Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 334:

He recalled a very old memory.

Jeffrey Rodex.

The boy who preferred to read books or watch movies at home rather than playing with his friends who were more physically fit grew up to become a film director aspirant as he wished.

“Nothing beats the safe type, right?”

It was a lecture for aspirants of similar fields such as movies, dramas, plays, etc. by people who were working in the industry and wanted to give some helpful advice.

The film director on the podium answered.

It was a question about what kind of scenario would attract the attention of production companies or investors.

“Why do you think clichés are clichés? If they were not interesting elements, they would have disappeared quickly. They are stories that the public loves and likes so much that they remain as clichés for a long time. Such cliché works can recover their investment as long as they don’t go wrong, so investors and production companies are interested in them.”

The film director looked at the aspirants who filled the lecture hall.

The aspirants had different goals such as movies, dramas, plays, etc. and their eyes sparkled.

How many of these aspirants would be able to make their own works?

And how many of them would be able to make the movies they really wanted?

“The goal of production companies and investors is one thing. Return on investment.”

It was a cold and rational advice for the aspirants who wanted to make their own works.

“Of course, it would be nice if the box office performance was more than the return on investment, but that’s not a common situation. Unless you’re a director with a special talent.”

Jeffrey Rodex swallowed his saliva.

He thought he was not that talented, so he was scared for a moment.

“Making a movie is like gambling.”

It seemed to hit him hard now.

He realized that he couldn’t just think about movies if he became a film director.

“You have to choose the topic that the public likes the most, create attractive characters, and make a story that they can immerse themselves in. That’s not all. You have to choose and cast actors who suit the characters. You have to worry about production companies and investors, and you can’t relax during shooting. You never know when and where and how an accident will happen.”

The film director looked around the aspirants and the lecture hall fell silent.

“That’s what movies are. Even if you make them all, you might not succeed. Then billions of dollars will disappear in an instant. If it’s a Hollywood movie, it would be tens of billions of dollars.”

Billions. Tens of billions.

Jeffrey Rodex felt his heart pounding at the amount he had never dreamed of.

“If you fail for the first time, the next conditions will be harder. You’ll have a failure on your resume. Now, think about it. There are resumes on the desk of a production company. A failed film director, an ambitious rookie director, a box office director. Who do you think they will choose from the perspective of a production company that invests billions of dollars?”

The film director finished his speech after looking around.

“Let’s go back to the first story. If the goal of production companies and investors is to return their investment, how do they make such works? If you add a little bit of specialness to the clichés that the public likes, you can get works that can recover your investment. So, the scenarios that production companies and investors want are safe types that don’t stand out too much.”

It was an ordinary lecture.

The next lecture was by a film director who said ‘push your art to the end’. It was just one of many lectures by directors with different opinions.

But it came differently to Jeffrey Rodex.

“Safe type…!”

Jeffrey Rodex hated bothering others the most and was full of worries that he might lose billions of dollars in investment.

“…Isn’t this too little?”

“It’s enough… isn’t it?”

He also made movies with safe clichés with a spoonful of specialness rather than movies with his own thoughts when he made independent films. Of course, he saved and spared his investment money.

The movies he made won awards at film festivals and his first commercial film also recovered all his investment money.

He felt that the words of that film director stuck in his chest as he continued his life as a director steadily.

Jeffrey Rodex made his second commercial film, [Survivors], with a special twist on the cliché of disaster films.

And he sprinkled his synopsis on production companies and signed a contract with one of them, Bearound.

But then things started to shake from then on.

Davis Garrett, notorious for script changes, said he would appear, and Seo-jun, who he never thought of, was cast.

Thanks to that, everyone was looking forward to his movie even before he started shooting.

‘…And the production cost increased.’

He was dizzy at the huge investment money he had never seen before and spent it on the set.

It was his movie that would lose all that investment money if it failed.

Jeffrey arrived at his studio that Bearound had prepared for him and sat down at the table and opened his laptop. It was a new laptop he bought with the contract money, but he didn’t know why it was so slow to turn on.

That’s how [Survivors] started shooting. Jeffrey was relieved by Davis Garrett’s stable acting that was not much different from his script.

‘…No.’

Jeffrey Rodex honestly expressed his feelings on the [Survivors] file written on the laptop screen that was fully turned on.

[Do your best to act ‘character’ as freely as you can. You’ll see what it means to not be bound by the script. It’s a rare opportunity to have permission from both the production company and the director.]

Freely.

That day. At the dinner table, Davis Garrett’s word resonated not only with the actors but also with Jeffrey Rodex’s heart.

‘I didn’t know then.’

He seemed to have a little expectation for the actors who would act after hearing that.

