Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 506: Project G (2)

-How about going with thirty billion won? If we're going to do it, we should do it right. Don't you think so?

Since Shanghai New Media Inc would cover the full cost of Ling Ling's girl group album production, I only intended to ask for about three billion won for Project G. My plan was to reach out to connections I had made after my return for the rest. However, Wang Long offered me ten times the amount I had in mind.

Suddenly, I had secured three times the total production cost as an investment.

-If you think about it, that's practically the promotional budget needed to make Ling Ling successful. So it's fine. And my discretionary budget alone is fifty billion won annually, so if it's not enough, I can go up to fifty billion. Just give me the Chinese rights in return.

Wang Long was currently the team lead at Shanghai New Media Inc. He was young, but as the son of Wang Min, the Deputy Secretary of Shenzhen, he was treated almost like a director within the company. Because of that, the size of his discretionary budget was considerable.

Although I was deeply grateful, I politely declined his offer. To make a profit from producing this program, I first had to cap the total production cost. I also limited the investment amount, because the reason for pushing forward with Project G wasn't just to make Ling Ling's girl group a hit. I also wanted to showcase the power of my network through this opportunity.

"Of course, I'll give you the Chinese rights. And... I appreciate the offer, but please limit your investment to about five billion won. The total production cost won't exceed twelve billion won no matter what."

-Well, I get the production cost, but... why ask for only half of the investment?

"I plan to gather the remaining half from as many investors as possible. This is my chance to show the broadcast stations that I have my own influence."

Currently, Ace Entertainment was using its influence to pressure the three major broadcasting stations. To break through that pressure completely, I needed to show that this project had numerous investors.

Broadcast stations wield unlimited power over entertainment companies. Nevertheless, they maintained a thoroughly submissive position when it came to corporate advertisers. If corporations were the top of the hierarchy, broadcast stations were beneath them with entertainment companies even lower.

I intended to mobilize those top-tier corporations.

Wang Long instantly grasped that I wanted to show the broadcasters I had advertisers behind me.

-That's true. If you have many partners, the broadcasters won't dare look down on you. Okay, you set the final investment amount. And if things get tough, we'll cover the rest. Just let me know without any hesitation.

"Thanks, Wang Long."

-No, thank you for giving me a great investment opportunity. There's no way something you're involved in would fail. If it succeeds, we'll make money and get plenty of publicity too, right?

In the proposal I gave, I had projected about a 200% return on investment. Yet Wang Long wasn't focused on the numbers. He simply trusted me as a person.

"Now I'll really have to succeed to repay a friend's trust."

-Hey, friend. I already believe you will.

Wang Long declared with more confidence than me that it would be a definite success. Then, as if just remembering something, Wang Long spoke up.

-Oh, and my father is heading to Seoul for a government cooperation project with Korea. He'll arrive tomorrow, so keep that in mind.

"He's coming tomorrow?"

-Yeah.

"Why are you only telling me now?"

Wang Long chuckled playfully.

-My father wanted to surprise you. But I figured you wouldn't have time to meet him seeing you fight Ace Entertainment, so I'm letting you know in advance. He'll be there for one night and two days. Oh, and he mentioned having an interview with KBC, so please help him out.

"Got it. I'll give him a call."

-Okay, I'm hanging up.

After ending the call, I smiled at Kang Ji-Yung, Lee Dong-Min, and Ahn Ye-Eum, who were with me.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about funding anymore."

The excited Lee Dong-Min said, "Hahaha! Now, instead of begging the variety show directors to meet us, shouldn't we make them come to us?"

Of course, the pride of the broadcast station directors wouldn't allow them to come just because we called. Nonetheless, it was undoubtedly a favorable situation.

I smiled and said, "Alright, I'll start making calls now."

I began calling investors, letting them know that five billion won in investment had already been secured.

***

The first call was to Jang Ji-Hye, the president of Womans.

After hearing my situation, she readily agreed.

-I can send up to one billion won in cash today if needed. If Team Lead Jung says to invest, I'd be a fool not to.

I had asked for about five hundred million won, but she offered much more than I expected. The connections I had built valued me far more highly than I had anticipated.

"Thank you, Ms. Jang."

-There's no need for thanks when I'll be getting a share of the profits. I'm the one who's grateful. Also, I'll join as a judge.

"Thank you. I might also need your influence when negotiating with the broadcast stations."

Jang Ji-Hye made it clear she would actively use her position.

-Alright. Don't hesitate to call me then. I've invested my precious money—you think I'll just sit back and watch?

After ending the call, I rang Moon Yung-Mi, the president of LM Apparel. LM Apparel willingly offered two billion won in exchange for exclusive rights to provide all costumes for Project G. It was a perfectly reasonable demand, so I gladly accepted.

