Let this be known: 2nd of 3 Parts

Let me share with you a letter I received via email immediately after last week's issue:

Ate Lou, I've read your article today which talked about the discrimination of local talents. Four years ago, a director invited me and my schoolmates at the University of Southern Philippines to join a local soap opera. The shooting was scheduled a week before our midterm exams. The director gave us the assurance that he would settle the excuse letters for us but what really happened was we were asked to make our own. I found that so unprofessional! He was supposed to make the letter in behalf of the network or the network itself should have made it. But then we just kept quiet.

Anyway, we had fun and met the crew during the location shoot. The producer down to the lights men were nice to us. But after we finished everything from taping down to promotions, I only received a talent fee of P300++! Since I have friends in the industry, I was already aware of how much the talent fee was supposed to be. When I signed the voucher, I saw that my talent fee was supposedly P500! What a big difference! I wonder where the P200 went?

I hope that this will stop. Just because we're bisdak doesn't mean that we should not have the privilege of gaining what's right for us. Hope Ate Lou you could share this to the readers of your column. And hope to hear from you soon.

I replied to the sender right away and gathered all the information I needed to investigate on the issues raised in this letter. The letter sender, however, requested me not to disclose the identity of the director and the network concerned, saying that he only wishes for other talents to learn from this experience. Though, clearing the matter may seem futile at this point, I still went out of my way to try to shed some light on such a long overdue, unresolved issue for the sake of both parties. In as much as my dear letter sender deserves an explanation for his misfortune, the director also has the right to be heard and given a chance to air his side of the story.

The Excuse Letter

The school required the students to submit letters to be excused from taking their upcoming midterm exams to formalize and properly document the request since the soap opera is not considered an official school activity. The approval of the request came swiftly after the director (who is an alumnus of USP) approached the vice president of the Alumni Association to ask for the school's permission. This, according to him, was how he helped settle the matter.

Talent Fee

According to the director, the network informed him of the budget for talent fees which was at P8,000 when this project was offered to him. This was to be divided among the eight main cast members, the writer and the director himself for two days of shooting. (Unbelievable!) He was given the freehand to choose his cast, but he was not given the authority to release the fees to the talents involved. The network released this after the series was shown on air. He could not recall whether he had informed all the talents of their fees, a task the network expected him to carry out in their behalf.

My reaction to this? The budget is absurd! What was the network thinking of? P8,000?! I think it is downright insulting for this giant network to offer such an amount for a director of his caliber plus, expect him share it with nine other people! I have worked with him in the past and I have such high regard for him. In fact, he gave me one of my most treasured experiences in theater. As far as my most recent experience with him is concerned, he was not amiss in informing me of my compensation for that particular project. I am also aware of his passion for the arts. To him, the pay is just icing on the cake. But what about the others? Surely, not all have the same priorities. It is not right to presume that everyone is willing to perform just for the love of it. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the network or its representative (usually the executive producer's job) to clearly discuss remuneration and work expectations with the artists, particularly the amateurs, who usually get lured into the exciting opportunity of being seen on television that they do not ask about their compensation. It's either they are too shy or they do not have a clear view of how much hard work and long hours are expected of them to deliver. Some organizers take advantage of this, resulting to more and more victims of such foul practice in the industry.

More next week…

Hep, Hep, Hurray to "Singgit Cebu"! The show was a recipient of a special citation given by the Cebu Archdiocese Mass Media Awards for its Holy Week presentation this year. Congrats to us, guys!