Netflix appearance fees that soared to "1 billion per episode" have reportedly recently fallen to 300 million won. "300 million" is still an enormous amount, but compared with last year when it exceeded 1 billion, growing concern appears to have put the brakes on it.
On the 12th, OSEN reported that the cap on fees for Netflix series and films has been lowered from 400 million won to the 300 million won range, marking the start of "reducing actors' price tags."
An industry source said, "The cap on Netflix actors' appearance fees is trending lower toward 300 million won. I understand this is a policy considering overall production cost increases." Another source also said, "In recent years Netflix fees rose as if they knew no bounds, but starting this year the brakes began to be applied," adding, "Internally the idea that the cap is 300 million won is being discussed naturally."
Byeon Wooseok, who rose to Hallyu star status last year through Lovely Runner, has confirmed casting in his first Netflix series, I Alone Level Up. As his first global OTT project decided after Lovely Runner, his appearance fee also attracted attention.
A person familiar with the situation predicted, "Although Byeon Wooseok is rapidly rising in popularity and high fees are expected, under (Netflix's recent policy) it will be difficult to receive more than 300 million won."
However, this 300 million won cap on appearance fees does not apply to everyone. There are always exceptions. There are slight differences depending on the scale of the project, and fees inevitably remain flexible depending on circumstances. Also, for Netflix seasonal productions, fees are usually increased by about 40% over the previous season, which could produce exceptions.
Regarding this, a Netflix representative told OSEN, "Fees that reflect the actual time and contribution of creators and cast rather than a simple episode count are more reasonable," adding, "Netflix does not set a uniform cap on fees and negotiates flexibly with partners considering the nature of the project, roles and production period."
Netflix has been recognized as a key platform leading the revival of K content and has demonstrated its capabilities, but it has not been free from criticism as the main cause of rising Korean drama production costs. Industry estimates put production costs at about 60 billion won for When Life Gives You Tangerines and about 100 billion won for Squid Game, saying that injecting such enormous budgets—unimaginable in domestic conditions—led actors' prices to skyrocket without brakes.
Critics said that global OTTs with tremendous capital raised actors' fees, which led to higher overall production costs, and the domestic market, feeling the burden, contracted, causing a sharp drop in the number of drama productions. As a result, voices grew that this negatively affects K content competitiveness. In fact, 141 titles were produced in 2022, while around 80 titles are expected this year.
Earlier, foreign reports claimed that Lee Jung-jae received $1 million (130 million won) per episode for Squid Game season 2, and regarding this Lee Jung-jae said in a January interview, "There is some misunderstanding, that's true. But it's also true that I received a lot."
Responding to such concerns last October, Kim Tae-won, director of Netflix's content team, said, "Korean content is doing so well and is loved and successful globally, but if production costs increase, I think it will come back as a boomerang," adding, "We are considering whether providing appropriate budgets and appropriate fees is the right approach for actors, for us and for the works. We don't have any specific guidelines or regulations, but I think it's right to give fees appropriate to each work."
[Photo] Baro Entertainment, Netflix
[OSEN]