Lee Na-young still waiting for her payday
by javabeans
Runaway Plan B is wrapped and off the air, but lead actress Lee Na-young has yet to see a single cent from it, and is taking legal steps to claim her salary.
To that end, she has filed suit against producers with the Seoul Central District Court demanding the unpaid wages, according to her management company Keyeast. This comes after the drama that boasted a 10 billion won budget had trouble securing funding mid-shoot, troubled by ever-dropping ratings. Lee isn’t the only one who hasn’t been paid; other supporting cast members and crew are also waiting. According to management reps, other stars in the main cast like Rain, Daniel Henney, and Yoon Jin-seo have received some pay, though the rest is still outstanding.
A source with the production company promised to negotiate the matter, but it remains to be seen how long that might take if the problem is that there are no funds to be paid.
I hadn’t heard of Runaway running into mid-drama funding issues, although I can see how that happened after its strong start quickly took a dive as the show wasted episodes throwing around its money and glitz before getting down to the actual story. The ratings stabilized at 10% (down from 20%), but it was difficult wooing people back; turns out viewers can’t be bought off with empty style, and they checked out before the show could hook them by turning its attention to real conflict and drama.
It’s too bad, because I found myself enjoying Runaway a lot more once they started to take the story seriously, and it turned out to be much better than I initially thought. But you can’t blame people for moving on without waiting to see when — if — things would get better.
Via Segye
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Tags: lawsuits, Lee Na-young, Runaway Plan B
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1 lee_june
December 21, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Too bad for the actors.
. I haven't watch this yet bu it's on my watch list.
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midnightmint
December 21, 2010 at 8:11 PM
Yep, same with me
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2 Christy
December 21, 2010 at 4:05 PM
I'm just wondering, will you do a whole post-run recap? Like of your overall impression? Thanks
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3 Lem0nlime
December 21, 2010 at 4:06 PM
This is horrible:( I hope that this will be settled soon.
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4 noon0201
December 21, 2010 at 4:15 PM
I enjoyed the drama too!
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sara
December 22, 2010 at 12:13 AM
me too, actually this kind of drama isn't my type, but I really enjoy it. and in comparison with others drama rating its rating isn't so bad.
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5 Barbara Starks
December 21, 2010 at 4:58 PM
They should have killed her character off instead, I' m still so bitter! about the ending! Enjoyed the secondary couple so much! I think I will sue for my heartbreak of a horrible ending.
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annie
December 22, 2010 at 5:42 PM
I know! *cries*
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Kavitha Ravi
January 4, 2011 at 12:23 PM
ditto cant believe they had the gall to do tht! IM SO VERY VERY BITTER ABT IT :(
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6 Birdie
December 21, 2010 at 5:30 PM
This issue has turned up again and again. The production company and TV station have to find a better way of paying the cast and crew. Maybe a basic wage paid on each episode and bonus pay on top if ratings is good. In this way, at least people can put food on the table for their families. None of us would go to work if we are not paid for our work.
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John
December 21, 2010 at 11:02 PM
I agree with the above statement. Running out of money midway through a drama is unacceptable..especially when the drama has a set number of episodes of when it will finish.
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7 zero2303
December 21, 2010 at 5:39 PM
This is one big budget drama that is a total flop..
It was really a boring drama with no attention to its plot, but only having big casts there.
Total wasted investment.
Daniel Henney should really work on his acting.
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cantika
December 22, 2010 at 1:18 AM
agreed...
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Denali
December 22, 2010 at 10:04 AM
Ditto.
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8 Arhazivory
December 21, 2010 at 6:33 PM
Man. That sucks for the whole cast and crew. To work that hard and not get paid is a raw deal.
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9 jfc
December 21, 2010 at 6:44 PM
wow...this is shocking news...she hasn't been paid at all? This is not a good sign for drama industry/entertainment field as a whole...no wonder it takes a long time for my faves to find work!!
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10 archaenon
December 21, 2010 at 7:35 PM
I thought RPB was actually pretty good, I watched every episode and it didn't tire me out and I loved all of the cast.
I think people were too quick to write it off because of the first couple of episodes. Some dramas don't even pick up til' 3 or 4 episodes in ( MSOAN never picked up/made sense ) like Kim Soo Ro and King Geungcho ( it took me at least 4 or 5 eps to really get into them ).
To each their own about the drama lol, I thought it was rather excellent. :D
I hope she gets paid because this had tons of money wrapped up in it.
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archaenon
December 21, 2010 at 7:40 PM
Option to edit comments needs to be added, esp since this seems like a wordpress script based blog.
