stepping stone
“You don’t have to be the lead from the beginning. It doesn’t have to be an important supporting role. However, there are some attractive characters that grab people’s attention just by appearing. Those wonderful characters that stick in my mind after the movie is over. It’s like a character who comes out for a while and saves the main character from a crisis, or a character who provides important clues and disappears with impact.”
“awesome. If it’s a role like that, even a small role would be worthwhile.”
At Eugene’s words, Jang Yu-ra nodded her head with passionate eyes.
“Maybe in a movie there is only one or two scenes, but on a TV show, there will be times when you appear in a row and explain the role. When the movie comes out, the media will be talking a lot about the actors who played those small roles, and we’ll have two of them on the Conan Show or the Late Night Show.”
“ah!”
What Eugene is saying is not just a fantasy. He was a major investor in most of the films that would top the number one to twenty spots on the annual box office charts.
Asking each film to play such a small but impactful role is enough.
It is also a major shareholder of Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC, the major American broadcasters, and owns a number of publishing houses.
So, it’s not that difficult to give a nice role, to get the media to talk about it, or to invite tens of millions of people to a late-night talk show.
What Eugene doesn’t want is for Korean actors to appear in blockbuster movies and achieve great success.
Rather, it is to increase the number of contacts that can reach the public with a cool and sophisticated image.
So, we want to imprint an image that makes Americans think Koreans are s*xy, handsome, beautiful, and funny people.
What viewers consume, after all, is always an image.
If a group of people has a saucy image, it is by no means easy to break the preconceived notion caused by the original affiliation even if someone special has a sophisticated image.
So it was necessary to reconsider the image first.
“Be s*xy and cool… … .”
“s*xy and lovely… … .”
The two top stars repeated Eugene’s words like a spell.
Most of the male and female actors, singers and aspirants selected by Eugene are such people.
The men were strong and s*xy with thick lines. The women are tall, and they are the owners of unique masks.
In fact, there are many people who have a much more intense image than the overall preferred appearance in Korea.
This is because they thoroughly used the s*xy image viewed in the United States as the standard.
And there were many of those people who, in Eugene’s memory, had some significant success in the United States a few years later.
“So, in a way, what is more important than the role is that you become familiar with the culture of the people here. Throwing in the right humor on a talk show would be far better than playing an ordinary movie star.”
“So that’s why you said to meet people and have a party here. It was a natural way to melt into the people here.”
“Humor… … It’s definitely not just practice.”
Only then did the two of them understand Eugene’s intentions.
Eugene wanted the people he brought in to embrace American culture before they could infiltrate it.
“But it’s still not easy. It will take a lot of time.”
“Of course. It doesn’t take long to try once or twice, or even a year or two, for Americans to be friendly to Asians.”
Careful efforts from a long-term perspective were needed to ensure that American interest in Korean culture and Korean actors and singers did not end as a one-time event.
And that’s not something a single individual or producer can do.
It is a large-scale project in which it is difficult to be sure that even if a power with at least a national-scale capability makes a mid- to long-term plan and pushes forward with courage, it is difficult to be certain that it will succeed.
And at this point, it was China that was trying to do that.
Using the huge market of China as a weapon, we invite local actors to appear in various blockbuster films and write Chinese-friendly scenarios.
In a capitalist system, market pressure is far more powerful than any external pressure.
No production company in Hollywood can even dream of writing a screenplay that goes against the Chinese people or the Chinese government.
They try desperately to please the Chinese government and people as much as possible.
Unfortunately, such efforts by China do not produce very positive results.
Unless the image of the Chinese is restored, their hope is nothing but a wish.
Fortunately, Eugene had the ability to wield influence over more than one country.
He has enough capital, and his plan is not to force the main roles or productions to his native actors, like those in China.
I just do my best to rethink the image of Koreans.
Of course, if it ends up changing the image like that forever, it doesn’t mean much.
We need proper content that utilizes s*xy and smart images.
Unfortunately, at this point in time, producing content is not the kind of work that Eugene can do.
What Eugene is trying to do is to prepare a foothold from which she can soar vigorously.
And it is the potential of Korean cultural contents that jumps up from that footing.