At that moment, President Lee Yung-Ah of L.M.L, who was nearby, volunteered to invest as well. Since L.M.L had become an independent subsidiary of LM Apparel, she offered one billion won and luxury costume sponsorship as a separate company president. She believed that once Project G aired, it would be a huge success across Korea, China, and Japan.

Unbelievable sums were flowing in effortlessly from the start.

I continued calling advertisers who had made large profits using Team Jung's stars over the past two years. I expected about half to refuse, but everyone pledged investments ranging from fifty million to one billion won. In return, they asked me to consider renewing their ad contracts.

The flood of investments was so overwhelming that I no longer had to worry about funding. The investment intention letters I had gathered already exceeded fifteen billion won. For this reason, I had to let everyone know that adjustments to the amounts would be necessary.

Next, I called Jinseong Foods and Jin Sung-Joon greeted me with a laugh.

-Mr. Jung. With the JS Club card we gifted you, you could cover the production cost alone. Why not take the entire investment yourself instead of involving others?

Jin Sung-Joon even suggested that I become the sole investor in the project and reap all the profits myself.

"I appreciate the thought, but my goal this time is to showcase influence."

-Is that so? Then Jinseong Foods will invest five billion won. Just make us the program's main sponsor.

The verbal commitments now totaled nearly twenty billion won.

"I'll consider it carefully, but please send the investment letter for now."

-Okay. I'll have it for you within 10 minutes.

Finally, I called Yetterang, a cosmetics company. President Ahn Seok-Hoon made a swift decision, and his proposed investment was beyond my imagination.

-We'll cover the entire cost no matter how much it is!

Ahn Seok-Hoon didn't even know how much producing an audition program would cost but offered to fund it all.

"Do you know that producing an audition program costs around ten billion won?"

-That's fine. We were planning to expand our new cosmetics lineup and go public anyway. This is a perfect opportunity to broaden our business into media investments. Afterall, the cosmetics and entertainment industries are closely connected.

Ahn Seok-Hoon intended to tie the company's IPO to this project. The series of shocking developments continued.

"We've already exceeded twenty billion won in investments... so that's more than needed. We'll have to adjust the final amount."

-Ah, that's a shame. But please allocate as much as possible. You know you own 3% of our company's shares, right? Our success means a huge win for you too.

As Ahn Seok-Hoon pointed out, I was indeed a shareholder in the company. Perhaps that was the reason he was so eager to emphasize the point.

After hanging up, Kang Ji-Yung laughed in disbelief. "If you really tried, you could've raised fifty billion won."

It had only been three hours since I began to make the calls. In just three hours, I had secured sponsorships and hundreds of billions in investment pledges. Many also promised ads and sponsorships. I had aimed to raise ten billion won for production, but I now held hundreds of billions in investment and advertisement letters.

My heart raced. For the first time since my return, I truly felt the power of the network I had built.

I said, "This is actually happening."

Kang Ji-Yung grinned. "This is all thanks to the trust you've built over time, Mr. Jung."

Lee Dong-Min nodded in agreement. "Absolutely. It's not just because of your past successes. It's because you've won the hearts of the investors. No one else could pull this off."

A lump formed in my throat once again.

Lee Dong-Min asked, "So are we heading to the broadcast stations now? Should I come along?"

I shook my head. "No. We'll go eventually, but only after breaking the collusion and getting invited by the directors themselves."

Since the goal was to break the collusion, I had to set everything up before making a move.

"Once I receive invitations from the three directors, I'll meet them then."

At that moment, I sent messages to the variety directors of the three major networks: Han Seok-Yung from MBS, Park Han-Jong from SBC, and Lim Hyo-Joon from KBC. Along with the project proposal, I informed them that I had secured all the necessary investment and brought in advertisers.

"Now, let's wait and see how long it takes for them to call."

All three variety directors had been lobbied by Ace Entertainment, so it would take longer than usual. However, the longer it took, the more advantageous it would be for me.

"The first call will be from Han Seok-Yung at MBS."

Given his fiery temper and impatience, Han Seok-Yung was the most likely to reach out first. And thirty minutes later, the first call came through.

"Here we go.:

[Caller ID: MBS Variety Director Han Seok-Yung]

As I expected, the hot-tempered and impulsive Han Seok-Yung from MBS was the first to call. The card I had prepared was so strong that the collusion crumbled faster than I had anticipated.

***

Han Seok-Yung's excited voice came through the line.

-You really secured ten billion won for production?

"If you find it hard to believe, I can send over the investment intention letters. I also have advertisement letters. But I'm not sure if you're interested."

