Slumdog child actors underpaid, still live in slums

I simply think that the decision to set them up with trust funds comes from a good place, but does not give the parents any rights over their children's future. They have no details of it. It's a bit dictatorial.

Many actors here in the usa do not get much pay let alone get hired for work. Unions and past performers had to fight for rights and fair pay. Currently many union members have to stand up to fight again with new media for a fair deal. Fair Wages and working conditions are a must in any industry,(esp in film for performers of all ages) but since this film was a Runaway Production(and even seems like from a british co but supported by Fox Searchlight (and not related to any USA unions as per working conditions) I doubt any one of us can do anything about what happened there from here. (usa unions have rules about hiring practices of children) Also, since Im sure they agreed to do work for the paid amount at the time, then? Hard to be sympathetic at this time bout
this situation.
Many actors here in LA do not make enough money to get healthcare benefits or live. Generally, its told that producers hire who they want because its a business(but do not follow labor regulations for business most of the time), then for this proj they hired who they wanted.
Since there are economic hardships at this time, which leaves many American adult and child actor's homeless, it is hard for those whose jobs r constantly
taken out and outsourced to speak for underpay for actors or people starting in the craft or business overseas. As no one is speaking up for on behalf of the american performers, many poor actors in America has only themselves to speak for them.

besides that many who watch films from around the world agree that in comparison, this is not anything spectacular, but the media buzz was able to carry it along(people got swept up in it) with studio lobbying esp seems since studios are looking to merge & produce overseas, cut costs in esp on benefits & pay to usa working actors & crew. some protests ask why only slums of india r highlighted by fair colored people who make movies in india as there r other subjects & locations, and even use of word dog-(as per another posting on current).

The actual story at link is far more ambiguous than the exerpt in this post suggests. It sounds like the kids are being provided for better in the long run, rather than being given a lump sum now that may just get spend by the family.

Didn't something similar happen with the Kite Runner?

The actors were put in school and given a trust fund for when they come of age.
They have money and also education which will be far more benificial than just giving them the money straight out.

Greed knows no border or country.

I absolutly loved this movie but it's really sad to hear that.

You guys are jerks! "Oh I'm sure they're set up for life..." Yeah sure....a million kids living in a slum in India and you can get away with paying them a couple hundred bucks and then putting *maybe* at most 5K in a "trust" to pay for their college education...if they make it that far. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for some cheap labor. Maybe that's how I'll pay all my domestic servants from now on.... Hire them when they're underage and then tell them that if they get into college I'll pay for it... in like 10 years....oh yeah, and only community colleges because college in India costs like a thousand dollars at most.

just because they were only paid those amounts does not mean they dont have trust funds set up by the director and their educations paid for. The parents of the kids most likley want more money for themselves - the kids are prolly set up for life!

I get the feeling that we're not getting the whole story here so Im not jumping to any conclusions. Danny Boyle isnt an idiot and Im pretty sure he and the studio wouldnt knowingly dick over these kids knowing it would come back to bite them in the ass. (Say what you want about the entertainment industry being unethical, but they arent idiots, they cover their tracks).

My guess would be that after the success (that no one not even Boyle) predicted, the parents now want more money than whatever was agreed upon. But then again I could be wrong...we dont really have the full story here.

So the children are getting free education until 18, they get a "large lump sum" upon turning 18 if they are still in school, and they got paid 3x the average adult's salary for filming? If this is true, then how is this unethical?

All this PR about a "trust" is such crap. How much do you think it would take to pay for a full education in an Indian university? According to the ICHEFAP, it would be at MOST $1500.

And its pretty hard to prepare for college when you live under a tarp and/or next to exposed sewer drains.

http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/org/inthigheredfinance/region_asia_India.html

Why doesn't someone compare how much the actors in the movie were paid in some sort of logical fashion...on camera time, words spoken, whatever. If it turns out that all the actors were paid similarly, hey no big deal...wages are different in India. But if the actors from higher income families were paid substantially more than the kids whose parents had no idea how to properly advocate for them...well then that would be something else entirely.

the kids have a trust fund to collect when the turn 18, provided they remain in school. i think that's a great incentive, and they only have themselves to blame if they don't commit to their education.

