Top Stars Agree to Lower Their Fees... Films Receiving Public Funds Will Face a 10% Cap on Appearance Fees

[Financial News] Going forward, films produced with government support are expected to cap the total appearance fees for lead and supporting actors at no more than 10% of net production costs. Against the backdrop of long-standing criticism that excessively high fees for star actors have become a chronic problem in the Korean film industry and a major obstacle to mid-budget film production, the government, film production companies, and major management agencies have agreed to voluntarily rein in inflated star salaries.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korean Film Council held a signing ceremony at 2 p.m. on the 16th at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (MMCA Seoul), together with major domestic management agencies and film industry groups, to sign an agreement on government, producers, and management agencies working together to revitalize Korean film production.
The agreement drew broad participation from MCST, the Korean Film Council, and management agencies representing top Korean actors, including BH Entertainment, Management SOOP, and J-Wide Company, as well as the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) and the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK).

The key point of the agreement is that, for projects selected for the Korean Film Council's mid-budget film production support program, the parties will cooperate to keep the combined appearance fees for lead and supporting actors below 10% of net production costs.
This is not a legally binding rule, but rather a voluntary and moral agreement reached by the film industry to help revive the struggling Korean film sector.
For years, people inside and outside the industry have warned about a distorted production structure in which an excessively large share of limited budgets goes to star actors' fees, leaving less money for cinematography, art direction, post-production, and crew wages, all of which are crucial to a film's quality. If the agreement is put into practice, limited budgets can be distributed more evenly across a project, which is expected to improve the overall quality of Korean films.
To ensure the agreement does not remain a one-time event, the film industry has decided to form a private-sector, industry-led consultative body involving management agencies, production companies, and investors and distributors. The group will continue discussing ways to improve production costs and on-set conditions.

The agreement is significant in that the industry responded to the government's full-scale financial support for mid-budget films, which are facing an existential crisis, with a practical win-win measure: adjusting appearance fees.
To restore Korea's film production ecosystem, MCST expanded this year's budget for the mid-budget film production support program, which it launched last year with 10 billion won, to 46 billion won, more than quadrupling the amount.
Han Sang-jun, chairman of the Korean Film Council, said, "There are many low- and mid-budget films that cannot even get started because of their production cost structure, even though they have strong ideas and creative capabilities." He added, "Low- and mid-budget films are the backbone that supports the diversity and future of the film industry, so we need to work together to create a healthier production environment."
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young also said, "I am grateful that actors and the management industry, which are key driving forces behind Korean films, deeply sympathized with the government's efforts to revive Korean cinema and took the lead in joining them." He added, "I will spare no policy support so that the government's financial backing and the film industry's commitment to mutual growth can create a synergy and help Korean films make a fresh leap forward."
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter