KUALA LUMPUR: TV stations insisting on popular actors and actresses in their drama productions should be made to pay for the high acting fee demanded by them.
Suggesting this, drama producer and director Shahrulezad Mohameddin said it would only be fair to production houses since some popular artistes had begun to quote a high fee knowing full well they were in demand by TV stations.
"As long as TV stations insist that we take in certain popular artistes to secure high ratings for their programmes, producers will never be able to bring down the high production cost.
"Sometimes, due to these demands, we had to cut corners by reducing the crew's pay and take in crew members with less experience to equate for a lower salary," he said in a recent news report.
He said this in response to an issue faced by fellow director Rashid Sibir recently, who was enraged by some popular actors who had demanded a whopping fee to star in his production.
Shahrulezad said that while quoting a higher fee was an actor's prerogative, producers too should be given the freedom to pick and choose the cast they deemed appropriate and with accordance to their own budget and criteria, without having the need to bow to the demands from TV stations.