Chapter 488 (1/2)
“Casting director? There’s only one person in the country who can be considered a proper one.”
“Who’s that?”
“Lee Junmin.”
Producer Park Hoon said that as he flipped through the profiles that the managers gave him. The person sitting next to him said that he might have heard of that person.
“Give me that.”
“You want to make someone who came here to rest, do work?”
“I’m working though. Unlike a certain someone, I’m not a freelancer.”
He received the file that his friend gave him. Phoenix. He had never heard of that agency before. He flipped over the pages and checked the faces of the young actors. Most of them did not have any prior experience, and their self-introduction slot was completely empty as well. He closed the file since he didn’t find any faces he liked.
“I heard you were starting a drama. I guess many people are asking you to pick their people right?”
“Picking one out is also labor.”
“Can I have a look as well?”
“Go ahead.”
“This one’s cute. Twenty years old huh.”
“Doesn’t fit the drama.”
“But look at that face.”
“Goddammit, forget it. Give it back.”
Park Hoon yawned and grabbed the files. He left the meeting room at the TV station and went to a nearby café to change things up a little, but he didn’t feel excited at all since there was work in his hands.
“I saw the news. You already picked all of the main cast?”
“We did. Only then can we contact advertisers.”
“Then it doesn’t matter what you do with the other roles, right?”
“Do you think I’m in a position to do that? If I want to pick a minor role, everyone I know comes to me with their business cards, telling me who and who’s good. It’s goddamn tiring.”
“Not necessarily. If I want to make a good drama, I do need a good face, so I do go through all of them, but usually, the ones I take a liking to come from introductions, not profiles like these. The ones with talent will all come to me either way, through their acting schools or managers. Batch profiles like these are usually those that just entered an agency so they’re just trying things out.”
“Why are there so many people that want to become actors in a small country like this?” His friend asked as he lifted a few profiles up.
Park Hoon drank the cooled coffee in one gulp and stood up with the files.
“You’re going?”
“I have to. There’s an audition.”
“You have it busy. And here I was thinking we might be able to have a meal together.”
“You tell me. I’m tired too because I feel like I’m busy for no reason.”
When Park Hoon went to the counter with the files in his arms, his friend stopped him.
“Get going. I’ll pay for the coffee instead of food.”
He left the café and went into the TV station building, which was right across the street. He walked past the pillar with the big YBS logo on it, towards the security check.
“Producer Park, good work.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
He greeted his senior producer before taking the elevator to the 3rd floor.
“Hey, follow me.”
He took the newest producer who was sitting in the meeting room to the 2nd floor public hall. People who seemed to be participants of the audition were walking around the corridor.
“My, producer Park.”
Just before he entered the audition venue, a fatty with a beard blocked his way.
“Manager Kang. It’s been a while.”
“Really? Congratulations.”
He lightly shook hands with team leader Kang.
“Producer Park, are you on a diet? You’ve lost weight since the last time I saw you.”
“It’s because the work is hard. Rather than that, what brings you here?”
“Oh, the thing is, one of ours is in the audition this time, and she’s incredibly good at acting.”
“Well, I’m sure all of them are incredibly good.”
“I’m telling you our kid is really good.”
“I’ll see for myself.”
“I’m telling you just in case - and I mean just in case - you miss her by any chance. Here, take this. It must be tiring so you must take your vitamins.”
“Team leader Kang. The one you recommended to me last time was no good though. Is Crystal bringing all the strange kids to me? I wonder if they’re looking down on me.”
“No way! Of course not. Three of our Crystal members became big thanks to you, producer Park. I’m only showing the capable ones to you first. The one back then was just nervous, and it will be different this time. She’s really good at acting and is pretty so please take a good look at her.”
“Fine, fine. So what’s her name?”
“She’s called Lee Joomin, and she’s the prettiest of the bunch today, so you’ll know when you see her.”
Why don’t we have a meal together later? - added team leader Kang before leaving with a slight nod.
“Junior, give me a bottle.”
He drank the vitamin drink that his junior producer gave him and went to the public hall. The staff members that were going through the equipment under the brightly lit stage recognized him and greeted him.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes, it is.”
He sat down in the seat that was closest to the stage. In front of him was a monitor. There was a red light flashing on the camera that was installed for a test.
“Junior.”
“Yes.”
“You said you wanted to go to the entertainment department, right?”
“I also want to shoot dramas.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s better to have big dreams when you’re still an assistant director. Anyway, watch closely. The drama will change according to how well you can pick out the good gems.”
“Yes.”
The junior producer took out some writing equipment, his eyes burning with passion.
“Please enter in order.”
The participants of the audition came up on stage with a number on their left c.h.e.s.ts. They all looked young. Since this was a youth drama, appearances were important as well. It would be troublesome if they looked too old.
He had a look at their profiles. The first line on the profiles wasn’t their names but the names of their agencies. If they didn’t belong to one, it was left blank. The big agencies were written in red, and the rest were written in green. There was also a blue checkmark(✓) next to some names, and they were those that were given recommendations. These days, the number one dream for youths was apparently not the president or a scientist, but celebrities or idols. In other words, just about anyone was trying to become a celebrity. It was no exception for the children of those higher up in the TV station, and there were many cases where they participated in auditions with those marks.
“Uhm, senior.”
“What?”
“What’s the blue checkmark for?”