So he felt a little disappointed and relieved by the actors who shot according to the script.

‘Jun did well shockingly.’

When he saw Davis Garrett and Seo-jun acting out of his ‘stable’ script with different lines, movements, and character personalities, Jeffrey Rodex felt a tingling sensation from his toes to his head.

He was so relieved by his ‘stable’ script that was ruined by the two actors’ amazing acting.

Freely.

Jeffrey didn’t stop his rising lips.

He felt his heart pounding with excitement and grabbed his mouse.

On one side of the monitor, the [Survivors-Original] file was open and on the other side, the [Survivors-Modified] file was open.

“…Good.”

Jeffrey opened a new file. The cursor blinked on a white background.

His hand twitched on the empty screen.

Jeffrey put both hands on the keyboard, recalling what he had shot until today.

What is cliché?

Safe type?

It’s so safe that I’m suffocating!

“I’m going to do what I want…!”

Tap tap.

The Director’s eyes reflected in the light of the monitor sparkled.

Jeffrey Rodex laughed maniacally as he tapped on the keyboard.

A Bearound employee who stopped by when he heard that Jeffrey was in his studio closed the door quietly at the sight of Jeffrey Rodex, who was wrapped in madness.

***

Two days later.

Bearound headquarters conference room.

A stack of papers was pushed in front of Seo-jun and the actors, who were tilting their heads in curiosity because the shooting was postponed for a day at Jeffrey’s request.

[Survivors-Modified2]

Director Jeffrey Rodex, who handed out the stack of papers, looked exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes, bloodshot pupils, and dry lips.

The actors were surprised by his changed face in just two days.

“Director. Did you stay up all night?”

“Yes. A little. I’m fine.”

Despite his weak appearance, Jeffrey smiled brightly at them. Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

He looked different from before.

Until recently, Jeffrey looked timid and weak, and now he looked even weaker than before. But the atmosphere was different.

Seo-jun’s eyes stopped at one place as he examined Jeffrey.

‘Is it because of his eyes?’

It was a familiar look.

“Oh.”

Davis Garrett, Milan Chellen, and Vanessa Olsen also felt the changed vibe of Jeffrey.

“You must have come up with a good story.”

It was the look of directors who loved and insisted on their own stories.

It was not always a good influence, but it was a necessary mind for Jeffrey.

Milan Chellen, who had seen many directors, said with a smile.

“Yes. I hope you like it.”

“Don’t forget that I have the right to modify it. Director.”

Jeffrey nodded with a groan at Davis Garrett’s playful voice.

“Shall we read it?”

At Seo-jun’s words, everyone opened the script in front of them. Andrew Walker also sat next to Seo-jun and shook his legs as he read the script.

“Oh…”

“…Hmm.”

Jeffrey shook his legs nervously at the actors’ ambiguous expressions.

Even the Director changed the script.

There was no such big accident.

He desperately hoped that the set would not change much and opened Jeffrey’s script.

‘…He must have used the shooting part.’

The front part was written in a brief summary as if he intended to use it as it was until the shooting two days ago.

He was relieved.

The planning team leader sighed and read the next line.

Seo-jun and Davis Garrett were the first ones to finish reading the script.

Davis Garrett scratched his chin as he closed the script. He looked sorry.

“…Is it because of me?”

Seo-jun laughed at Davis Garrett’s words.

He didn’t know the exact reason why Jeffrey flipped over the script, but Davis Garrett’s improvisation seemed to be the cause, so he couldn’t say he was innocent.

Davis Garrett seemed to think the same way.

“Our Director. I thought he was mild… He was just hiding his true nature. I was fooled.”

“Haha. Yeah.”

Jeffrey ran wild in the new script.

“How is it?”

Davis Garrett asked Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and answered.

“I like it. I want to shoot it.”

“I like it too.”

Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen nodded their heads.

Andrew Walker stopped shaking his legs and stared blankly at the script.

The lines of the three actors also changed slightly.

“It’s not hard to memorize this much…”

Vanessa Olsen’s eyes turned to one side.

Seo-jun and the two actors followed her gaze.

At the end of their gaze, there was a planning team leader from Bearound sitting there.

Then Jeffrey, who was smiling brightly at the actors’ reactions, also looked at the planning team leader.

He had only paid attention to the actors’ reactions, so he didn’t even notice the planning team leader’s appearance.

And Jeffrey was surprised.

The planning team leader’s face was pale as he looked at the script. It was the first time he saw him like this.

“…Team leader?”

The planning team leader came to his senses and lifted his head at Jeffrey’s voice. He only moved his lips for a while and barely spat out his voice.

“…This won’t work.”

It was a different firmness from before.