Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

After a moment, Mr. Adam Castler entered Gun-Ho’s office with the interpreter—Assistant Manager Myeong-Joon Chae.

“Please come on in, Mr. Vice President. Let me introduce this gentleman to you. This is the branch manager of a stock brokerage company in Seoul. He is here to discuss our registration with KOSDAQ.”

“Oh, a securities company!”

Mr. Adam Castler smiled broadly and extended his hand to the branch manager for a handshake. The two men’s exchanging their business cards ensued.

“Please have a seat, Mr. Vice President Castler. Mr. Assistant Manager Chae, please come and take a seat.”

The two men joined the table.

Gun-Ho briefly explained to Mr. Adam Castler about the current situation, “The branch manager just reviewed our company’s financial statements and the total trial balance.”

“I see.”

“According to the branch manager, our company is stable and well enough to register with KOSDAQ right away.”

“Is that right?”

“Also, he highly evaluated our effort dispersing the company shares among our employees. However, he pointed out that since our employees are paying for the shares that they received, we have to increase our capital reflecting that amount. The shares were given to them with consideration, not without consideration.”

“Hmm.”

“We want to work with this stock brokerage company in Gangnam as our agency that would help us go through the registration process with KOSDAQ. We will probably submit the application early next year, but there is tons of preparation work to do beforehand. So, Mr. Branch Officer here is suggesting that we make a contract with them today, so they could start working on the documents or any necessary preparation right away. I’d like to know what you think, Mr. Vice President Adam Castler.”

“Hmm.”

Mr. Adam Castler thought about something for a while and then stood up from his seat.

“Let me talk with the head office’s Vice President Brandon Burke for a second.”

Mr. Adam Castler went outside the office and made a call to Vice President Brandon Burke in the hallway. After a while, Mr. Castler came back to Gun-Ho’s office with a broad smile.

“We agree to it.”

The branch manager looked relieved.

“Give me the contract,” Gun-Ho said.

Gun-Ho signed the contract that the branch manager handed to him. The branch manager said as he gave the original contract to the internal auditor and put the duplicated contract into his bag, “I will be in contact frequently with Mr. Internal Auditor and Ms. Accounting Manager. There is training provided by the KOSDAQ Listed Companies Association. When you have time, please take that training.”

“We’ve already received that training.”

“We will need a board meeting minute reflecting this decision. Make it as the board meeting was held a few days ago, stating that the board made the decision to register the company with KOSDAQ and would work with a stock brokerage company to handle the process as their agent.”

“Understood.”

“We will first make an evaluation of the value of this company, so we will send a few people here to look around. Before I leave for today, is it okay for me to take a look at the factory?”

“Of course. I will show you around,” the internal auditor said as he stood up from his seat.

It was Friday, and Gun-Ho went to work in his building in Sinsa Town. GH Media’s President Shin visited Gun-Ho’s office.

“I’m back from the trip to Shanghai, sir.”

“Were there many people at the presentation?”

“I saw more journalists than potential investors.”

“Did you sign the investment letter of intent?”

“Yes, I did, sir.”

GH Media’s President Shin continued, “Director Won-Hak Sim called me yesterday. According to him, GH Media’s investment in the movie production made the headlines. They said that a Korean company—GH Media—will fund half of the movie production cost.”

“Did they find any investors to fulfill the other half of the production cost?”

“I asked Director Sim about it when he called me yesterday, and he said they found investors for the other half. Huanle Shiji Production Company is one of the investors. They are investing 1 billion won.”

“Bastards. They are not sharing the profits that they made from the TV drama production with me, but they are using the profits to make an investment in their movie production.”

“I guess they probably want to give you a huge return for your investment once they make money from the movie.”

“We might not have any income from the investment that we made in the movie production this year.”

“Well, if not this year, we will make money next year then.”

“Since GH Media is investing 50% of the movie production cost, and they get 10% from Huanle Shiji Production Company, they just had to find investors for 40% only. That’s why they easily found other investors.”

“It looks like it, sir.”

“Is Director Sim doing fine there?”

“Yes, he is. But, he is having a hard time casting an actress for the female lead role.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It seems that Lia is asking for a substantially high-performance fee this time. She is now a popular actress.”

“Hmm, really?”

“She became very popular in China as the TV drama—Shiguang Ru Meng—was successful. She is such an ungrateful person. She became that popular because of us.”

“I think it’s not really her intention, but her agency—BM Entertainment—is doing business using her popularity. So, what is Director Sim going to do about it?”

“He is open with his option to work with a Chinese actress.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Quite a while after President Jeong-Sook Shin left Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho received a call from Director Woon-Hak Sim.

“It’s me, sir, Director Woon-Hak Sim.”

“I was told that you haven’t found an actress yet for the lead female role.”

“That’s right. I’m a bit frustrated at this moment about it.”

“Even though President Shin signed the investment letter of intent already, the casting has to be completed before I could send the investment fund.”

“I’m very well aware of it, sir.”

“So, Lia is asking for a high-performance fee, huh?”

“It’s not just a higher amount, sir. She is asking almost twice of what we paid to her previously.”

“So, are you going to find a Chinese actress?”

“That doesn’t seem to be easy either, sir. If we want to work with the top stars in China, we will have to pay more than what Lia is asking now. Fan Bingbing, for example, will ask for 10 billion won for one movie.”

“Wow. It will cost our entire movie production cost.”

“If we work with a little bit less popular actress, we might afford to work with her, but since she is already known to the public, we can’t expect any freshness elements from her. Moreover, actresses in China are reluctant to play a geisha role. There are a lot of people in China who are confused between the real world and the movie world, which is weird but it is true. So, if an actor or actress plays a role in a movie or TV drama that cooperates with Japan, that actor or actress would have to live with the hatred of people for quite a while. The viewers and audiences would curse them without any hesitation.”

“Hmm.”

Gun-Ho asked, “What if we bring a Japanese actress then?”

“Well, it does cost a lot to work with a Japanese actress as well. Also, if she realizes that she has to play a role that betrays Japan—her country, she probably wouldn’t be willing to take the role either. I don’t think Japanese people are easily confused with the real world and the movie world like Chinese people, but that doesn’t mean that the actresses are willing to take a role like that.”

At that moment, Mori Aikko popped up in Gun-Ho’s head.

“What if we cast an actual geisha for the role?”

“Hahaha. That’s an interesting idea, but I understand that the role in the movie is a geisha, but we need an actress to play the role, not a real geisha. I understand that you might be annoyed by all the hassles that we are going through right now. But, a geisha is not an actress.”

“I know this geisha who used to play a role in a Taiwanese TV drama. She is a dancing geisha, so she is excellent at dancing too. Moreover, she is fascinatingly gorgeous.”

“Do you know her in person, sir?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, really? Well, then I will discuss the possibility with the staff here. Do you have a picture of her by any chance?”

“I don’t think I do… But I will find one for you.”