When There is safety in numbers

Top: Some extras while away time between scenes by catching a nap, while others more serious about their craft would ask directors for acting tips. Left: Every day, extras gather before the actors' union waiting for a chance to act. Above (left to right): People like Meng Xiangkai, Zhang Xinchi and Le Tian are jokingly called the "Hengdian drifters" by the local town folks. Photos by Han Bingbin / China Daily

The actors' union at Hengdian helps define boundaries and steer members through stormy waters. Han Bingbin reports.

Wang Jie had big dreams when he arrived in Beijing from his native Shandong province. He had answered a recruitment advertisement online. Someone was looking for actors.

The night he arrived, he was brought to the office of the recruitment company, a village house far off in the outskirts of Beijing. He was told the company had nurtured many new actors and Wang was promised free board and lodging, and a monthly income of at least 3,000 yuan (about $470).

Right after Wang agreed to join the company, the tone changed and he was told he would have to pay for "registration", scenic-spot entry fees and his costumes - and it all added up to such a huge sum that Wang was scared off.

These scams and swindles targeting starry-eyed actors with dreams of making it big are legendary. They are the first challenges facing the young hopefuls who are trying to make it in Beijing.

Zhang Xinchi has gone through the mill, and he left to try his luck in Hengdian.

Casting director Wang Jun says the inexperienced actors trying to get an extra spot have more to worry about. For example, he says, unscrupulous agents often take advantage of the tender-footed and take unreasonable cuts from their wages.

Production companies making the television serials and telemovies also often delay payment. Wang Jie says an acquaintance once told him that he was owed three months' wages, and that he was worried about his 7,000-yuan deposit.

That made Wang glad he had come to Hengdian, he says, where there is at least a safety net for extras like him.

At Hengdian, the bit-part actors' wages are first paid to the actors' union, an organization founded in 2003 that started a safer system of payment for the extras and set standards.

The union negotiates with production companies for minimum wages, and a ground-level extra is paid at least 40 yuan a day for eight hours' work. They are paid 5 yuan an hour for overtime.

The actors are paid on the 5th and 20th of every month, and the union transfers the money into the bank accounts that the actors open when they join the union. This system makes sure that the union members are paid the right amounts and at regular periods.

If production companies do not pay the actors on time, the money is deducted from the 2 million yuan security deposit they have to put up for using the facilities at Hengdian.

In return for managing their paychecks, each member pays the union a commission, but the fee is offset by benefits such as free bus cards and occasional lectures by professional drama schools.

The union also helps the actors network by including them in activities organized by the production companies. In addition, the union also takes care of extras who get injured during filming, and help negotiate for compensation from the film companies.

Every extra working in Hengdian has to apply for an actor's license from the union.

To qualify, they have to rent a room as soon as they arrive so they can get registered with the local police for a temporary residence permit. Armed with the permit, they can then process their application with the union, which registers their height, weight and other basic information.

The personal data comes into good use when the production companies look for extras, and the actors' union can use the database to match the film's requirements.

All these may sound like a lot of paperwork, but at least in Hengdian, there is no risk of aspiring actors being swindled by those who prey upon their vulnerability as they gaze at the stars.