-Come on, would I be calling if I wasn't interested? Haha. Yeah, definitely send over the letters. Not that I don't trust you, Team Lead Jung, but, you know~

"Of course, I'll send them right away."

He burst into laughter but subtly tried to steer the conversation in the network's favor.

-I'll do my best to expedite the programming. But, well, you know you have to acknowledge the network's share, right?

"How much are you asking for?"

-Well, overseas marketing costs are pretty steep as you are probably aware of. But asking for too much would make me seem greedy. Just give us half.

He was greedy indeed. Yet I held back for now.

"By the way, I heard MBS Entertainment won't work with Hoop Entertainment's artists anymore. Would that be okay? I heard Ace Entertainment's president pulled some strings."

Han Seok-Yung feigned innocence.

-What? Who said that? Sure, the Ace Entertainment president is influential, but do you think a network director is some lackey? No way. I just had one meal with them. That's all.

'Hah. A meal, drinks, and probably some lobbying too.'

Despite scoffing on the inside, I played along and pretended to believe him.

"Really? Then it's not like MBS Entertainment is blacklisting Hoop Entertainment, right?"

-Of course not! Call any PD and ask. They'll back me up.

The thirty minute delay was likely because he was lifting the restrictions he had placed on the entertainment department's PDs. Now, it was time for real negotiations.

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"I see. It looks like I misunderstood."

-Exactly!

"But asking for 50% when we're funding the production is too much. Would the investors accept that?"

-T-Then... how about 45%...?

It was time to add a little pressure.

"Mr. Han. I'm sorry, but can I call you back later? Mr. Park Han-Jong from SBC is blowing up my phone right now."

-Wait! You didn't just send the proposal to me?

"No. After not hearing from you for thirty minutes, I thought you weren't interested. So I reached out to the other networks too."

-It's only been thirty minutes!

"Thirty minutes is a long time. The investors have been pushing me nonstop. I had no choice."

'It's your fault for calling back so late.'

He was clearly torn between choosing Ace Entertainment or Hoop Entertainment, which was why he delayed contacting me. Thanks to that, the situation started to turn overwhelmingly in my favor.

-Ugh, fine. But call me right after you finish. No, let's just meet in person later!

"Understood."

I hung up and clenched my fist tightly.

Kang Ji-Yung chuckled as she listened in. "SBC's Director Park hasn't even called yet."

"He doesn't know that, does he? Besides, in this situation, they'll assume any call they make will just be met with lies."

Once a call had been made, the collusion was effectively broken. In this situation, no one would trust anything the others said. Afterall, collusion crumbled the moment suspicion arose.

Just then, my phone rang.

[Caller ID: SBC Variety Director Park Han-Jong]

"It looks like Mr. Park isn't any more patient."

I grinned and answered the call.

***

When I relayed my conversation with MBS's Han Seok-Yung, SBC's Park Han-Jong raised his voice in an instant.

-What? Is he insane? You secured all the production costs, and he wants half? We'll take just 30%. Deal? Let's sign right now.

It was a significant cut, but still not good enough. I wanted it down to 15%.

"Even 30% feels a bit high. We secured all the investment and brought in the advertisers, so... I'll have to think about it. Oh, Mr. Park, I'll get back to you soon. KBC is calling me now."

Park Han-Jong shouted in frustration.

-Huh? You didn't just contact me?

'That's why you should've called earlier.'

Breathing heavily, he finally relented.

-Fine. Let's meet in front of our station later.

"Yes, sir. I'll come by after speaking with the investors."

-Alright. And... we can do 25%. Yeah, 25% is possible. Just keep that in mind.

"Yes, Mr. Park."

Click.

The moment I hung up, everyone burst into laughter. Despite Ace Entertainment's lobbying, the networks were quickly distancing themselves from it. It was only natural, since a project of this scale was simply too tempting to refuse.

Then Kang Ji-Yung spoke up. "Well, the collusion is basically broken now, so shall we pick one of the two networks?"

I calmly shook my head. "There's still KBC."

Kang Ji-Yung sighed. "Wouldn't it be better to give up on them? KBC's new entertainment director, Lim Hyo-Joon, is President Im Sung-Hak's cousin."

She was right. KBC was the real challenge. They were pitting Queen Jeong-Hee against Hwaranjeon, and Hoop Entertainment's stars rarely appeared on KBC. Nevertheless, that tangled knot had to be untied too. Even if not Team Jung, many Hoop Entertainment's celebrities were appearing on KBC.

I said, "Let's wait ten more minutes. If they don't call, I'll use my last resort."

Kang Ji-Yung tilted her head curiously. "Last resort?"

I grinned and began explaining the plan that would throw KBC into complete chaos.