Overpaying young actors just to tap fan economy produces poor works

A GUIDELINE by China Alliance of Radio, Film and Television and three other organizations stipulates that the total remuneration of actors should account for 40 percent or less of the total production costs of a television series, and the leading actors cannot be paid more than 70 percent of the total remuneration paid cast and crew. ThePaper.cn commented on Saturday:

The latest guideline on actors' pay is in response to the concerns over overpaid young actors, whose popularity has skyrocketed to a point where payment fairness is being compromised. Budget limitations mean overpaying a few big names could spoil the whole work, since the rest of the cast and crew need paying.

Many of the "fresh meat", as the teenage celebrities are known, are often paid more than veteran actors. Despite their lack of acting skills and professionalism, the young stars have scores of diehard young fans, who will almost unconditionally watch a movie or television series as long as their beloved idols are in it or pay for any derivative product they endorse regardless of the cost.

Investors are naturally tempted to grab a share of this "fan economy" and will go to great lengths to get young celebrities on board, from overly generous pay to giving them the leading roles. It is unfair to say the youngsters are not working hard, but their presence in a production is often only because they can attract a large number of enthusiastic fans. The new trend is that the more highly rated films do not use stars and their quality and reputations are built on talented, little-known actors and good scripts.

That an increasing number of young actors are willing to showcase their talents rather than their appearance, to some extent, proves that their overpayment can neither sustain nor grant the young stars lasting popularity. But capping their remuneration is hardly enough to dissuade speculative investors from hyping up the "fan economy".