Eugene knows that in the next two or three years, a proper Hallyu boom will occur in the United States as well. And at that point, Eugene’s paving stone will shine properly.
By the time Korean idols enthralled American teenagers and Korean dramas caught the attention of American viewers, the actors Eugene had already made inroads were probably not just strangers to Americans.
“Of course, it’s not going to play such a small role. As we gradually expand our cultural base, ample opportunities will come.”
“I think so.”
“That’s why you’re asking me to meet a lot of people, right?”
Now the two of them were catching up on what Eugene didn’t say. This is because the two already have a deep trust in Eugene.
The people Eugene introduced are all influential people in Hollywood and in the music world.
As in Korea, the importance of networking in the United States cannot be overemphasized.
In the end, the person with whom you are even a little acquainted will be considered first.
A Korean reporter came to Eugene, who was so busy and having a leisurely time.
A reporter who did an in-depth coverage of Eugene’s project for Korean food to enter the US, followed him all the way to Los Angeles and asked for an interview.
“I was able to confirm that Chairman Kang is helping Korean food culture take root in the United States in many ways. But when I came here to check it out, I heard that they are helping Korean celebrities to advance into the United States.”
“I think Korean actors and singers can be successful here. Until now, many actors, singers, and agencies have been working hard to enter mainstream American culture, but they have not produced any tangible results.”
“Yeah, unfortunately it was.”
“You can’t call it a failure. It takes a lot of effort to achieve anything. And Korean celebrities have the potential to be successful anytime and anywhere. However, if there is a more systematic support, it will be easier and faster to write a record of success. Fortunately, I could afford it.”
Eugene comfortably brought out the story he was always thinking about.
It is in his own interests and in the interests of all Koreans, so there is no need to hide it.
“okay. It is fortunate that Chairman Kang is so interested in the advancement of Korean culture into the United States. I did not know that Chairman Kang was working so hard to promote Korean culture.”
The reporter was excited. There were plenty of articles just about Korean food, but today’s story goes far beyond that.
“Korea is one of the top ten military and economic powers. But the global impact is far less than that.”
“You are right. Not to mention other countries belonging to the same top ten powerhouses, the United States, China and Japan. It is difficult to say that Korea is exerting an influence worthy of its status even compared to other developed countries in Europe.”
“That does not mean that the influence will increase in the direction of having a greater military power than it is now, and it will be difficult to maintain its status as one of the top 10 economic powers as countries such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia are gradually growing in terms of economic power. So I think Korea needs soft power to have enough influence.”
Hard power, which is the power to force a certain demand on the opponent, refers to power such as military power and economic power.
And what is called soft power or soft power means a certain charm that makes the other person want to get closer or resemble him by his/her own will, and furthermore, make the other person do what they want first.
Examples of soft power include spiritual, religious, or ethical values, culture, and diplomacy.
And in modern society, especially, it mainly refers to the power of culture.
People of other countries, influenced by the unique charm of one country, want to emulate the country that created the culture with their own will, and they want to follow with a friendly gaze.
This was a power with an intrinsic influence that could never be obtained with physical power, such as military power that inevitably caused dislike for the opponent or even hatred.
If military or economic power disappears, its influence tends to decrease, but once influenced by culture, the generation continues to have friendly feelings.
Such soft power, which can even be expressed as the power to make others want what one wants, is nothing compared to military or economic power.
“That is in line with the story told by Professor Baekbeom Kim.”
“Yes. He was truly ahead of his time. What a great prophet he was when he emphasized the necessity of a cultural powerhouse in an era when it was difficult to even eat rice. Only now can you feel the great meaning.”
“you’re right. Just looking at the fact that Korean culture is expanding its influence more and more mainly in East Asia, you can understand its foresight again. But while Asia has some cultural similarities, isn’t the US market very different? I still know that discrimination against Asians is very serious here. I think there are a lot of hurdles to overcome in order to achieve the effect that Chairman Kang intended.”
“Sure. But I don’t think it’s impossible. Korean culture has already gone through a period of maturity for several decades, and I think the time has come for the flowers to bloom. I’m trying to make even a small stepping stone for that time.”
Eugene was speaking very humbly, but in her heart, after this interview was published as an article, she thought that it would have enough impact.