139 – Musical Casting (3)
An office in Gangnam.
All 15 employees, including the CEO, were sitting in the conference room.
Without saying anything.
The large-scale creative musical prepared for two years did not achieve results, but did not even exceed the break-even point.
I couldn’t even reach the break-even point and lost most of my money.
I had no choice but to turn my attention to small theater creative musicals this year.
If even this failed, the company’s existence was at risk.
In a situation where this new project must somehow succeed, the CEO called a meeting of all employees.
Not everyone gathered at the meeting could come up with a clear solution.
At that time when everyone had their heads down.
-Who are you who took away my one remaining sweets~♪
A young employee’s phone rang.
With a red face, he quickly took out his smartphone from his pocket and put it on silent mode.
“I’m sorry…” .”
The CEO asked the young employee who was about to put his smartphone back in his pocket.
“What song is it?”
“Ah, it’s an idol song. Sorry.”
“Because I’m an idol….”
Idols contribute greatly to the success of musicals.
However, small theater musicals require more artistic quality than large theater musicals.
Among musical fans who attend small, not-so-famous theaters, there are few who look favorably on idols.
And in the first place, recruiting idols costs a lot of money.
Even so, ticket prices for small theaters are decreasing day by day, so we couldn’t keep the production costs high.
“It would be nice if we could bring in idols at a cheaper price….”
“Then what about idols who are a little less popular?”
“Um… ….”
It is difficult to place high expectations on idols’ musical acting skills.
In most cases, for promotional purposes.
However, casting an unpopular idol would have little promotional effect, so it was a waste of time.
Rather, it may only serve as an element of criticism from the audience.
“Who is that ringtone idol?”
“Ah, Afternoon Sweets is a popular girl group these days.”
A young employee who was already a famous idol fan within the company started talking hesitantly about afternoon sweets.
Colleagues around me shook their heads, saying it had started again.
But the CEO was listening with great interest.
This is because I was so focused on the last large project that I was in the dark about recent entertainment industry news.
I happened to see the name of producer Boo-gil Lim in the title of an article, but I didn’t know that he had successfully brought all five projects to market.
“After listening to the story, it seems that no one has advanced into musicals or acting yet.”
“Yes. Oh, Ga-eun has performed Romeo and Juliet once before.”
“Gaeun?”
“This is Koo Ga-eun, a member of Afternoon Sweets.”
A young employee showed the CEO a photo of Koo Ga-eun saved in his smartphone gallery.
The CEO said, “Oh, it’s pretty.” And she nodded.
“This idol played Romeo and Juliet?”
“It wasn’t officially done, but I did it briefly before because of a brief incident.”
“Incident?”
Afternoon Sweets member — A young employee mentioned an incident in which Jo Min-joo was suspected of school violence and Koo Ga-eun was suspected of her father Chance.
At the time, producer Im Boo-gil held an open audition where Koo Ga-eun competed with other trainees and received 100% viewer votes to prove that she did not become a member through her father’s chance.
Goo Ga-eun proudly took first place.
In the process, Jeil Entertainment was in charge of conducting the audition to ensure fairness.
The assignment that Jeil Entertainment gave to Gu Ga-eun and other trainees was a play called Romeo and Juliet.
Unlike other trainees who had terrible acting skills, she showed off not bad acting skills.
“This is a video of a play performed at that time.”
“Um….”
Even now, the audition video from that time remains on YouTube.
After watching the video, the CEO tilted his head.
It was clear that he practiced more than the other trainees in the video.
But if you look at Koo Ga-eun in isolation, she is not bad for a beginner, to say the least.
The song doesn’t seem to be bad, but it was difficult to use in earnest.
“It’s definitely very popular, right?”
“Yes. Last year, I also won the Music Grand Prix Rookie Award.”
It seemed like it would be an issue of its own.
The ‘Music Grand Prix’ is basically an award given to a certain level of public popularity.
He is popular and his visual and singing skills are not bad, but his acting is poor.
What should I do, the CEO pondered as she stretched out her arms.
Then a young employee made a suggestion.
“Why not just contact them once and negotiate the casting fee? “Because she doesn’t have any formal experience in acting, I think she can get it a little cheaper than other idols.”
“Okay, give it a try.”
“Yes!”
After hearing the young employee’s loud answer, his colleagues immediately guessed his intentions.
She suggested to the CEO that she cast Goo Ga-eun, whom she likes, and meet her in person….
***
In the afternoon, I parked my car in front of the high school that the Sweets members attend.
And then I waited for Jo Min-joo and Gu Ga-eun to leave school.
Anyway, since the two people were fighting, as a producer, I had to listen to each person’s position and make a decision.
It doesn’t seem like they’re fighting over something trivial.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, I saw Jo Min-joo and Koo Ga-eun from afar.
… He had a huge number of female students around him.
I thought of my school friends as fans and told them to treat me well, but when I saw them in person, my mouth dropped at the scale.
