Melo Suits Me Ep 5-6:-

I really didn’t want to do this but here I am, with yet another episode of Media Production 101/This Show Gives Me Stress

*deep breath* YOU DO NOT PITCH A PROJECT TO A CHANNEL BEFORE YOU HAVE SECURED A PRODUCTION COMPANY. The very first place a concept & script goes to is a production company. If the production company decides to pick it up, they then put together the crew (director, cinematographer, assistants, etc.), cast, & investment (through PPL deals, loans, bond companies, etc.). It is only once all this is done that a production company, with the director & scriptwriter tagging along, pitches the project to a network channel. The network channel then looks at the strength of the script, the famous names attached to it, & decides whether its a bankable project before accepting it. They do this because the major way that a network makes their money is through ads that air during a show’s broadcast. They keep all the profit made from that, along with a smaller portion of what the production company makes. So hi-fi names attached to a project equals to brands bidding more to get the project’s time slot, which is a hell of a lot of money. If there are no famous names attached to it, they look at the possibility of high ratings through the power of the script alone, which would still get them good money, just not from the get-go.

Also, I reiterate, Hanjoo is the boss on a set. Even if I ignore that she shouldn’t even be there, the director or actor CANNOT talk to her like that because they are on HER payroll. She has the power to fire them, even the director. At times like this, the assistant director steps in. They talked a bit about a “B team” in these eps. The 1st AD, or the Chief Assistant Director, is someone who steps in to take control of the shoot & acts as an interim director, on occasions that a director cannot shoot. This is a very common occurrence & they do not get credit for it even if they end up shooting the entire thing themselves. It is a part of their job description. That is just the way it is. So. IRL, Hanjoo would have kicked the director off the set & told the 1st AD to take over. She could have also sued the actor for breach of contract. Not only that, she can withhold their pay as well because nobody, & I mean NOBODY, working on a project gets paid before the project is over. People have to wait months to get their pay after a shoot ends.

It bugs me how closed off Jinjoo is to any & all constructive criticism made by her director. A team does not work like that. An initial script is not the finished product. After a scriptwriter writes a script, they sit down with the director to see what works & what does not. The script then goes to both, the production company and the network channel, who will then send it back with any revision requests, or sign off on it for the shoot to start. Jinjoo being that rigid about the director’s opinions is not a positive trait at all. I would hate to work with her. And if you think that the director was being rude by pointing out the holes in her script, he really was not. That is his job & he was doing it very well. I would love to work with him because he actually takes his work seriously & has the brains, passion and dedication to back him up. Hilariously enough, it is Jinjoo who feels like she is very half-assed about her work, when she had actually accused the director of being so. She feels like someone who has never worked in the industry before. What did she even learn while interning under the hotshot scriptwriter? How to make long winded narrations? None of this justifies her holier-than-thou attitude while working.

Finally, I had to laugh when I saw the equipment they were using to shoot the documentary. There is no way in hell that would ever be fit for a theatrical release. A YouTube film would be more fitting.

This show really is way better when its not trying to show the workings of a media production. I feel like banging my head against something whenever they do.

P.S. I am really surprised by how realistically they have portrayed Gong Myung’s relationship in the show. I might actually be rooting for them to sort their problems & get back together, because the only alternative is him & Hanjoo, who I am not feeling at all.