China caps TV stars’ pay after quality criticism

World
Europe

China has capped pay for actors in its TV and film industry at 40 percent of total production costs, responding to criticism that stars’ excessive pay sees quality suffer.

An instruction was jointly issued on Friday by industry rule makers including the China Alliance of Radio, Film and Television, the China Television Drama Production Industry Association, and the China Netcasting Services Association.

The instruction issued by the CARFT, CTPIA and CNSA‍

Pay for leading actors should be limited to 70 percent of remuneration for the whole cast, though production companies can apply for exceptions to be made, the instruction said.

Reflecting concerns elsewhere in the world, including of UK public broadcaster the BBC, the high pay of Chinese stars has become controversial in recent years. China’s TV and film industries are booming, but the generally poor quality of TV dramas has been met with a lot of criticism.

Poster of a Chinese TV series. /Handout Photo

Stars’ pay can reportedly exceed 80 percent of total production costs for a TV drama, and be up to 10 times the directors’ and script writers’ salaries.

Meanwhile, driven by the audience ratings, production companies focus mainly on the popularity of their actors, while the actual acting, the quality of production, editing and scripts are often felt to be neglected.

The Chinese terms “Little Fresh Meat” and “Little Flower” refer to young actors and actresses with good looks but dull acting skills. Accomplished older actors are often underrepresented.

Viewers also criticize the professional ethics of the actors. Many of them spend a lot of time shuttling between advert shoots and fashion shows, at the expense of spending time on set. Substitutes are frequently used.

Scene from a Chinese TV series. /Handout Photo

Friday’s instruction was an immediate hit with the public.

“Finally, such a rule has come! Actors and actresses should focus on how to improve their acting skills, and their remuneration should be in proportion to their efforts,” said someone with the screen name @XiaoqingchailovesDabai on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

“100 percent supportive! TV stars earn more money than is spent funding scientists’ research. It’s distorted,” said @Newspaperseller.

Scene from a Chinese TV series. /Handout Photo

However, there are also doubts about whether producers will find ways to bypass the rules.

“They will use other ways to pay the actors and actresses. It’s not possible that their money will be cut! said @Uponcomingin.

5km