Table of contents:
- Economy of the Soviet film industry
- Assignment of categories and differential payment
- How much were paid to actors and directors
- The fabulous "Intergirl" and the statement of the "Caucasian captive"
Video: 550 salaries for "Intergirl", or How much did Soviet actors and directors receive
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Salaries in the USSR were regulated at the state level. The creative industry was no exception. Of course, Soviet film actors never dreamed of the size of their colleagues' Hollywood royalties, working mainly in an ideological spirit. But on the other hand, against the background of a general leveling system, the income of the demanded actor in the main role was several times higher than the average wage in the country. And the fees of individual directors surprised even the eminent old-timers of Mosfilm.
Economy of the Soviet film industry
During the 60s, the lion's share of our favorite Soviet films were released, replicas of which are cited from generation to generation and do not lose popularity. At that time, the State Film Agency annually received a loan of 100 million rubles from the Ministry of Finance. Further, this amount was distributed between the film studios, and within each film studio - between the films. The filmed films were bought from studios by the State Film Distribution Center and resold to cinemas. Part of the proceeds from the film distribution was returned to the bank, and the remaining funds were used to finance additional films, debuts of promising graduates of VGIKA, experimental films.
Annual rental income often reached a billion rubles. With an average ticket price of 22 kopecks, that equated to 4 billion movie trips. If the box office of cinemas did not collect the necessary sums, Indian films were on the catch. Such screenings quickly and easily replenished the budgets of the film industry, recouping the costs of their purchase without harming the ideological component.
Assignment of categories and differential payment
The salary of a Soviet worker depended on the position held, the volume of duties and the level of danger of the profession. By the 1970s, an honest citizen received on average no more than 200 rubles a month, which, in principle, was enough for a moderate life. Back in 1961, the Council of Ministers decided to take measures to increase the material interest of workers in the film industry. It was then that ideological and artistic differentiation was introduced with the assignment of categories to one or another film. The higher the category of motion pictures, the higher the fees for the artists and directors were.
Composers and screenwriters were paid by print run - a percentage of the collection not exceeding 300% of the royalties. By the way, the peculiarities of copyright at that time made it possible to use music in the film for free, if it was not specially written for the script. Separate remuneration was due for scripts created "based on" - on the basis of literary works on the subject of Soviet reality. The assignment of copyright was estimated at a maximum of 2,000 rubles. It was possible to receive a fee for classics processed and rewritten for cinema.
How much were paid to actors and directors
According to the collection of normative acts of the film industry from 1973, the fee for film artists ranged from one thousand to two rubles. The amount of payment for the actor's work depended on the length of the film and the professional category of the actor, his titles and merits. In addition to royalties, artists working at a particular film studio received salaries, which also varied depending on qualifications from 80 rubles to half a thousand. Some of the actors worked part-time in theaters, where monthly rates or one-time rewards were set according to the same principle. So it is not easy to determine the total income of an actor.
The performer of the main or main role was entitled to an increased remuneration from one to two thousand rubles and a percentage of the premium, depending on the format and ideological component of the film. The most popular actors of the Soviet Union could get up to 5,000 rubles for a production.
The wealthiest representative of the film crew was, of course, the director. For one film, he could earn up to 10,000 rubles, depending on the format, duration of the picture and the direct professional category of the director. Moreover, if the film consisted of several episodes, this figure increased. For example, the so-called staged for two episodes "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" turned out to be 15,000 rubles for director Stanislav Rostotsky, since he was the "People's Artist". And the hero of socialist labor Sergei Bondarchuk earned as much as 30,000 rubles for 4 episodes of War and Peace.
The fabulous "Intergirl" and the statement of the "Caucasian captive"
In 1969, Yuri Nikulin received a huge fee for those times - 5,188 rubles for his leading role in the legendary "Diamond Hand". The film was filmed from April 68th and was released a year later. After the final episodes were filmed, editing with voice acting began. The main actors were engaged in the production for six months. In terms of monthly remuneration, Nikulin earned about 800 rubles on the set. Sergei Bondarchuk was one of the members of Mosfilm's artistic council in the USSR. After the successful debut of The Fate of Man, he received a state order for the production of the film War and Peace. For such an exclusive right, Bondarchuk had to fight with his colleague Pyryev.
The latter, as expected, could not stand the competition and fell out with Bondarchuk forever. The large-scale filming took 6 years. A number of enterprises and even the army worked for film production. The budget of "War and Peace" reached $ 100 million at the price level of those years. In 1969, the picture took the Oscar as the best foreign film. True, at the next congress of cinematographers in 1986, Bondarchuk was named a representative of the cinema mafia for these achievements, which for many years had been writing out huge funds for failed films.
In 1989, Mosfilm employees were stunned by the size of the fee paid for the film Intergirl to film director Todorovsky. This amount was equal to 550 average salaries of those years. Todorovsky's group took the risk of self-supporting and did not miss. For the first time in the Union, the line "producer" appeared in the credits of this film. The director's wife, Mira, found a foreign sponsor who invested in the picture. For the first time, a category was not assigned to a Soviet film, and the calculation was only for hire.
And one of the most famous Soviet films - about the Battle on the Ice - filmed with wooden ice floes, and other offscreen secrets.
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