hunt hollywood

This turning point made South Korean companies see opportunities, ranging from large chaebols to small individuals, and they have established film production companies one after another.After all, the 146-day quota is placed there. If you invest in any small film, you can hope to get a good return.

However, the quota system is in place, and South Korea's film censorship system is still in place.

Therefore, everyone dare not let go too much.

Now, with the Asian financial turmoil, South Korea is short of money. In the next one or two years, if there is no special turning point, it will still be difficult for Korean films to succeed.

It has been so in history.

In 1996, Korean films implemented a 146-day quota system. However, it was not until 1999 that Korean films began to explode. The strategy of 'building the country with culture' was adopted.

In addition, the South Korean economy began to recover after the catastrophe in 1997. In 1999, Korean films not only regained the annual box office champions that had been lost for more than 20 years through "The Spy", but also quickly regained the share that was divided by overseas films such as Hollywood. market.At the same time, I also started to win various overseas awards and various scenery.

In short, 1997 was the best time to enter the Westeros system.

If you miss it, it will be very difficult to penetrate the Korean film industry.

Let's talk about TV.

Before 1997, the TV industry in South Korea was basically divided among the three major wireless TV stations, and Korean TV stations were not open to private ownership until 1990, let alone foreign capital. Even with this reform, foreign capital can only enter the field of cable TV. The shareholding cannot exceed 50%.

In addition, South Korea has not promoted the separation system of production and broadcasting, so the TV field is basically dominated by the three old TV stations.

It is also after this node in 1997 that the Westeros system is expected to enter.

Finally there is music.

Korea's music industry, just saying that a proper term 'K-POP' was once born, shows how prosperous it is.

However, this is also after 1997.

Moreover, Simon, who has been quietly paying attention to South Korea, also discovered this time that South Korea's SM Entertainment, which was once said to have single-handedly promoted the rise of the 'K-POP' model, was dropped by the butterfly this time, and even Li Xiuman didn't know where it was.

Simon likes a certain name very much, and it has a sense of picture at a glance.

This is not surprising.

Still have to start with the movie.

Simon's original "Run Lola Run" was released in South Korea in 1987, but it won the No.3 annual box office in South Korea that year.Then, Daenerys Entertainment rose, and the films produced almost every year occupy several positions on the annual box office list in South Korea.

These are big butterflies, enough to change too many things in South Korea in every way.

The result is that the Korean music circle has also been learning from Europe and the United States in recent years, but it lacks a certain pioneering leader. Batch of international pop singers.

Of course, these are not problems for Simon.

The so-called 'K-POP', after all, is just a variant of the Western 'Teen-POP' combination model, buy more small music companies, give the model, and then, it's just raising Gu.

Just like South Korea's automobiles and semiconductors, why are they so developed? They also raised Gu back then.

Especially semiconductors.

In the 80s, lured by the huge profits of "a box of chips for a ship of ore" widely circulated in the Korean semiconductor industry, Korean chaebols with a little ability flocked to the semiconductor industry. Several companies such as Samsung and Hyundai stood out, which also contributed to Samsung's later glory.

One of the reasons, in Simon's view, is actually very simple.

I chose the right path.

In particular, Samsung, when other chaebols divested and exited one after another, they clung to the semiconductor industry and did not let go. It turned out that they were in the right direction. From the lowest point in 1997 to the following 20 years, the market value has soared hundreds of times.

There is another episode in this.

Regarding the succession of the Samsung Group, the Li family did not expect that the market value of Samsung Electronics would grow so fast. As a result, it became more and more difficult for Li Kunxi to transfer more shares to his son. It can be seen that with the death of Li Jianxi, the Li family's control over the Samsung Group is shaky, and all kinds of bad things surrounding the Li family continue.

This is something.

In short, choosing the right direction is very important.

The Zheng family of Hyundai gave up semiconductors and chose automobiles during the financial turmoil and its aftermath. Later, although Hyundai is still the top chaebol in South Korea, Hyundai Motor still occupies more than 70% of the Korean market, but the entire Hyundai Group The market value of Samsung is only one-tenth of that of Samsung.

