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www.groovekorea.com / March 2014 38 They rub shoulders with Korea’s celebrities, but it’s not all party- ing with rock stars. Getting to that point requires countless sleep- less nights and days, often of simply getting through it. Much of Jake’s job is spent planning “Jjang,” a K-pop variety show on Mnet, from start to finish with his small, tight-knit produc- tion crew. It begins with tossing around ideas, then researching, writing skits, pulling stunts, filming in studio, booking celebrities and conjuring up witty questions that will catch them off guard — all for 23 sharp minutes of entertainment every week. Whether it’s 2 p.m. or 2 a.m., they hunker down until the job is done. “There’s a lot of stress in television because there’s always a deadline,” says Jake. “If it’s live TV or if it’s in a studio, you still have to do things right.” It’s even more intense on travel shows, where presenters have to film for days or weeks for 40 minutes of material. No matter how cold the water gets or how long you’ve been in a car, you still have to maintain a perky, adventurous attitude for the camera. “There are arguments and tears and 20-hour work days and not being able to wash, and putting makeup on top of makeup,” says Bron- wyn. “And you’re standing in the cold, smiling, so happy to be on top of the mountain, when really you want to be in bed at home.” Sometimes you can give it your all and still barely make the cut. In Jesse’s first travel episode, he knew he wouldn’t be able to garner much attention since his Korean was still poor. So he had to im- provise: He decided to dance to Girls’ Generation. “We had an opportunity when we were in the countryside and this grandmother made us soup, so to show how thankful I was I did my dance,” he says. “It’s the only thing that got me noticed in the episode. If I hadn’t have done that, I would have barely gotten any air time.” Auditions, shoots and script delivery are often last-minute, and sometimes direc- tors are vague about what they want. Instead of complaining, the four have had to accept and adapt to the work culture. During scriptwriting at “Jjang,” language barriers and cultural differences used to make it hard for Jake to explain to his Korean crew mem- bers that what may be funny in Korean simply isn’t in English. It used to lead to squabbles, but over time they simply learned to trust each other. “It’s been quite organic and I’m very lucky with my crew. They’ve put a lot of confidence in us as foreigners,” says Jake. “We’ve tried new things that they didn’t really like, and it’s worked, and now they’re quite confident in our abilities.” MuSIC & ARTS Edited by Elaine Ramirez (elaine@groovekorea.com) The daily grind ‘You have to think like a korean. You have to accept that You have to work 20 hours a daY and that what the production designer saYs, goes. accept, at least in the beginning, that You’re gonna have to make extreme sacrifices.’ bronwYn mullen