Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

The following day, the photo of Ms. Ailing Feng and Mori Aikko appeared in the newspaper.

[The famous writer—Ms. Ailing Feng—met with the actress—Sen Yingzi (Ms. Mori Aikko)—who will play a role in her movie—Menghuan Yinghua.

Ms. Ailing Feng was impressed by the look of Sen Yingzi and knew that she was the one who would play the main character in her movie. Ms. Ailing Feng highly spoke of the laddishness and pureness that she could feel from Sen Yingzi. Especially, according to Ms. Ailing Feng, she was very satisfied with the fact that Sen Yingzi was once a dancing geisha.]

The news article showed a picture of Ms. Ailing Feng with Mori Aikko. They were holding each other’s hand firmly. It was a photo of a stunningly gorgeous young woman and a short mid-aged woman.

Director Woon-Hak Sim gave a call to Gun-Ho to update him on how things are going in Shanghai.

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

“How are you? How’s Mori Aikko doing? Is she okay?”

“She is doing fine. Huanle Shiji Production Company reserved a special room for Ms. Mori Aikko with the Grand Central Hotel in Shanghai. The hotel offers great amenities that she can enjoy during her stay and also convenient access.”

“I just sent 2 million dollars, and I will send the remaining 3 million dollars once the movie production presentation is completed.”

“I was informed about it, sir. Thank you.”

“Is the preparation for the production presentation going smoothly?”

“Every single one of Mori Aikko’s movements is being shown in newspapers these days.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, from the day when she arrived in Shanghai City, and the day she met with the writer of Menghuan Yinghua, which was yesterday.”

“Oh, that lady writer—Ms. Feng someone?”

“That’s right, sir. It’s Ms. Ailing Feng. She loved Mori Aikko as soon as she met her. She said that Mori Aikko would be the perfect match to the main female character that she depicted in her movie—Menghuan Yinghua.”

“Hmm, really?”

“The photo of Mori Aikko with Ms. Ailing Feng was featured in an evening newspaper yesterday.”

“Haha, really? Well, I’m relying on you for Mori Aikko’s safety there. I appreciate your effort for it.”

“You don’t have to worry about it, sir.”

“Is the movie production presentation going to be held tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir. We are expecting to see lots of entertainment reporters there. I’m sure that they will pour into the presentation to see Mori Aikko in person.”

“I see.”

“I will give you a call again tomorrow once the movie production presentation is over, sir.”

When Gun-Ho received the call from Director Woon-Hak Sim, he was in his office in GH Building in Sinsa Town. After getting off the phone with him, Gun-Ho was lost in thought while walking around in his office.

‘Mori Aikko will get paid 200,000 dollars for playing the role in the movie, which is good enough. What about Director Sim? How much should I pay Director Sim? Maybe I should ask that dandy guy from BM Entertainment’s manager about it, or, not. He seems to be a talkative man. He might talk about it behind my back later saying that I was being cheap by asking around how much I should pay Director Sim where I can just pay a good amount.’

Gun-Ho was thinking about giving a call to Director Yan Wu and then changed his mind and decided to call Huanle Shiji Production Company’s President Baogang Chen instead.

“This is Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Oh, sir, we received 2 million dollars that you sent.”

“I will send you 3 more million dollars on the following day after the movie production presentation.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m sure the movie production presentation will be a success. We are already getting a lot of attention to it. I do appreciate you introducing us to a good actress.”

“I have a question that I’d like to ask you.”

“Sure, sir.”

“How much do you pay Director Yan Wu once his work is determined to be successful?”

“We pay a writer and a director within the budget of 1% of our production cost.”

“If the movie becomes a box office hit, do you pay him more?”

“If the movie becomes a box office hit, our investors make more money, not the workers.”

“Hmm, really? Then, the amount of pay could be not even 50,000 dollars.”

“That’s correct, sir.”

“What about Director Woon-Hak Sim? How much do you pay him?”

“Mr. Director Sim is not a freelancer, but he is one of our staff. That’s why we are paying his wage on a monthly basis. So, we won’t give him any additional pay. However, if we do really well with the movie, we can give him a bonus.”

“Really? Hmm… I see.”

After getting off the phone with President Baogang Chen, Gun-Ho thought about it further while walking around in his office with his hands tied behind his back.

He then made a call to Director Sim, “This is Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I think that you are not being compensated for your work fairly… What you currently get paid is the wage that you receive in China and 1 million won that we pay you in Korea. That is all.”

“Huanle Shiji Production Company is providing me with the place to stay and all the expenses for my vehicle.”

“You mentioned the other day that Director Yan Wu is working as a freelancer, right? Is it better to work as a freelancer in that industry? Or you get paid more if you belong to a production company?”

“A freelancer gets paid higher usually, but their jobs are not stable, I should say.”

“Well, let’s do this. Your monthly wage was initially determined to be 1 million won because of your situation with the possible wage garnishment. Once your general rehabilitation case is decided with the court, I will raise your monthly wage to 1.5 million won.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“And, if the movie—Menghuan Yinghua—becomes a box office hit, I will give you 1% of the profit from there.”

“Wow! Did you say 1%, sir? Thank… thank you, sir.”

“Does it sound fair to you, Director Sim?”

“Thank you so much, sir. I will put everything I have into this movie production to make it successful, sir.”

After getting off the phone with Director Sim, Gun-Ho thought about it.

‘I am investing 5 billion won in this movie production. If I make 3 billion won from it, I will have to share the profit with Director Woon-Hak Sim by giving him 30 million won. If the movie becomes one of the biggest box office hits and I make 10 billion won as a result, I will have to give 100 million won to Director Sim. Well, I can do that. People need enough incentive to work hard. I have to promise to give a high enough amount of money to a person in order to induce their best effort at work. I hope that 1% profit sharing is big enough for Director Sim to put everything he has into the movie production, as he said.

That’s not all. Think about it. Once I make profits from this movie production in Shanghai, the money will be sent to Korea, and it will be sent to GH Media’s bank account. I have to share the profits with GH Media’s President Jeong-Sook Shin as well. She will take 5% of them. And, the government will take 22% as a corporate tax. After all those “sharing,” I will finally be able to receive my dividend. The “sharing” hasn’t finished there yet. Once I receive my dividend, I have to pay the income tax for it. How much would be left in my hand at the end? Can I recover half of my investment funds? It’s really really hard to make money!’