Therefore, for South Korea's K-POP, even South Korea's entertainment, and even, by extension, Simon has full confidence in the future of the entire Westeros system.Because Simon knows the right direction in many aspects for at least the next 20 years.

Another 20 years will be enough for the Westeros system to become more deeply rooted in this world.

……

While the Westeros system began to lay out the South Korean entertainment industry, the negotiations between the IMF and the South Korean government, as well as the negotiations between the Westeros system and Samsung, Hyundai, and SK, continued to make money.

Chen Qing quickly discovered the deliberate delay of the three companies in the negotiation process.

Know well.

This is pending the outcome of negotiations between the authorities and the IMF.

After all, although the promises given by the Westeros system are tempting, everyone is not a child. Everyone knows what this cooperation means more.

Therefore, if this IMF bailout can become a turning point, the three companies certainly don't mind temporarily going back on their word.

It's normal for business matters to fail.

Chen Qing is not in a hurry about this, she is actually waiting for the result, because she knows better than the three chaebols what will happen next.

It should be known that the current IMF chairman Michael Condesuu from Europe is not the main person in charge of the IMF team negotiating this time.

The negotiating team leader was named Peter Bernaster, who was from Goldman Sachs and was very close to the Westeros system.And Peter Bernast's deputy, Michael Gate, is from First Boston. It seems that he has no direct connection with the Westeros system, but in fact he was selected by Simon through Bill Spoulter's relationship half a year ago. Inserted into the IMF.

Furthermore, in addition to the IMF team, the U.S. Treasury Department also sent Deputy Treasury Secretary David Lipton to monitor the progress of the negotiations. David Lipton also brought an assistant named Philip Leibould.

Of course, my brother-in-law just came here to learn more.

But, after all, he is also the wife and brother of Simon Westeros, and even David Lipton cannot ignore it.

This is just the beginning.

It is expected that the negotiations will be concluded, and both the team leader Peter Bernaster and Deputy Treasury Secretary David Lipton will return to the United States.

Michael Gate, currently serving as Peter Bernast's deputy, will become the IMF's representative in South Korea. In the next few years, he will be responsible for supervising the implementation of IMF agreements in South Korea.

To be more straightforward, in fact, the Westeros system is responsible for supervising the implementation of the IMF agreement in South Korea.

To be more straightforward, coupled with the powerful strength of the entire Westeros system, in the next few years, Simon said that which chaebol in South Korea can live, which chaebol can live, and which chaebol Simon wants to die, which chaebol will die. Can only die.

Therefore, the three chaebols deliberately delayed, let alone Chen Qing simply put more energy on other aspects.

After all, with the liberalization of foreign shareholding, the Westeros system has been quietly deployed for a long time, and there are many other things that can be done in South Korea.

And so on until Thursday, November 11th.

Beginning last Friday, after a week of endless negotiations, the South Korean authorities finally reached an agreement with the IMF. The announcement of the relevant terms immediately caused an uproar in the Korean society.

Chapter 1255 Feng Junhao

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, January 11th.

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 20s wearing glasses, wearing a meticulous black suit. He is 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 name for himself during the downturn of the 80s and 28s. The [-]-year-old Bong Joon-ho has been working in Lee Chang-ho’s film studio since he graduated from university. , In recent years, while assisting Lee Chang Ho to shoot movies, he has 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?"

Bong Joon-ho was sitting upright, obviously prepared for this question, and said: "The story comes from a life experience when I was a child. At that time, my family and I lived in a very crowded collective apartment, and we were often quarreled by the neighbor's dog. Until I can't sleep, I often have the urge to kill all those dogs. Of course, senior, I didn't really do it. Later, coupled with various other life experiences over the years, I finally came to 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.

Sung Tae Hee also remembered that this was the most craziest detail when the apartment manager, Qian Nan, 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 750 million US dollars, in It grossed more than $6000 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, "750 million US dollars is indeed not a high cost in Hollywood, but your movie requires 10 billion won, according to the current exchange rate, is equivalent to 50 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, 10 billion won is really not high. The current average ticket price in Korea is 3500 won, and 10 billion won is only about 50 billion won. 50 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 $[-]. 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.