China actor fees cut
The producers, from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shandong, Zhejiang and other areas, set a ceiling of 10,000 yuan ($1,250) per episode for actors.
Any actor demanding more would in effect be banned from working with all the participating producers.
Funneling funds
The producers said they took the action to make sure that at least 50% of production budgets would be used for pre- and post-production.
Extremely popular actors are now asking for up to 50,000 yuan ($6,250) per episode, with lesser-known actors receiving 5,000 yuan ($625).
Part of the problem can be traced to Taiwanese and Hong Kong production houses moving into the mainland, since they are more often willing to pay a premium for name actors.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Bureau of Radio, Film and Television --- afraid of escalating prices nationally --- recently set a ceiling of 20,000 yuan ($2,500) per episode as the purchasing price of domestic TV dramas.
Special nod
That pricetag can only be exceeded with special approval from the bureau.
Shanghai TV and Oriental TV also have been told that they can offer only 90 seconds in advertisements if the program is bartered.
Shanghai Cable TV has set a limit of 18,000 yuan or 120 seconds of advertising per episode.
Producers said that the new policy may greatly increase their risk of losing name talent.
