The Famous Millionaire

The Bono-dong office was not as crowded as before. There were six full-time staff members and seven kids from Anifan. Jungah came to the office on the weekends.

What mattered to Hyunwoo was not the size of the staff. As the lazy employees were dismissed, those who survived were hard-working people.

In particular, Hyunwoo liked the new hire Kunho Chong, a graduate of Video Imaging College, who Jungah had recommended strongly.

Slender in figure like a woman, Kunho drew pictures very quickly as Jungah said.

Though he was not good at details, it was not a big deal.

What Hyunwoo really liked about him was his intelligence.

Kunho not only drew pictures quickly but also understood and handled his job quickly. Though he was hired only a week ago, he was working like an experienced employee.

Jungkyu Pae, who Kyungsu recommended as an expert specializing in drawing pictures, was also excellent. Though he was not as smart as Kunho, Jungkyu looked dependable and he had a calm personality.

“What should I do with this?” asked Kyungsu, pointing to a screen.

Hyunwoo approached him to check the monitor showing the five video productions he had submitted the Talent Broadcasting.

After pondering over it for a moment, Hyunwoo presented a simple solution.

“Just upload it in Story Mecca, with the title Special,” said Hyunwoo.

“Got it.”

Kyungsu posted the five productions all at once under the title Special.

“By the way, when are we going to switch the animation Tuti & Angelica to a paid subscription? It’s enjoying explosive popularity in its current free format.”

“What’s the number of visits for the latest episode?”

“2.2 million.”

Actually, the number of visits that Hyunwoo checked last night was 2.1 million. It had increased by 100,000 overnight.

Over 70% of the visits were from overseas, which meant there were more visits from abroad than from Korea.

Such a drastic increase was possible thanks to the English dubbing. The moment English dubbing was offered for Tuti & Angelica the upward trend of visits from abroad drastically went up.

Hyunwoo checked the likely profits when Tuti & Angelica was switched to a paid subscription. If at least 10% of the free visits paid, it would mean 200,000 visitors. If Hyunwoo charged 300 won per episode, it would mean 60 million won. When Hyunwoo divided the revenue between Story Mecca and Ani & Funny at the ratio of 4:6, he would rake in 36 million won.

However, Hyunwoo felt the actual income would be far less than that as he was doubtful about the validity of the statistic that typically 10% of the free riders would continue to stay when the free content was switched to a paid subscription.

Hyunwoo thought about the difference between animation and the genre novel. The biggest difference was the reading population. The main readers of the genre novel were teens and adults while those of the animation works were children.

Another factor that made Hyunwoo seriously lean toward a paid subscription system was the upward trend. The number of visits was going up and up.

“How many episodes do we have in stock right now?” asked Hyunwoo.

“We’ve got a total of nine episodes ready to go, and there are over 30 episodes we have to put some finishing touches on.”

“Well, for the time being, I would like to maintain the current free subscription system.”

Hearing at that Kyungsu felt somewhat regretful.

At that moment, Kunho said something surprising, “Wow, this kind of reaction is unexpected.”

“What is it?”

“I mean the Special series we just uploaded.”

“Is the reaction good enough?”

Hyunwoo and Kyungsu quickly checked out the computer monitor.

The reaction was something disappointing, though. Though the number of visits was big, the reaction was unfavorable, with visitors complaining about the dull content.

Kyungsu let out a sigh and said, “What the heck is this? We put a great deal of time and energy in it, but the result makes us mope.”

But Hyunwoo reacted differently. His eyes were glittering as if he found hope.

“I don’t think so. I think I now know,” said Hyunwoo.

“What do you mean?” asked Kyungsu.

“Jungah was right. It looks like she has a really wonderful discerning eye,” said Hyunwoo.

“What? Are you talking about me now?” asked Jungah.

“Think about this. Why do you feel the children like that low-budget animation?”

“Well, I don’t really understand…”

“It’s about change. They are stimulated not only by the change in the story but also the change in the display. They will be more and more thrilled as the story is coming to the climax, and now the screens become more colorful all of a sudden, which fans their excitement all the more.”

Only then did Kyungsu and Sanggyu nod their heads, saying “Looks like we have to maintain the current format.”

“I think we have found one factor that will make hits.”

“How can you change the animation videos?”

“Bring in more screen changes than now.”

“How?”

Hyunwoo now explained to them in great excitement, “As you know, the current animation puts emphasis on the highlighted one-minute portion of the ten-minute length. In other words, just one change. From now on the whole ten minutes should be full of changes in screen.”

“Specifically, how?”

“Why don’t you emphasize the psychological changes of the main character?”

What Hyunwoo meant was that every time the main character’s psychological change needed attention, it should be intensively highlighted in one to three seconds. For example, when the main character was shy, angry or burst into laughter.

“Oh, that kind of change will certainly have an effect, but you have to expect a delay in the production period as well as an increase in production costs,” said Kyungsu.

“No, you can save the cost and production days,” said Hyunwoo.

“Really? How?”

“Well, you don’t have to make the change every time the main character’s mood changes. If you prepare specific facial expressions in advance, you can just use them like a formula. You don’t have to make a new one,” said Hyunwoo.

That made sense. For example, assuming the main character’s facial expression needs two seconds for a slight change, 30 changes would save them one minute of production time.

Now, Hyunwoo’s voice was full of vigor, suggesting he was confident of success.

In fact, he had no fear of failure.

He suddenly thought about when he initially founded Ani & Funny. He was only concerned with the growth of the Anifan kids, not revenues or profits.

Though he was in a different situation now, he felt he should not give up his initial intention.

“Then, I think we should develop the main character’s facial expressions in a variety of ways,” Kyungsu said.

“Let me tell Myunghun about it. In the meantime, can you work on the script for the new animation? From now on, we will upload various stories simultaneously,” said Hyunwoo.

“Alright. Hey, Yujong, can you help me? I’ve got lots of work to do from now on,” said Kyungsu.

“Yes, sir!” answered Yujong spiritedly.

Seeing them elated again, Hyunwoo was buoyant with expectations.

He had dinner with the staff of Ani & Funny that evening.

It was already nearing 7 pm, and Hyunwoo stood up hurriedly.

“I’m afraid I have to leave now as I have an appointment.”

They were all aware of what kind of appointment it was. Today was the day when Korean Broadcasting would air the first installment of the special series KOVE DREAM.

After he came out of the restaurant, Hyunwoo headed for the House of Happiness to watch it with the staff of N&C Korea.

As the dormitory next to the warehouse of N&C Korea was too small, all the staff could not get inside to watch the KOVE special.

Sungrak and Juhwan, the staff managing the warehouse, were already there waiting for him.

“Welcome, sir.”

“Please have a seat here.”

The KOVE special was already on air. Hyunwoo watched it over beer with the staff,

The special was produced much better than expected. In particular, they almost got choked up when the portion containing some patriotic content was aired.

The special program was a three-part series, and Korea Broadcasting aired the program at the same time slot for three days.

Those who watched the series showed an enthusiastic reaction.

As soon as the series was over, the internet homepage of Korea Broadcasting was inundated with the feedback and encouragement from those who watched it.

All the staff of N&C Korea yelled for joy.

“Hooray! We’ll be making lots of money, from now on, right?”

“I think I’m dreaming now!”

However, it was an empty dream.

Less than one week after Korea Broadcasting aired the special, Seoul Broadcasting aired ‘Dream Korea’ as if to compete against it.

And the content of Dream Korea slandered the KOVE DREAM special, questioning the validity of KOVE DREAM’s argument that it’s a coalition of the dream teams of Korea. And it showed the interview of Hyongbok Lee who was the leader of Dream Korea.