Oh, boy. Talk about burning bridges. Sally Choi, the art director for “Obsession,” went viral today after she spoke out about her pay on the film. The movie, made for under $1M, is now projected to earn well over $200M worldwide, prompting Choi to…reflect.
“I’ve debated this for a long time,” Choi wrote on Instagram. “I’ve been holding a lot of weight over the past two years since the production of “Obsession,” so I’m going to say it as it is.”
Choi explains that “Obsession” was made for “$750K and is projected to make $250M. How much I made: $300/day as Art Director. This came out to $6,741.36 after taxes. No mileage.”
Choi expressed regret about not pushing back harder during negotiations. According to her, she was encouraged not to challenge the production’s terms and now wishes she had advocated more strongly for herself before accepting the job.
“I kick myself every single day for not flipping this production. I was encouraged not to and I naively listened,” Choi added.
Gosh, where to begin? The fact is that Choi had only one previous short-film credit before “Obsession” and accepted the standard rate for a low-budget independent production. She was paid $6700 for 20 days of work, which is more than the average worker earns; nevertheless, she still chose to publicly complain. If she did have concerns—and I do understand her frustrations about her line of work being underpaid—then perhaps she should have addressed them privately with the filmmakers rather than expressing them on social media.
What Choi doesn't seem to realize, and this seems to be the irony of it all, is that this film gave her a major career breakthrough, and likely opened doors to future opportunities, and higher-paying projects.
Yet, it will now be the last job Choi lands for quite some time. In Hollywood, reputation travels fast, especially when someone comes across as thankless for an opportunity they accepted. In practice, few people are eager to hire someone who publicly criticizes a project after benefiting from its success. Choi has done just that.