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Mirroring The Industry: Producers take a stand against high actor fees; Mid level stars struggle for new films
The latest grapevine in the industry indicates that every production house has put their plans of feature films with mid-level stars on a slow down mode till they decide to reduce their acting fees
Earlier in the year, we exclusively wrote (Read Here) about how talent management agencies are playing an active role in ruining the market for Hindi Film Industry by pushing their actors to charge exorbitant fees in order to get higher commissions. Multiple projects were put on hold due to financial complications and there was a hope for actors to rethink on their fees to act in feature films for the time being.
Actors get tempted by offers from OTT
With mid-sized films struggling to find their ground, as actors are not staying loyal to the theatrical medium, the producers have taken a strong stand against the actors and talent management agencies. The latest grapevine in the industry indicates that every production house has put their plans for feature films with mid-level stars on a slow-down mode till they decide to reduce their acting fees. The talent management agencies too have been informed about the same, as higher fees are not good for the ecosystem at present.
An angry producer on the condition of anonymity says, “An actor even after all the flops is charging 9 to 10 crore for a feature film. How does that make sense? He started off as a character artist and worked hard to reach the position, but in today’s time, when market forces have changed, it is best for him to take producer conditions also into account. Hybrid models too can be adopted, but it seems that the talent management agencies are playing a role to ensure that actor fees don’t come down.” There’s another actor who used to charge Rs 31 crore until his last dud has now gone around saying, I have reduced the price as per market demands. And guess what’s his new price? Rs 25 crore, which is higher than the lifetime run of his last theatrical release. Some of the actors actually adapting to the new normal are the ones who don’t really have a dedicated agency – with money varying from film to film based on potential.
Actors struggling to get theatrical films
A look at lineups of the mid-level to smaller stars, that none have a concrete film on paper. Everyone has been in conversations, but things are yet to come on paper yet due to financial mishaps. “The agencies are getting them to work from OTT as OTT is paying the money that is asked for. The stars are not realising that doing OTT is eroding their theatrical market further. But for easy and quick money – for both stars and agencies – the OTT projects are green-lit,” another producer shared.
To be safe, the actors and the agencies are saying ‘We are being picky about theatrical choices’ but the reality of the matter today is they are not getting the money demanded which is slowing down the process of mounting those mid-sized films. “But yet, there are some relatively new producers who are falling for the traps, as they are getting the dates of celebrities. They are making films with mid-range actors by signing them at higher rates. But a glimpse at the production quality of these films indicates that they are dead on arrival at the theatrical. The higher prices by actors is doing nothing but harming the ecosystem even further as the right projects are not being made due to higher prices and the actors are making wrong choices for money or going the digital way,” shared an industry source.
Film production stalled
There are a couple of films that are on floors with the actors but have been put on hold due to budgetary issues. “These are films that are no longer financially viable. The producers are considering to take a minimal loss at the production stage rather than completing the film and taking it in post-production for release,” the industry source informed, adding further that some of the films have completed pre-production, but are not going on floors as the producers are not willing to take the risk anymore.
In the struggling times, it's essential for actors to sit down with the producers and bring their prices in check in sync with the market value. If that doesn’t happen, we are in for doomsday with actors losing their theatrical market due to wrong choices and too much exposure on OTT. Let’s hope someone is brave enough to take the risk of reducing fees for the larger good.
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