I wanted to add in that it reminds me of Investigative Parachute Agent ( I think that's what it's called ) with Eric Mun, which was supposed to be a spy comedy, which I think is what Runaway Plan B was supposed to be.
I was excited for RPB because it wasn't going to be another drag fest that was Iris ( Sorry internet, I could not stand IRIS even though I watched the whole thing ) and the writers/team wanted something lighthearted.
There were times during the episodes that made me think of Mel Brooks, who is one of my all time favorite funny people ever, in some of the gags and scripting.
I think if people chilled out and just watched the story as a comedy it would have been better taken.
2/cents.
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Natalie
December 21, 2010 at 9:07 PM
agreed. I liked Runaway Plan B and I enjoyed every episode. Yes the plot took a while to pick up but once it did it was addictive! And even in the fluff episodes, the first 8 eps, it was still pretty fun stuff.
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11 Tena Chen
December 21, 2010 at 10:25 PM
Wow, this makes me interesting in learning how the Korean TV industry works. I mean, how can people not be paid during production? Twenty episodes ... We are talking at LEAST four months of your life. Do they not get paid until work is over? Or is it just based on the production company and television station? Makes me understand why people want to get into Hollywood/ US market so bad.
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12 bjharm
December 21, 2010 at 10:42 PM
It been in the news a lot..remember that threatened strike and all here freaked because it would affect their favourite dramas at the time. Korean seems to have very weak employment laws and employers just ride roughshod over their employees at whim.
But you can bet the TV companies top dogs have their pay and also Rain..lol that guy has and often needs an army of lawyers, no way they risk giving him a hard time.
The way things are done in Korea seem to be very stressful to all. Its not surprising those that can, leave Korea to work overseas, be it Japan China or USA, as soon as they can. It is not even for more money sometimes it just for a less stressful working environment
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13 Micky Mouse
December 21, 2010 at 11:29 PM
BYJ's Keyeast has two flop projects, am not happy especially from the cash flow perspective. just hope Dream High can fetch better rating, otherwise it is time to unload the shares!!
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14 dana
December 21, 2010 at 11:51 PM
That is unacceptable, i hope they receive their money soon. I enjoyed the drama and I'm curious to read your comments on that last episode.
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15 churasan
December 22, 2010 at 12:12 AM
Wow... that's really weird. Maybe they hope to make money marketing the drama overseas and pay the actors that way.
I started watching this drama, but only made it to episode 4. It was really confusing and so many characters. Maybe I'll try to re-watch it again now that it's over and I can do it in one go.
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16 Latoya Bridges
December 22, 2010 at 12:45 AM
me too, actually this kind of drama isn't my type, but I really enjoy it. and in comparison with others drama rating its rating isn't so bad.
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17 Han Mania
December 22, 2010 at 5:06 AM
Awww, that's too bad. I hope they get to sort things out with the producers.
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18 @.@
December 22, 2010 at 6:12 AM
sucks for her that she hasn't gotten paid. hopefully, the cast and crew will get their hard-earned wages soon.
i hadn't heard of problems getting funding halfway, though, but i guess te studio expected better ratings than those it got.
I LOVED FUGITVE:PLAN B!!!!!!!!!!! MY FAVORITE DRAMA THIS YEAR!!!! I loved the beginning, the ending, the flashy, the emotional, and just everything.
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19 schreber
December 22, 2010 at 10:21 AM
This is becoming the norm nowadays. It seems as if all of the major networks are struggling to pay their workers their promised wages regardless if the series/show is going well.
What gives?
I can imagine this type of behavior resulting in another strike, we've had two in as many years and it's only going to get worse if the networks continue to promise this and that without having the wherewithal to actually produce the promised funds for their talent.
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20 danna
December 22, 2010 at 11:41 AM
they paid Rain and henney but not her??....tsk tsk tsk
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21 lalala
December 22, 2010 at 3:54 PM
I found myself enjoying this drama a lot when they get into the main story of finding the old. it is a lot more interesting than iris and the story doesn't drag. i truly enjoy seeing her performance in it. Rain and LNY were funny in the hospital scene.
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22 Kavitha Ravi
January 4, 2011 at 12:31 PM
tht just sucks...leaves a bad taste in my mouth really..how can you not pay your main heroine but all your heroes huh? chauvinistic pigs the lot of them ( I know yoon jin seo got paid some but tht could be cos she is under Rain's label)
i liked plan b not too bad...i actually enjoyed the funny first 8 eps than i did the rest but was still a good watch! rain was super duper funny! he should stick to doing funny stuff he is just too good! im a believer now :D
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