KANG Hye Jeong launched Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd with Korea’s leading action filmmaker, RYOO Seung-wan. As RYOO’s wife and producer who understands him better than anyone else, she made a total of five features including The City of Violence (2006), Dachimawa Lee (2008), The Unjust (2010, co-produced with Film Train), Troubleshooter (2010) and The Berlin File (2013). Embracing her 10th anniversary with Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd, we met with the leading 2nd generation female veteran producer, KANG Hye Jeong.

 

Veteran’s theatrical release date keeps being changed. Have you finally set the date?
Until recently we had a May release in mind, but our financier (CJ E&M) persuaded us to fix it for August. This is largely due to the Hollywood blockbuster shot in Seoul, The Avengers: Age of Ultron which will be released in May, along with several other foreign blockbuster films will hit theaters around the same time. So we reached the conclusion that it would be better to release our film during the high season in the summer. It’s better for us score-wise to be 3rd in place in the August box office than in 2nd place at May’s box office. 

 

Another blockbuster-scale film, CHOI Dong-hoon’s Assassination will hit theaters around the same time. From an audience point-of-view, this is quite interesting as the industry has high expectations towards both films.
Veteran wrapped up last July. The entire production schedule was designed for an October, 2014 release. But the financier who responded well to our film persuaded us to keep postponing the date. It’s gotten to the point that we believe this date was destined for us. As a producer, I hope the summer market turns out to be a ‘win, win’ situation where people who go see CHOI Dong-hoon’s Assassination will also see our film.

 

What is the breakeven point for Veteran?
We spent USD 5.24 million on production costs, and with the addition of P&A costs, we anticipate a total spending of USD 7.68 to USD 7.22 million. To break even with this, we need to sell 3 to 3.5 million tickets in the local box office.

 

This is actor YOO Ah-in’s first collaboration with ROO Seung-wan which raised considerable attention. YOO is supposed to be a new kind of villain. Can you elaborate on this?
He plays an insidious character who is a third generation rich kid from an affluent family. He may be a villain, but an extremely sexy one. You might have gotten chills from RYOO Seung-bum who was totally immersed in his bad guy roles in both The Unjust and The Berlin File. YOO Ah-in’s villain takes this to another level by adding sexiness to his character. I visited HWANG Jung-min and YOO Ah-in’s first film shoot, and despite their considerable age difference, YOO Ah-in was not intimidated by veteran actor HWANG’s presence. Likewise, HWANG Jung-min was amazing in the way he skillfully dealt with his young counterpart’s zealous challenges. I immediately knew that we had an interesting film when I saw the chemistry in their performances.

 

Rumors are that Veteran might be invited to the Cannes Film Festival.
If you’re a filmmaker, Cannes is definitely the place you would want to go. I’m not sure how they would see our film. As a producer though, I hope this is a profitable film rather than a film festival favorite.

 

Upon finishing Veteran, director RYOO said, “I enjoyed working on this film for the first time in a long while, and it gave me enough inspiration to move on to my next film”. As the producer, what does Veteran mean to you?
I guess I share the same thoughts as the director. The Berlin File was such a pressure cooker in terms of the production schedule and the sense of responsibility. It wasn’t easy shooting 13 months overseas where a re-shoot was out of the question whilst dealing with the language barrier between the foreign crew. In comparison, it was such a comfort for director RYOO and myself to shoot Veteran in Korea with a Korean crew. If scheduling The Berlin File was a challenge, we were able to take Veteran’s film shoot in our stride and relax. It might have been that we just came off a difficult foreign film shoot, but anyway, RYOO Seung-wan managed to control his pace with this film.

 

Does Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd have its own strategy and direction different from other film production companies?
Our own strategy? Not really. I guess if there is something different about us, it’s that RYOO Seung-wan and I, as a married couple are working together. Because we have three children and I have to share domestic duties as well as work, I tend to give more authority to our producers compared to other companies. I determine the big picture, but it’s the producers I trust and delegate the details of each project. This responsibility and structure are what I think enabled me to keep making films for all these years. I was pregnant with my third child when Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd released its first film, The City of Violence. The child is now 13 years old. Our team members whom I started out with back then are still running strong with me, managing the company as a team. They are the reason why I was never overwhelmed with juggling work and being a mother to my three children and it never crossed my mind to consider quitting.

 

Troubleshooter is the only Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd film that wasn’t directed by RYOO Seung-wan. Producing a first time filmmaker’s work should have entailed considerable difficulties, but it must have also given you a new sense of tolerance.
It’s true that Troubleshooter gave me a deeper insight into my career as a producer. On the other hand, it was also a painful experience as well. I should have filmmaker KWON Hyeok-jae more, but I regret that this was not the case. While trusting him to do a good job, I should have carefully checked things in between and see to the production’s needs. I feel bad that I fell short for the latter.

 

What is the most important principle of yours as a producer when you’re making a film?
Sticking to the designated budget and schedule. Fortunately, RYOO Seung-wan is totally committed to this. He may have saved money while shooting a film, but never made a film that went over budget. Because of this, I think it was possible for me as a producer to keep my promise to our financiers, and although Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd doesn’t have a long filmography, we were able earn trust as a film production company that guarantees quality within the budget and schedule. Film-wise, making interesting films that audiences can relate to regardless of the story is a key principle I have as a producer. In fact, this is the most difficult thing to do. (laughs)

 

You started your career in film publicity and marketing, then joined the field at a rather late age by serving as the lowest ranking production assistant in director BYUN Young-joo’s Ardor. Most 1st generation female film producers start out in film marketing, shift gears to project development producer and then finally set up their own company where they serve as a full-fledged film producer. In your case, why did you voluntarily jump into the field to tackle the challenges of film production?
Compared to other female producers, I don’t really have that much experience on set. After working as the lowest ranking production assistant on one feature, I worked on one more film as line producer. I was intending to make my debut as a producer with the project I developed, but getting pregnant with my third child inadvertently pushed me into setting up my own film production company. I felt that raising three kids while working for someone else would cause great inconvenience to the company I was working for, and at the time, RYOO Seung-wan was in need of a film production company that could efficiently support his film. So I just had to speed up the process more than I intended originally. My decision to work on Ardor as production assistant was only because of Fun & Happiness Film’s owner and producer KIM Mi-hee for whom I was working for at the time. She always regretted her lack of working on a film shoot, and thanks to her advice, I was able to fully understand how a film was practically made on a film shoot.

 

With the success of The Berlin File, I was told that you finally started to think of films you really wanted to make as a producer. What kind of film do you want to make as KANG Hye Jeong, the film producer?
The comfort women story I mentioned earlier is a subject I always wanted to make into a film. It’s something I also want to show my daughter. It won’t be a typical drama that shows how these women were forced into serving as comfort women, or how dismal their lives were after they returned home. It will be a drama about how we as citizens should look at them. And this is why it won’t be set during the Japanese occupation, but the 1960s when they return to Korea. It’ll be a film that looks back at what made them live in the shadows after they returned to their own country. To make the story more attractive, genre conventions will be added.

 

Lastly, what kind of film production company do you want Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd to be recognized as?
I really want to make a film that screams Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd. I want to make a film that my children and their children will remember. If I were to be a bit more ambitious, I’d like to make a Filmmaker R&K co., Ltd film that is introduced in school textbooks and talked about in school. A film that is loved and supported by the entire nation, and continues to be treasured by many.

 

Photographed by KIM Do-hoon