You can't expect boyle to fund them for the rest of their lives. perhaps he should have paid more, looked after the sick father a bit, etc etc, but where does it stop. he's in a difficult situation and appears to have done the best he can. i don't see it as exploitation, and i'm sure he never expected this film to be the hit it has become.

I read in NYLON magazine that Boyle set up trust funds that will pay all college expenses for the two actors if they complete their education up to that level. They will also have their trust funds released to them upon reaching adulthood. I understand this approach - the funds will not be accessed by nefarious characters or financially strapped family members and the children will have a keen motivation to complete their education, thus investing in themselves financially and educationally. I don't know about the low wages during filming, but I'm sure the article quoted here on Current.com isn't the whole story.

I don't know, this movie wasn't made as a documentary or for nonprofit purposes. While this looks really bad, I think the movie creates a realistic picture and awareness, but wasn't meant to create donations...it was still entertainment after all

Most of the child actors in the movie were street children and living in slums before the movie.

So the parents whored the kids out then decided that they pimped them to cheap. I bet they kissed ass to get the money to start with now they just got greedy and want more. I would like to see where Indian servants get paid that much money in India. According to the Washington Post the average wage in India is $460.00 US. That's the average I am sure the people of Mumbai make less than that. So with a pound worth about a buck fifty right now the total for the two of them was 2200 pounds or about $3300 US. That means the two kids were paid total 8 times the average yearly income in India. In America that would be the equivalent of 8 x average income of people over 25 at $32,000 or $248,000. I am hard pressed to see where two completely unknown child actors in America would be paid a quarter million dollars for one movie.

I consider the kids all of them to be the best actors in whole movie. They made the movie better fuck adults, not the girl adult.

What a twist. Seems like the makers of Slumdog, are basically Slumlords of Humanity. "Get out of here, you filthy animal!" The nerve of some people. I bet at some point, someone or group made the decision in their mind, then their heart, to make an attempt at getting over. Man..the power it takes to try and get over on someone. Or maybe not. Some people are just that cavalier. In my book, those people get the GAS FACE.

Some people will do anything for a buck. Millions of bucks? That many more problems.

Did any commentors read the linked article? The story is not as black and white as the poster suggests. A careful reading would reveal that there's more to the story. as always, don't believe everything you read.

While the west is drooling over Slumdog Millionaire, it seems India isn't liking it too much ...

false.

people!!! its not true!

That's horrible! They probably just thought that since the child was Indian, they wouldn't have had to pay that much. Evn though the movie has made millions for producers and such and then has so many Oscar nominations and has already won a golden globe...the child still gets little money. :(
Everyone's trying to rip everyone else off these days

Definitely some sad news, those two had a great deal to do with why I enjoyed this film so dearly,

I didn't see the film. I was about to. If this is true, I'm glad I didn't pay to see this film.

Low budget, low pay.

they are fantastic actors because the material was familiar to them.

I had no idea those kids live in real slums - they're fantastic actors. The best bits of the film are the parts with them in!

Ughh, I hope they make this right now the film's such a huge hit.

Don't believe it. Not a word. Beyond everything else that says "nope, that's wrong," meaning what Boyle has said and how well the films doing, unions would also never let it happen.

Fucking Hollywood. These children should be taken out of the street for long now! It was a great movie!!!

(Yet, they did not work a year!)

So much for the enlightening 'ethical' screenplays written 8000 Kilometers from the slums. If true, that's rather upsetting.

That is really sad, and incredibly dissappointing, Danny Boyle should know better. At least he's set up the trusts and apparently he's provided the kids with transport to school every day.

Typical. Sad, but typical