“Behind the life drama that makes us laugh and cry,
“There are people who strive for perfection.”

A person who thinks about what good content is and comes up with an answer.
A person who never forgets to keep a notebook of wrong answers, even if he fails.
The world of planning PDs

The world is crazy about K-content, and writers, directors, and actors are in the spotlight.
But behind every hit there is a real star who still remains unknown.
This is the planning producer (PD) who plans the content.
Those who determine the life or death of a drama are the ones who draw the grand blueprint while not missing a single detail. They are the problem solvers who discover the story, give reality to the writer's imagination, concretize the director's vision, and unite the entire creative team.
Behind the scenes, planning producers who connect platforms, creators, and viewers wrestle with these questions every day.
"What kind of story do the public want now?" "How can we overturn the obvious story?" "How can we expand the worldview?" It's the fate of a planning producer to cling to these unanswerable questions and hang on.

Song Jin-seon, a drama executive producer who established his own production company after working at SBS and Studio Dragon, is a survivor who has personally experienced the upheaval of the industry.
From the days when the job of a planning PD was treated as a shadow until now, he has experienced the joys, sorrows, and bitterness of the job, and through 'The Person Who Makes Dramas', he tells us about the 'job of a planning PD'.
As you can see from the list of his works, which freely cross genre boundaries and expand into the global stage, from romance to sci-fi thriller, such as “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim,” “True Beauty,” “The Avengers,” “Connect,” “After School War Activities,” and “Whirlwind,” the list contains stories that only a creator who has created content that communicates with the world beyond Korea can tell.
He also gives honest and passionate answers about the capabilities and attitudes that this era demands of planners, and the mindset to rise above failure.
For those who dream of becoming a drama planning PD, it will provide a vivid roadmap, for planners in all fields, it will provide empathy and comfort, and for those who have been curious about this mysterious profession, it will provide a vivid and entertaining look inside.

The producer is the one who sees through the essence of the work, designs a balance between marketability and artistry, and takes full responsibility for the outcome of each choice.
--- p.41

I try to find my own answers to the questions, 'Why do I find something interesting when I read or watch it?' and 'Why do others choose this and find it interesting?'
It might seem easy to answer honestly, but it's not.
Sometimes, amidst the majority of opinions and criticism, I can't be honest about what I find interesting.
So, in order to get rid of the hardened gaze caused by prejudice, I need to be honest about my tastes and constantly create food for thought about tastes that are different from mine.
--- p.57

Every act of watching movies and dramas and reading books is actually an act of reading the world.
And the appreciation deepens with the questions that remain at the end of the reading.
--- p.67

Perhaps creation is not about moving toward the right answer, but about enduring questions.
Sometimes I find answers, and sometimes I end up with only questions, but I keep thinking and creating stories until the very end.
Ultimately, isn't a planner someone who can stay longer on questions than on answers?
--- p.74

Planning is always the result of choice.
Who to talk to and what to talk about, what emotions to react to, and what direction to change in ultimately come from the planner's unique perspective.
--- p.102

The important thing is not to create something out of nothing.
Recognizing the 'archetypes' of emotions and stories already embedded in countless contents and adding your own interpretations and questions to them.
The planner chooses to challenge the audience's expectations by giving a familiar plot a new twist or by adding an unexpected twist to a universal emotion.
--- p.104

A writer going through this process needs an assistant called a producer.
A being who looks at you with the same eyes and asks questions when you lose your way.
Just as you can't build a house without a blueprint, you need an objective perspective when writing a story.
Someone who helps balance the flow of emotions when they are not smooth and checks to make sure the story is not lost.
He is like a 'site supervisor' at a construction site.

--- p.111

When you watch a drama, you get emotional, but when you create it, you have to be cool-headed.
The audience sheds tears and gets absorbed, but the producer has to calculate where those tears come from.
A well-written script is not simply "moving words," but a blueprint for the gradual accumulation of emotions over a dense structure.
--- p.145

A creative producer willingly intervenes in someone else's creation without leaving his or her own mark.
This is a person who understands what the creator wants to express, understands the parts he or she was unable to express, and works with the creator to complete the work.
So it's important for producers to know exactly where the roots of their creation lie.
I am the one who prepares the soil and waters the seeds of the story that the creator has put out so that they can grow well.
I know for sure that the beginning is not mine.
--- p.167

I still stand closer to the back of the stage than to the lights.
But I want to be the essential stepping stone for someone's story to begin.
The regret of not receiving attention will eventually disappear only when I stand in a position where I can put my name on the line and compete directly.
This persistent sense of responsibility to create a good story is what keeps me moving forward.
--- p.169

If there's one thing that never wavers in the midst of all that changes, it's the essence of emotion.
Things like the desire to understand someone, longing and loneliness, the inevitably hating someone but wanting to embrace them again.
That's not a trend, that's just how humans are.
Maybe that's why.
Even if it's a story that someone has already told a thousand times, if it's true, it will resonate again.
Even clichés can touch someone's heart again if they contain sincerity.
People believe the story again and again.
--- p.171

Everything we see, hear, and read in the world becomes food for thought.
So even when there is no speech, my head is always noisy.
Once you start reading the work, you will find yourself following the speech, actions, and even the reasons behind the silence of each character.
Because you have to understand not only the emotions that are expressed outwardly, but also where those emotions come from and why you can only express them that way.
If you want to convey it properly through a single line of text or a single line of dialogue, you can't stop thinking about it.

--- p.200