Years ago, the Golden Bell Award-winning actor Chang Chen-Guang shifted his career focus from Taiwan to mainland China. On September 25th, while attending the glass art exhibition of his good friend Zhou Danwei in Taiwan, Chang revealed that due to the cold winter in the mainland film and television industry, he hasn’t received any major roles this year in China. He only took on a 2-day guest appearance. This is the first time in his 44-year career that Chang Chen-Guang has faced a situation with almost zero acting opportunities.
Chang Chen-Guang, who just returned to Taiwan, openly stated at the event that the film and television industry in mainland China is currently facing a severe downturn. A-list celebrities who used to command million-dollar paychecks and bring a glamorous presence to their appearances are now privately seeking roles at award ceremonies. When they encounter familiar directors, producers, or high-ranking executives in the industry, they proactively humble themselves to maintain relationships and express their willingness to lower their fees. These big-name stars even go as far as saying, “If there are any good projects recently, feel free to bring me in, we can talk about the salary, discounts and price cuts are all acceptable.”
The “price cuts” mentioned by Chang Chen-Guang are not just symbolic discounts but represent a public “plummeting value” within the industry. According to revelations from the mainland film and television industry, entertainment bloggers, and renowned agent Yang Tianzhen, actor salaries in China are undergoing a brutal reshuffling: the days of top-tier celebrities commanding astronomical fees reaching tens of millions for a single production are long gone. Under the pressure of salary caps and tightened platform budgets, the top salary has now been capped at 25 million yuan.
In recent days, an extreme yet real case has been circulating wildly in the mainland entertainment circle. A few years ago, a “S+ level drama female lead” who used to command multimillion-dollar fees saw her salary plummet to 1 million yuan in a new project this year, just to secure a role. “S+” is the highest level of drama rating used by mainland online streaming platforms such as Tencent. This female lead still has ongoing projects this year.
Currently, mainstream video streaming platforms like Tencent, Youku, iQiyi, have significantly cut their budgets, and the hot money and capital bubbles have completely vanished from the market. Statistics show that currently, more than half of the reported film and television projects in the industry are unable to start due to insufficient funding.
Chang Chen-Guang stated that he understands the current situation of the mainland film and television industry. Faced with the trend of top-tier celebrities lowering their fees to fit in, he chooses to go with the flow. Instead of lowering his standards to adapt, he plans to shift his focus to short web dramas, self-media projects, commercials, and maintaining his company’s daily operations. During his return to Taiwan, he will be serving as the narrator in the stage play “The Awakening Village Turns Out to Be Like That.”
In 1992, Chang Chen-Guang won his first Golden Bell Award for Best Actor in the drama series “Four Young Masters of Beijing” on CTV. He then gained further recognition with the drama series “High Noon” on FTV. In 2003, he shifted his career focus to mainland China, appearing in TV dramas such as “Struggle,” “The Years You Were Late,” “All Is Well,” and “Age of Prosperity.” There were even reports of him filming advertisements for Douyin for a fee of 700,000 yuan.
During the peak of the mainland film and television industry, Chang Chen-Guang was a highly sought-after celebrity by major production crews. According to reports, during the heyday of the mainland film market, Chang Chen-Guang was so busy that he hardly had any rest throughout the year, accumulating high popularity and connections.
Despite being in his seventies and having almost no acting opportunities this year, Chang Chen-Guang firmly stated that retirement is not an option for him. He has practical reasons for his decision: firstly, his company still employs over a dozen staff who depend on him. If he were to retire and the company dissolved, the employees would face unemployment. Secondly, to prevent rapid physical aging. He loves his work and believes that idleness would lead to the onset of white hair and depression, without the passion of his career.