[2013.12.12] DONNIE YEN STRIKES BACK ABOUT HIGH SALARY ACCUSATIONS

courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

courtesy of mingpao.com

A Swiss watch brand held a charity project with its model Proto Zero, as 10% of the proceed will go to the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation. Last night the brand held a banquet and invited the Strongest in the Universe Donnie Yen Chi Yen and his wife Cissy Wang to attend.

Recently China Central Television aired a Mainland film producer interview. On the program the producer blasted Yen Chi Tan's 30 million yuan RMB film salary as too high. It led to drastic production budget increase and indirectly affected film quality. Yen Chi Tan struck back, "20 some years ago salary at TVB was only HK$ 3,000. The film industry is a free and fluctuating market. The Mainland market has already turned over more than a dozen times. My rate is a reasonable price. Because I am both an action director and an actor, my productions days are several times that of a normal actor. The film shouldn't just rely on actors, but on everyone for a joint production. Criticizing actor prices alone is not fair enough." He also explained that with the right market and script he could take a pay cut or no pay at all! However if the film made 700 to 800 million, a large return ratio, he felt that since an actor gave, he deserved to get paid. He said, "It depends on the subject. If it is positive and by my people, I can charge less. When every boss tells me to charge less, can I ask them not to make money?"

As for the idea of having a rate and a market in the business, he only answered that one was selling and the other was buying. Everyone was happy. He said satirically, "After the meal you complain about it being expensive, you might as well not eat!" As for his rumored 30 million RMB salary, he did not directly respond. He only said that it could be high and low, and described it as fluctuating like home prices. Was he worth the price? Yen Chi Tan said, "It's not up to me to say if I am worth it. If I ask for 300 million, no one would be willing to pay it! It mainly depends on viewers. I have several films in negotiation, in 2014 I want to reduce production and make movies that I want to make. (Are you afraid that people would accuse you of arrogance?) I am not asking for that much, when I took HK$3,000 you didn't write about it. When I took 30 million then you wrote about it. Ultimately the price could be high and low." He said that his wife calculated his medical bill, several ribs had cracks. He hinted that he has given a lot to film productions.