The discord issue between Studio S and the writers of “One Dollar Lawyer” and how it affects the drama?
The frequent cancellations and the early ending of SBS’ Friday-Saturday drama “One Dollar Lawyer” have been the first signs of discord between the production company Studio S and the writers.
The frequent cancellations and the early ending of SBS’ Friday-Saturday drama “One Dollar Lawyer” (written by Choi Soo Jin, Choi Chang Hwan/directed by Kim Jae Hyun and Shin Jung Hoon) have been the starting point of discord between the production company Studio S and the writers. With only the final episode left on November 11th, “One Dollar Lawyer” recorded the highest viewer rating (15%) in the 8th episode thanks to its interesting and fast-speed story, and the trustworthy actor Nam Goong Min. “One Dollar Lawyer” revived the timeslot when its previous work “Today’s Webtoon” ended low at only 1.6%.
However, insider shared that they seemed to be walking on thin ice for fear of breaking the board. An insider from “One Dollar Lawyer,” who wanted to stay anonymous, said on November 9th, “The conflict and cracks that occurred when Studio S, an outsourced production company from SBS, valued the company’s performance and efficiency more than the drama, eventually made this mess.”
The insider said, “Every drama faces subtle differences and conflicts between its writers, directors, actors, and the production company,” and added, “However, they all understand each other and yield little by little because all want to create high-quality content, but Studio S failed to pacify wisely in the process.” He pointed out, “It is difficult to conclude whose fault it is, and it is the joint responsibility of everyone as no one comes up with any solution.”
Studio S, an outsourced production company created by drama producers who were SBS employees, generally reacted differently to the criticism that they were handling “One Dollar Lawyer” too carelessly. It succeeded in casting a trustworthy name, Nam Goong Min, while the audience rating exceeded expectations and the early reaction was very good. However, it is said that the conflict between Studio S and the writers arose from the scripts of the 5th and 6th episodes, and there was an unnecessary war of nerves. This is what caused the late script delivery, request for correction, and delay in filming.
Excessive PPL was also one of the reasons. As they have become executives of a new production company who have to survive, not PDs who get paid regularly by the broadcasting station, they have placed excessive product placements in “One Dollar Lawyer” and deepened their conflict with the writers. A PPL staff said, “I doubted my own eyes when seeing ‘One Dollar Lawyer’ because several blatant PPLs appeared right from the beginning of the drama, which seemed to be advertising openly.”
In fact, various PPLs such as mixed coffee, jjimdak, lamb intestines, and health functional foods appeared constantly in “One Dollar Lawyer”. It was unusual for the main actors to participate directly in promoting the PPL, compared to the supporting actor’s blunt mention of the products.
However, PPL cannot be seen as the production company’s fault. In order to raise production costs that are far short because the broadcaster does not support the entire planned production cost, they need sponsorship and PPL. Therefore, more and more scripts are going to Netflix, which pays for the entire production cost and is not involved in the scripts or the show’s editing. A representative example was ENA’s “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.”
There is also controversy related to the OTT platform Disney+. “One Dollar Lawyer” sold its broadcasting rights to Wavve and Disney+. Especially thanks to Disney Plus, the show ranked first in Taiwan and second in Singapore. However, during the contract process, many complained that Studio S did not consider any native OTT website due to a joint venture between the three terrestrial broadcasters and SK Telecom.
The exhilarating revenge story of “One Dollar Lawyer” Chun Ji Hoon, who has the best skills, has been cut down to 12 episodes, 2 episodes less than the original plan. In response, SBS explained that this is for “A speedy and high-quality development,” but it sounds awkward somehow. “One Dollar Lawyer” broadcast has been canceled three times in a row last month and this month, airing only 1 episode a week for three weeks, causing viewers to complain.
Source: nate
