame and concept.”
“Whew…”
After watching Philip hurriedly drive away, I let out a deep sigh.
As the tension released, my legs began to tremble.
In the end, the most important thing in Hollywood is survival.
I knew that surviving sometimes required doing bad things, but now that I’d actually done it, a hollow laugh escaped me because it didn’t seem to suit my nature.
Still, I must do it.
To achieve the goal of saving the film industry—which is further away than I thought—I must sometimes disregard the means and methods.
Ding.
I caught my breath before answering Junseong’s call.
“Hello?”
—Hey, did it get resolved?
“Yeah. You should have seen his face. He was so scared he bolted.”
—But there are plenty of capable journalists out there. Why Philip specifically?
Of course, when I didn’t know much about Philip, I had intended to just crush him completely.
But I first judged the potential for utilization based on the journalist’s fame.
“No, it’s because I need someone with a righteous concept. For now, if this guy says something, people perceive it as truth and read the article. If I get entangled in dirty work in the future, I’ll ask this guy for a favor.”
—…So you’re basically assuming dirty work will happen?
“It’s Hollywood. It’s a town where nothing is surprising, no matter what happens.”
Considering the things that happened in Hollywood in the past.
Hollywood is a place where all sorts of things occur.
From political schemes to racial discrimination.
To protect myself from unpredictable threats, I decided it would be easier to keep a journalist like that as a hostage.
—Ah. The crew is waiting for you at the after-party. Hurry up. Since you’re done.
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
A few days later.
Finally, the day of the first shoot.
Looking outside on a pleasant morning, the bright sunlight made me feel even better.
“Hmm…”
After a quick stretch, I ate a light breakfast and got dressed.
—Wear a suit to the set from now on. Don’t dress sloppily like you did in Korea. To these people, you are the specimen of a Korean. Let’s not bring shame to Koreans.
At Junseong’s words, I had no choice but to pull out a suit.
Dressed neatly, I took the car and headed to the filming location.
The part to be filmed today was the scene where Robert finds a strange mark while looking at a murder scene.
It was a scene where Robert becomes suspicious of a star-shaped piece of paper, hinting at a serial killing.
A moment later.
As soon as I arrived at the set, a number of people, far more than when I filmed in Korea, greeted me.
And amidst the busy crowd, Robert seemed to have already finished his preparations, lifting the mood of the set by making comical expressions in front of the camera.
“Director Gyeong Chanhyeon.”
Cinematographer Harris greeted me, calling my name with eyes full of doubt.
I wanted to bring Jinsoo-hyung, but he declined the offer, saying it was burdensome to come to the US because of his young daughter.
“Yes?”
“Isn’t the weather too bright? To create the bleak atmosphere of a murder scene… it seems a bit ambiguous.”
“Ah, the weather? I think it’s actually better because it’s bright.”
At my words, Harris frowned.
“Better?”
“Yes.”
“Haha… Director, you seem to… not know how this works.”
Harris shook his head and spoke cautiously.
“Isn’t a ‘bright and bleak’ atmosphere fundamentally impossible? There haven’t been movies like that until now. A murder case happening in a bright place? Shouldn’t a gruesome scene be shown as dark as possible?”
What I specifically wanted to show this time was the diversity of ways to create suspense.
It felt as if the movies in this world had an obsession that crime thrillers must be dark.
Most movies were dark. Because of that, as if it had become a formula, scenes meant to provide suspense were simply dark.
“Of course, there is suspense that comes from incidents happening in dark places, Mr. Harris. However, if you just look at the storyboard I created, there is a utilization of light. I intend to use the tension that comes from the contrast of colors.”
“What?”
Harris stared at me blankly, looking as if he had no idea what I was talking about.
“Thinking that people are automatically scared just because it’s dark is no different from treating the audience like children who sleep with the lights on because they’re scared of the night.”
“……..”
“And in film, there are wrong answers, but there is no single right answer.”
The sound of a cat meowing while passing through a dark alley.
Suspense created with such obvious direction might make the audience tense, but a completely new kind of suspense would make them even more thrilled.
Sunlight streaming through a window and blood visible in stark detail.
Dark red blood reflected in the sunlight looks even more grotesque and horrific, naturally making people imagine the state of the corpse.
“I’m going to keep the overall color palette of the movie bright. I intend to present the world with ‘bright suspense.’”
“Bright suspense…?”
Harris asked again, having never heard the term before.
“Is that an existing term?”
“Hmm… let’s just say I coined it.”
It was from the movie Midsommar, which would come out more than ten years later.
It was a movie that carved into people’s minds that a film could be grotesque and horrific even if it was bright.
Though it was rated R due to being too gruesome, fewer than 100,000 people saw it in our country…
I recall it being quite a hit globally.
“Sigh… is this right? Do you really think this is right?”
Harris let out a deep sigh, as if this was a situation he was experiencing for the first time as a cinematographer.
“Yes.”
“Sigh… my career is on the line here too.”
“Just try filming it first, and if you don’t like it, you can quit then. Just give it a try.”
At my words, Harris shook his head and sat in the chair next to me.
Seeing him sigh deeply, I patted his shoulder and spoke.
“I’m not that stubborn of a guy. If it’s weird, I’ll be the first to suggest changing it.”
“Really…?”
“Yes. I’ll protect your career too, Mr. Harris. Just follow me for now. We’ve met several times before entering production; do you still not know me?”
Harris let out a smirk, as if my words were absurd.
“It’s because I’ve seen you several times. You’re a total stubborn streak, Director.”
“……”
A chuckle escaped me at the unexpected reaction.
“Let’s get to it. Is everyone ready?”
At my question, the crew and Robert nodded.
“Then let’s start the first shoot. Ready!”
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