Lee Byung-hun and Bae Suzy join agency, actor's appearance fee is pure production cost
The government and major agencies such as BH Entertainment and Management SOOP have agreed to comply with appearance fee cap guidelines to revitalize the production of medium-budget films.
Agencies of Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, and Bae Suzy Unite... Proposing Guidelines for Appearance Fee Caps
As concerns rise that the Korean film production environment is shrinking due to the soaring appearance fees of actors, the government and major management companies have joined hands for mutual coexistence. On the 16th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council signed an 'Agreement for the Vitalization of Korean Film Production' with major domestic management companies and film production organizations at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul.
The core of this agreement is for management companies to cooperate in setting the appearance fees for lead and supporting actors of projects selected for the 'Mid-Budget Film Production Support' project, promoted by the Korean Film Council, to less than 10% of the net production cost. For instance, if a film with a net production cost of 5 billion KRW is selected for this project, the method would be to cap the appearance fee of one lead actor at less than 500 million KRW.
The list of management companies participating in the agreement includes many major figures in the Korean film industry. BH Entertainment, which represents Lee Byung-hun, Go Soo, Kim Go-eun, Park Bo-young, Park Sung-hoon, J.Y. Park “The Asiansoul”, Park Hae-soo, Lee Ji-ah, Lee Jin-uk, Lee Hee-joon, Jang Dong-yoon, Jung Ho-yeon, Joo Jong-hyuk, Choo Ja Hyun, Han Ga-in, Han Ji Min, and Han Hyo-joo, participated. Management Forest, representing Gong Yoo, Jeon Do-yeon, Bae Suzy, Nam Ji-hyun, Kim Jae-wook, Seo Hyun-jin, Lee Chung-ah, Shin Eun-soo, and Shin Si-a, also joined the cause. J-Wide Company, which includes Kim So Yeon, Bae Jong Ok, Choo Young-woo, Kim Min, Kim Tae Woo, Lee Bo-young, Lee Sang Yoon, Lee Se-hee, and Cho Dal-hwan, also signed the agreement. The Korea Film Producers Association and the Korean Film Producers Combination (PGK) also joined this movement.
This agreement is a voluntary agreement without legal binding force. To ensure the agreement does not remain a one-time event, the government plans to form a private-led voluntary consultative body consisting of management companies, production companies, and investors/distributors to continuously discuss ways to improve the production environment.
Netflix Also Moves Amidst the Burden of Soaring Appearance Fees
The Korean film industry has been suffering from the problem of production cost burdens caused by the rise in actors' appearance fees. With the emergence of global OTT platforms such as Netflix, the market value of lead actors has increased even further. The production cost for the Netflix series 'Squid Game' is known to be approximately 100 billion KRW, and 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' is around 60 billion KRW. Foreign media reports also stated that Lee Jung-jae's appearance fee per episode for 'Squid Game Season 2' reaches 1 million USD (approximately 1.3 billion KRW). Regarding this, Lee Jung-jae stated, "There is a bit of a misunderstanding," but added, "It is also true that I receive a lot."
Netflix has also pursued its own measures. Last year, it reviewed a plan to lower the cap on appearance fees for actors in series and films to 300 million KRW. However, Netflix stated, "It is more reasonable to use a method that reflects the actual time invested and the contribution of creators and cast members rather than just the number of episodes," and maintained the position that they negotiate flexibly depending on the characteristics of the work, roles, and production period.
To overcome the deterioration of the production environment, the government significantly increased the scale of support for mid-budget films. The mid-budget film production support project, which was newly established last year with a scale of 10 billion KRW, has been increased to 46 billion KRW this year.
Limited Scope of the Agreement... Whether Agencies of Selected Actors Participate is Also a Point of Contention
The application of this agreement is limited to the mid-budget film support project for films with production costs between 2 billion KRW and 10 billion KRW. Since the controversy over high appearance fees mainly occurs in global OTT original series worth tens of billions of KRW, there are views that it is uncertain whether this agreement will lead to an overall improvement in the appearance fee structure.
The first selection of the Korean Film Council's mid-budget film support for this year includes 'Gardeners,' starring Song Kang-ho, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Song Seung-heon, and 'Your Target,' starring Ko Hyun-jung and Park Jeong-min. However, it is known that the agencies of the respective actors were not included in the target for participation in this agreement. The Korean Film Council plans to gradually expand the number of management companies participating in the agreement in the future.
Choi Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "We will not spare policy support so that the government's financial support and the promise of coexistence from filmmakers create a synergy effect, allowing Korean films to leap forward again."
