Paid Under $7,000 on Obsession, Art Director Calls for Industry Reform as Box Office Nears $175 Million
As Curry Barker's Obsession races toward a $175 million box-office haul, its art director—who says they were paid less than $7,000—is calling for industry reform.
If you’ve been following Curry Barker's Obsession (see our review for the gory play-by-play), it’s been doing a bit more than just putting bums in seats—this micro-budget horror from Focus Features is smashing box office predictions left, right and centre. The latest: it’s about to crack $175 million. Not bad for something shot for peanuts and a free sandwich. But, as tends to be the way in showbiz, the tale behind the screen is far less glamorous—and it’s got the crew, particularly art director Sally Choi, venting frustrations online.
Sally Choi: Paid Peanuts, Public About It
Here’s the set-up. Choi, who ran the art department on Obsession, took to Instagram recently in a bit of a tell-all. She’s been stewing over the issue for ages, apparently, and finally decided to pull back the curtain on what’s bugging her. The headline: Despite Obsession heading for the $250 million mark globally (that's the projection anyway), the project’s original budget was only $750,000, and Choi’s own pay? $300 a day. Less than seven grand net once tax had taken its chunk. No extra for petrol or getting about either.
To be clear, she says she didn’t get swindled; she agreed to the rate at a time when money was tight and you take what you can get if you want to keep eating. But—and this is the sore point—she feels her contribution, and that of her fellow behind-the-camera workers, is being undervalued when the film rakes in enough cash to buy a small country. Choi summed it up like this:
"This is the reality of most filmmakers, especially those who work below the line. We become a line in the budget sheet to keep as low as possible. I kick myself every single day for not flipping this production. I was encouraged not to and I naively listened."
For the uninitiated: 'flipping' a production means pushing to get it unionised or stop work until the rate’s improved. But Choi says she was talked out of it—and regrets it ever since.
The Industry’s Grim Old Story
Let’s be honest: this isn’t a new story. Most jobs pay less than you deserve, but Hollywood’s notorious for taking the biscuit—especially if you’re not one of the ‘names’ getting called on stage, or if your title doesn’t have 'producer' or 'director' in it. If you think about comic book artists who made Spider-Man and co., or those toiling away on video games, it's the same old routine: the fat cats and executives cash in, everyone else gets whatever crumbs are left, and the battle for fairer pay drags on slower than a BBC costume drama.
The Internet Responds (And It Gets Messy)
Given this all played out on social media, the debate immediately kicked off:
- Joseph Kahn (film director) posted, 'Art director making $300 a day is a livable wage. One thing people don't understand about the film business is it's feast or famine. You may not work for weeks or months so that money has to be saved and amortized.' That’s a fair point, especially if you’ve ever tried paying LA rent with sporadic work.
- Luke Barnett (actor/director) wasn't exactly sympathetic either, reminding everyone that Choi signed on as an art director with barely a year’s experience running the show, and that the agreed rate wasn’t outlandish for a low-budget indie: 'Do NOT cut every connection you have to the filmmakers, put out tweets about how you wish you’d shut down their production, and complain about the rate you agreed to (which isn’t even like $100 or some student film sketchiness).'
- At the other end, Nia sided with Choi: 'I 100% believe that this studio/producers should give every person who worked on the Obsession set a bonus since it’s made literally 250x its budget.' Not an unreasonable suggestion. Look what happens with profit sharing in the tech sector; maybe Hollywood needs a similar rethink.
Meanwhile, the comment sections are flooded with armchair experts either defending the daily rate or calling for sweeping contract reform—the usual internet hurricane. One thing nearly everyone agrees on: the industry’s feast-or-famine rhythms, and how quickly fortunes can change once your name’s attached to a breakout hit, for better or worse.