Drama appearance fees: Lee Sun-kyun, Namkoong Min “hundreds of millions of won/episode” vs bit actors “100,000 won/episode”
Analysis of drama appearance fees from domestic broadcasting companies has been revealed
On Oct 24th, Lee Sang-heon, the chairman of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, released a report titled “Study on the Reality of Actor Payment System and Improvement Measures”.
According to the results, among the nine dramas broadcast in the last two years, the drama with the largest gap in fees between lead and bit actors is SBS’s “Payback” starring Lee Sun-kyun.
Lee Sun-kyun received 200 million won per episode, while bit actors received only 100,000 won per episode. This represents a staggering 2,000-fold difference in fees.
Similarly, there was a significant difference in fees between lead and bit actors in SBS’s “One Dollar Lawyer” starring Namkoong Min. Namkoong Min received 160 million won per episode, while the lowest bit actor fee was 200,000 won per episode. This amounts to an 800-fold difference.
Other dramas, such as SBS’s “Why Her” starring Seo Hyun-jin and JTBC’s “Snowdrop” starring Jung Hae-in and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo, also showed substantial disparities in fees. The leads received 95 million won and 110 million won per episode respectively, while bit actors received fees as low as 300,000 won and 150,000 won per episode.
Lead actors’ maximum fees vary, but the lowest fee for bit actors ranges from 100,000 to 300,000 won per episode.
The average shooting time for a single episode was 2.63 days, and the average working hours for actors in a one-day shoot was 9.99 hours, including 3.88 hours of waiting time. Since domestic appearance fees are paid based on a “per-episode” basis, it sometimes falls short of the minimum wage.
Chairman Lee Sang-heon emphasized the need to establish a minimum wage for actors and to discuss upward standardization to provide actors with minimum standards. He pointed out that institutional discussions are necessary to protect the labor rights of bit actors whose livelihoods are threatened. The chairman also voiced his opinion through his blog, saying, “Bit actors have the right to receive fair fees.”
Source: Xports News