The crowd of female students made it difficult for other people to pass by.
“Ah, I came early today by car. “We’ll just leave.”
“Yes, Minjoo Bye! Gaeun too!!”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow…” !!”
Jo Min-joo and Gu Ga-eun waved affectionately to the female students and parted ways.
And then he pulled the sliding door of the car we were in.
“You came a little early today—.”
“I’m the producer… !”
Jo Min-joo must have been so surprised that her face turned bright red.
From noble mtl dot com
Gu Ga-eun closed the car door and sat down next to me.
“You came to Korea…” ?”
“Yes, the work has been somewhat completed.”
Goo Ga-eun smiles brightly.
He always had a gentle appearance.
In fact, he has a gentle personality.
“But what’s going on here…?” ?”
This afternoon, Sweets had a short broadcast filming in 2 hours.
While I was on my way to Sangam-dong, I wanted to talk specifically about musicals with the two of them.
When an invitation comes in, it is better for both parties to make their decision as soon as possible whether to accept or reject it.
“I heard that Ga-eun was casting for a musical.”
“Ah… !”
From what I heard from team leader Cho Hyun-ho in advance, it didn’t seem like a very large-scale musical.
The production company itself seems to be well-known in the industry, but I heard that the large-scale performance planned last year ruined both the quality of the work and its box office success, causing the entire company to stumble.
In other words, the amount of this recruitment was not that large.
Producer Jeon Geun-young, who is currently in charge of Afternoon Sweets, intended to promote Koo Ga-eun’s experience and career rather than the amount of money.
As several of Lucky Seven Entertainment’s idols have already advanced into musicals, it was thought that Koo Ga-eun would also be able to expand her reach.
Rather than going to a large theater from the beginning, build your musical career little by little.
“I want to try it… !!”
Goo Ga-eun clenches her fists and ignites her will.
But in contrast, Jo Min-joo shook his head slightly from side to side.
“I am against it.”
I’m not opposing it because I don’t want to see Gu Ga-eun doing well.
Jo Min-ju must have his own reasons.
Gu Ga-eun pouted her lips.
“They say I can do well… !!”
“The only acting I’ve done before is that short version of Romeo and Juliet.”
“Just practice…” .”
“They say the training period is only 3 weeks. “It’s hard to lose an hour or two a day between school and events, but it’s possible for three weeks?”
Jo Min-joo explained, point by point, why he had to refuse this musical invitation.
First of all, it is difficult to produce good results due to the tight schedule and short practice period.
Even if the event is shortened, it is impossible to complete a performance that will satisfy the audience in just three weeks.
If you go on stage in such a situation, you only end up receiving harsh criticism.
That doesn’t mean you can make a lot of money, so there’s no reason to try musicals instead of a field you’re already good at.
Secondly, without Jo Min-joo, Gu Ga-eun has to live alone with other actors and staff.
The fact that Goo Ga-eun, a beginner, is selected because she is an idol is not a happy situation for them.
Will she be able to adapt well and become friends in such an atmosphere?
It wasn’t that long ago that she was bullied at school, so it wasn’t strange that Jo Min-ju was worried.
“I’m not opposed to Ga-eun’s attempt at a musical. “She wants to say that it is realistically difficult for her to be cast now.”
“But if it’s not now, she doesn’t know when she’ll get the chance….”
Jo Min-ju sighed deeply.
She then grabbed Gu Ga-eun’s shoulders with both of her hands.
“Why not? You can do it during vacation after entering university. “It’s not like you have to be invited to do a musical, and since we continue to be active as idols, there’s no way we’d refuse if you were to appear almost unpaid.”
“But still….”
Gu Ga-eun let her body go limp, as if she had no reason to stand up to Jo Min-joo.
Certainly, what Jo Min-ju said made sense.
No, looking at it rationally, she should have declined this invitation.
Leaving aside her money could actually lead to a decline in her personal image.
Goo Ga-eun raised and lowered her head a few times and stopped looking at Jo Min-joo’s face.
She spoke in a low, cautious voice.
“I can’t continue to be protected by the Democratic Party…” ….”
Jo Min-joo opened her eyes wide, as if embarrassed by Goo Ga-eun’s words.
“I’m not trying to protect you, but I’m worried…” .”
“I know, Minju is like an adult, but I’m a kid…. So, since you can’t communicate well with me, you talk to Seon Seon rather than me…….”
“What? Gaeun, what do you mean… ?”
This incident did not seem to have happened simply because Goo Ga-eun was curious about her musical.
When Yeom Seon-jeong lived together at the afternoon suites, the relationship between Jo Min-joo and Gu Ga-eun began to deteriorate.
However, it is difficult for Jo Min-joo to see that it was her fault, and Goo Ga-eun is trying to escape from Jo Min-ju’s embrace in her own way.
It was a kind of attempt at independence.
… It’s more serious than you think.