Dream comes true at 'The Age of Twenty-Nine'

A scene from "The Age of Twenty-nine"

"I think film is a refined way of conveying a message to society. This is a movie about neglected people. There was a part-time employee who worked at our call center while studying to be a reporter".

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Directing one's own movie is a dream that only few achieve. Jeon Hwa-seong, 35, CEO of CNT Tech, has realized just this, from writing a script and directing to seeing his work screened at a movie theater.

The 93-minute movie "The Age of Twenty-nine", directed by Jeon, was released last week at Seoul Cinema in Jongno, central Seoul.

"I am a film enthusiast, watching at least three movies a week. I think film is a refined way of conveying a message to society", Jeon said at an interview with The Korea Times. He has directed several short films, but this is his full-length debut. "I looked at every audience member's face as they watched the movie. The film had to be worth 8,000 won for these paying viewers".

The idea of the movie came from his company. CNT Tech is a medium-sized firm that outsources ordering systems such as call centers and websites for restaurants such as Mr. Pizza. Jeon's company hires many part-timers since the job is not considered a permanent one.

"This is a movie about neglected people. There was a part-time employee who worked at our call center while studying to be a reporter", he said. "When the company was smaller, I sometimes received complaints from customers and the experience was melted into the movie as well".

The movie revolves around a 29-year-old part-timer at a call center, whose nine-year relationship with his girlfriend is on the verge of ending.

The entrepreneur-director had to do everything by himself from scratch. The budget for the movie was only 40 million won.

"I have my own rules that I obey and I do movie-related things only after work. So I wrote the script for the movie after 11, for about a month", he said.

The shooting of the whole movie took only nine days, during Jeon's summer vacation. "I had five days of holiday between weekends to film the movie. I knew we would run short of time and tried to balance productivity and artistry". Jeon admitted that he had to compromise on the quality sometimes. "I should have thought more for mise en scene, but I just Okayed some things to reduce the filming cost".

More difficulties came after shooting. "I submitted the movie to a major distributing agency, but they rejected it after several months. So I chose to distribute it myself, instead of waiting months after submitting it to another agency", he said. "I registered my company as a movie distributor and contacted theaters about releasing the film".

During the process, Jeon had to do everything himself, from converting the film format to submitting the piece for content rating. "I had no one to consult on such things and it was harder than shooting the movie", he said.

"The Age of Twenty-nine" is closer to reality than fantasy. The actors in the movie all have experience of working part-time or being unemployed.

Park Yong-yeon, the male protagonist, is an actor who played supporting roles in the movies "Seven Days" (2007) and "The Scam" (2009).

"However, I could not get any more roles in commercial films and decided to do independent movies", Park said. "Though I did not have any experience in telemarketing and the call center job was unfamiliar to me, I had similar sentiments with the character - I was 29 and unemployed when I was shooting the film last year".

Park Gyoo-ri, who played So-yeon, is a theater actress who actually worked part-time at Jeon's company.

"Acting on screen is different from being on stage", she said. "When the scenes which I was not satisfied with my acting in were on the big screen, my face turned red".

She is currently preparing for a new play which will be staged in Daehangno.

The movie is not overly sophisticated or with high quality images, but is full of passion from the director, actors and other staff. It was invited to the Daejeon Independent Film and Video Festival in January.

The movie is currently being screened at Seoul Cinema. Though it is only being shown at one theater now, Jeon has sent the film to more cinemas, hoping the movie will give hope to young people in their 20s.

"This movie is rough and immature in its direction, but I'm glad that the audience is sympathizing with it", the director said.