Movie news - Pay row over children in teh movie

[Simon J. Branford]

No: HPFGUIDX 3725

The following is from the BBC online website - it makes amusing reading. I
was just being to get a good feeling about the movie and more bad news comes
out!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_975000/975000.stm


'Pay row' over Potter stars
Child actors making the eagerly awaited film of Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone have accused its makers of paying the lowest possible
rates, it is reported. At least four leading agents are reported to be
unhappy with Warner Bros' "heavy handed" treatment of their clients,
according to The Independent newspaper.
Two are reported to have already withdrawn children from the 90m film, set
to hit British cinemas late next year.
The film giant is said to be exploiting the fact that children are desperate
to appear in the adaptation of J K Rowling's best-seller, offering the
lowest possible fees for speaking parts and as little as 35 per day for
background parts.
According to parents and agents who complained about the rates, Warner Bros
said that if they were unhappy there were "5,000 children waiting to do it
for nothing".
About 40,000 child actors beseiged the Harry Potter website when the
film-maker announced a worldwide search for the cast.

'Very distressing'
One agent, whose client was trying for a lead part, said the film-maker
refused to consider negotiations on profit share or merchandising.
Another, whose client was also up for a leading role, was told they had to
sign the deal before the child would be allowed a screen test.
"It all got very nasty," she told the newspaper. The "horrible" negotiation
period had proved "very distressing" for her young hopeful.
Equity, the union for adult actors, says its guidelines suggest child actors
should receive half of the adult fee.
But a spokesman said if a child was "an identifiable part of the action"
they could receive a leading actor's rate.
Warner Bros have declined to comment on the allegations, saying any
contractual agreement is "strictly confidential".
After more than a year of searching 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe was signed
for the lead role in an estimated 200,000 two-film deal. His mother is an
experienced casting director.