The high price of the film reflects the multiple contradictions in the self-discipline industry of the market failure actors
Play "combined boxing", regulate high prices and create fine art
□ reporter Wang Yang
□ Our newspaper trainee reporter Bai Chuxuan
In July of this year, a news that a certain actor paid as much as 100 million yuan aroused heated discussion in the society.
Subsequently, the relevant company issued a correction announcement stating that the total amount was 72.64 million yuan.
This incident was only three months after the China Television Drama Production Industry Association and the Capital Radio and Television Program Production Industry Association jointly issued the "Proposal on Strict Savings, Overcoming Hardships, and Standardizing the Order of the Industry".
The proposal mentioned that the entire industry strictly implements the salary limit policy.
Three months later, on October 15, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Opinions on Promoting New Era Radio and Television Broadcasting Institutions to Be Stronger and Better", proposing to resolutely prevent star chasing and speculation, excessive entertainment, high-priced film remuneration, Listening to bad tendencies such as ratings.
This is another new regulation in recent years regarding the regulation of high-priced salary.
An industry insider interviewed by a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" mentioned that high-priced film remuneration can easily cause producers to "inject water" into film and television works in order to recover costs and profit, which affects the quality of the work and violates the laws of art.
The "Proposals of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Term Goals for 2035" put forward the comprehensive prosperity of press and publishing, radio, film and television, literature and art, philosophy and social sciences.
Carry out the quality improvement project of literary and artistic works, strengthen the creation and production of realistic themes, and continuously introduce literary and artistic boutiques that reflect the new atmosphere of the times and the new creations of the people.
How to regulate high-priced films and create fine art works has become a topic of common concern both inside and outside the film and television industry.
High-priced pay is not uncommon
Squeeze investment in other links
Dinglong Culture Co., Ltd. issued the "Announcement on the Reply to the Inquiry Letter of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's 2019 Annual Report" in July this year. According to the announcement, the purchase amount of the Xinyi Studio for Zhou Dongyu Film and Television Culture Communication in 2017 and 2018 was 5,084.91 Ten thousand yuan and 58113200 yuan, a total of 109 million yuan.
According to the announcement of Dinglong Culture, in 2017, the only work related to Zhou Dongyu was "The King Behind the Scenes", and there is no other business dealings.
Subsequently, the company issued a correction announcement, indicating that there were errors in the relevant data summary and column formula, and the actual total amount should be 72.64 million yuan.
This incident caused an uproar in public opinion because it involved tens of millions of dollars in pay.
In fact, similar high-priced pay is not uncommon in the film and television industry.
In 2018, Fan Bingbing's "yin and yang contract" tax issues became a hot topic of public opinion.
According to the tax authorities’ investigation and verification, Fan Bingbing actually received 30 million yuan in film remuneration during the filming of "Big Bombing", of which 10 million yuan has been declared for tax payment, and the remaining 20 million yuan has been evaded personal income tax of 6.18 million yuan by splitting the contract and underpaid business tax. And additional tax of 1.12 million yuan, totaling 7.3 million yuan.
According to the National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin of the People’s Republic of China in 2019 issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, the annual per capita disposable income of residents nationwide was 30,733 yuan.
At present, my country does not have a specific definition of the category of high-priced salary, and there is no authoritative statistics.
Industry insiders told reporters from the Rule of Law Daily that it is necessary to look at the absolute value and relative value of the film pay. In addition to the intuitive value of the film pay, it is also necessary to determine whether the photo pay is a high-priced film pay based on the proportion of the production cost or profit.
As early as 2016, when the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress reviewed the draft of the film industry promotion law, some members cited relevant reports that the remuneration of Japanese, Korean and Hollywood stars usually only accounted for 20% to 30% of the total movie budget. %, and at present, the remuneration of popular domestic actors accounts for more than 50% of film production costs.
An industry insider said: “IP+ traffic stars were once regarded as the tried and tested standard for making money in the drama industry. The investment in scripting, shooting, post-production and other production links has been compressed, and the incubation time of a drama has been greatly shortened. Production has soared, and the entire market has fallen into a vicious circle of false prosperity."
Salary limits are frequently released
High-priced remuneration has been repeatedly banned
In recent years, the competent authority has repeatedly issued regulatory documents to try to regulate the phenomenon of high-priced film pay.
On June 26, 2017, the former State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issued the "Notice on Several Policies Supporting the Prosperity and Development of TV Dramas", proposing to establish and Improve scientific and reasonable TV drama investment and distribution mechanisms.
Fully respect and encourage originality, and reflect the value of creativity and knowledge in investment and distribution.
