The Dangers of Working in Prague as a Foreign Actor

This blog entry is part memoir, part lesson; exactly what readers get out of it is completely up to them.

In August, I encountered a number of career-related obstacles that reinforced the limited and limiting nature of the film and television industry in Prague for foreign actors. Needless to write, it is a very frustrating prospect. A lot of it has to do with the level of acceptance by the movers and shakers of this town; a status quo that no one has the inclination to break. I was speaking with a friend of mine recently – he is a well-known figure in the hospitality industry in Prague -  and he said the city needs to be turned upside-down before any significant and lasting change may take place. While he was speaking from the perspective of a successful manager working at an international restaurant franchise, I found his words rang true for the local acting community that work in film and television productions shot in Prague.

So where do I begin? Ah, I know: getting paid for gigs (film, television, commercial, and theatre jobs). I’m owed a significant amount of money for four (4) commercial productions I acted in between early June and the middle of July. I’m also owed money for a number of theatre performances I did between the middle of February and the beginning of March. Due to the lack of actor unions in this country, there are no rules set down or a watchdog organizations to govern the remuneration of career actors.

The theatre I used to work for is called The Bear Educational Theatre, which travels around the Czech Republic and France, and performs educational plays to students with the aim of teaching English as a second language through drama. The company employs three full-time staff for administrative purposes, including one to control finances and accounting. I contacted the company director, David Fisher, directly on June 30, and again on August 10 when I did not receive a reply. I finally received a reply from him on August 14, informing me that he would be in the centre of town on the 18th and would pay me the outstanding amount in person. On the morning of that day, I received a text from David telling me the meeting would be postponed because he would not be in town. On August 23, I received a email from him asking for my bank account details so he could transfer the money to me, as he was in the tourist town of Český Krumlov. I replied immediately after reading the email; to this day, I have not received the money nor a reply from David. Since that date, I have attempted to initiate contact with him on three different occasions to no avail.

This incident is not the first time I have heard similar stories of late payment by The Bear Educational Theatre to its employed actors. There were two instances in the past where the actors had to chase the company for payment. One payment – a relatively small amount – was a year overdue; the second – a much large amount – was willfully withheld from the actor by David Fisher after he and the actor in question had a falling out (the actor eventually received payment for the work he did).

Even professional production companies in the Czech Republic will not hesitate to permanently withhold payment from actors. I have never been paid by the International Production Company for my work in the horror-thriller film Psych: 9; and I had to chase Starlite Productions to claim my daily fee for working on the set of  The Pagan Queen. In the latter case, I contacted production three times over the course of 365 days after the production wrapped before I got a lawyer involved. Only then did they agree to remunerate me, but outright refused to pay the interest owed due to late payment, even though it was stipulated in a clause in the contract (which was signed and stamped by company producer, Vladimír Lhoták). They knew it would cost me more in legal fees to take them to court than I would receive from the interest they owed me. Both production companies are based in Prague.

Most foreign production companies – be they from the US, the UK, Italy, France, wherever – take advantage of the lack of actor unions in the Czech Republic. It allows them to defer payment to the actor for a minimum of three months (90 days). A recent example of this happening to me is the “Campari” commercial, directed by Joel Schumacher. That particular production wrapped on June 16, 2011. I saw two cuts of the commercial in the middle of August: a long version, and a short version. As of the writing of this entry, I have not been paid for working on that set. Even more recently (and strangely) is the “Lipton” commercial – the one  starring Pierce Brosnan  – that I worked on in July. A “final cut” was made a week after the production wrapped, so my agent sent off the order for the daily fee and buyout (I was visible in the cut). A few days later, production notified her the “final cut” was going to be reedited, so payment was withheld. A week ago, I learned that one of the featured extras on the set received his daily fee. It was his first gig – he’s not an actor by trade – and the agency or company that represented him for that production solicited his payment and received it. Now I am with a long-standing agency in Prague that specializes in representing foreign talent; I’ve been with them for five years. As of the writing of this entry, I haven’t been remunerated for that gig.

To be continued…