Kim Cho-hee, the reason why she put her entire down payment into coins

In episode 03 of the YouTube variety show *City Women's Shelter*, Director Kim Cho-hee revealed that she once invested her entire scenario contract deposit into cryptocurrency, only to experience a delisting. Although she shared the anecdote with a smile, it contained both the weight of the money a creator receives while preparing a work and the unstable reality of working in the film industry.

The choice to invest even the contract deposit: Why it resonated so deeply

While discussing Virginia Woolf's *A Room of One's Own*, Director Kim naturally brought up the topics of money, work, and the sensation of living alone. She shared that, upon her boyfriend's suggestion, she invested the full amount of her scenario contract deposit into coins at the time, only to suffer losses when those coins disappeared from the exchange. She did not disclose specific coin names or amounts. Therefore, rather than consuming this story merely as a tale of investment success or failure, it is closer to a scene that demonstrates how easily a single contract deposit held by a creator can transform into both a life safety net and the capital for a risky choice.

In particular, the word "contract deposit" carries a heavy resonance. This is because it is not money that comes in steadily like a salary, but money that serves as a support while waiting for the next project. This is also why Director Kim's confession does not end as mere lighthearted variety talk. To some, it is a past financial mistake, but to a creator who has worked in the film industry for a long time, it is a memory where the time between jobs intersects with the time spent waiting for the next opportunity.

A passage that brings to mind

Director Kim Cho-hee made a name for herself with her first feature film, *Lucky Chan-sil*. The film follows Chan-sil, a film producer who loses her long-time director and suddenly finds herself unemployed, struggling to endure through an unfamiliar life. It was screened in the feature competition at the 2019 Seoul Independent Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, and is recorded as Director Kim's feature debut. After hearing the real-life story of failure, rewatching this work makes the film's themes of livelihood and the sense of dignity even clearer.

The strength of *City Women's Shelter* EP.03 also stems from that point. Rather than a format where guests use a book as an excuse to share only profound words, it places the loss of money and the desire to continue working on the same table. Director Kim did not exaggerate her story, and the production team did not push it as a sensational incident. Consequently, viewers see not the cryptocurrency loss, but a person who continues to make films and explains failure in her own language even after it happened.

What to look for next is the direction of her words rather than a new work

The next point of interest regarding this statement does not lie in questioning the investment amount. What matters is how Director Kim Cho-hee will further articulate the money, work, and life of creators and women in more concrete terms in any future setting. If *Lucky Chan-sil* was a film that made anxious people laugh lightly while holding onto them for a long time, this variety appearance is the moment when the Kim Cho-hee outside that film brings up the same questions again in her own words. The story of failure has passed, but the attitude with which she handles that story explains the Kim Cho-hee of today.