Industry organizations have issued guidance on the ratio of TV drama cost allocation to guide production companies to rationally arrange the cost structure of TV drama investment and optimize the remuneration distribution mechanism.
Regulate the purchase and broadcast and publicity behaviors, maintain the healthy development of the industry, and strictly prohibit broadcast organizations from using celebrities as the only bargaining standard.
On October 31, 2018, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Radio, Television and Online Audiovisual Arts Programs", requiring that the total remuneration of all guests in variety shows should not exceed 40% of the total cost of the program, and the remuneration of major guests should not exceed the guests. 70% of the total pay.
The remuneration of all actors in TV series and web dramas (including online movies) shall not exceed 40% of the total production cost, and the main actors shall not exceed 70% of the total remuneration.
If it exceeds, record and explain the situation.
On October 15, 2020, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Opinions on Promoting New Era Radio and Television Broadcasting Organizations to Be Stronger and Better", which mentioned resolutely preventing star chasing and speculation, excessive entertainment, high-priced film remuneration, and only listening ratings And other bad tendencies.
It is necessary to strictly control the pay of actors and guests, and encourage them to participate in public welfare programs with a sense of social responsibility and a sense of mission.
While the regulations have been repeatedly introduced, there are still many high-priced film salaries exposed:
In 2018, according to data disclosed by a brokerage company, "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" starring Zhou Xun was paid 53.5 million yuan, and Huo Jianhua's paid 50.71 million yuan.
In 2018, the playmaker of "Strangers" issued an announcement stating that he paid actor Yang Shuo 87.5 million yuan in remuneration, but due to salary restrictions, Yang Shuo’s remuneration has exceeded the maximum amount of 50 million yuan, and the two parties could not reach it. Unanimously, it can only stop.
Why does high-priced film pay continue to be banned repeatedly?
Rao Shuguang, secretary-general of the Chinese Film Association and president of the Chinese Film Critics Society, analyzed that the main reason is that my country currently lacks a professional film compensation evaluation system.
Under the situation of relying solely on market supply and demand changes and "star pricing", some celebrities' influence on film and television works has been magnified, causing the consumer market to blindly follow suit. In the film and television industry, the remuneration of celebrities with market appeal has naturally risen.
Optimize the payment distribution mechanism
Virtuous circle of input and output
One result of the high remuneration is that due to the high production costs, in order to recover costs and profit, the producers will increase the overall selling price of the works by "injecting water" when editing film and television works and increasing the number of film and television works.
The "water-filled" film and television works will waste time, affect the plot of the work, and violate the laws of art.
Zhou Meisen, the screenwriter of the hit drama "In the Name of the People" mentioned in an interview that the drama was originally planned to be filmed for 40 episodes, but 55 episodes were finally filmed for commercial gain.
On how to truly regulate high-priced film salaries, many deputies to the National People's Congress have offered advice and suggestions at the National People's Congress over the years.
In the National Two Sessions in 2018, CPPCC National Committee member Zeng Franco suggested that the high-priced film stars of star actors should be put on a "tightening curse" and punitive taxes should be imposed on high-priced film and television stars.
In 2020, National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Feng Yuanzheng, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed to introduce a new literary and artistic group title evaluation system, and based on this evaluation system to regulate actors' pay, and determine the upper and lower limits of film pay based on the actor's title.
The interviewed experts pointed out that the problem of high-priced film remuneration is a microcosm of the rapid development of the film and television industry, reflecting the multiple contradictions between market failure, actor self-discipline, industry autonomy, and government regulation.
Whether the problem of high-priced film pay can be properly managed is related to whether income distribution can be fair, whether it can promote the sound and healthy development of my country's film and television industry, and whether it can promote the prosperity of socialist culture.
From a long-term perspective, the problem of star high-priced film salaries is not hopeless, but its solution cannot be accomplished in one stroke, and it is not possible to rely solely on the film and television industry associations, but to work with regulatory authorities, film and television companies, and individual actors. Hit a "combination punch."
Hu Gongqun, a legislative consultant to the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, suggested that the film and television industry’s film pay is a product of the market. Administrative supervision or industry self-discipline cannot be used to limit film pay. The “visible hand” of government management must be used together with the market economy. This "invisible hand".
According to Yin Hong, a professor at Tsinghua University and vice chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association, in order to promote the sustainable development of the film and television industry and allow more producers to create high-quality works that will help the film and television industry prosper, it is necessary to regulate high-priced film remuneration and optimize film remuneration. The allocation mechanism is to allocate costs reasonably in each production link, so that the quality of the drama can be improved, thereby promoting a virtuous circle of input and output in the film and television industry, and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the industry.