How much a foreigner costs
There was an interesting article last week in the Christian Science Monitor about a niche area of Chinese popular entertainment. Titled, "In China, fame comes easier with a foreign face," it is a look at the foreigners who become familiar faces to Chinese television viewers, as well as what these same TV viewers find so entertaining about foreigners. Interestingly, one of those featured in the article is the babershop blogger Ben Ross who has been on Chinese TV.
If you want to understand the phenomenom more, the article is an interesting read. It echoes the original set-up described in the memoir Foreign Babes in Beijing, which I read last month. DeWoskin was asked to be on the TV show, simply because she was young, pretty, and spoke fluent Mandarin, not because she was an actress. The article also mentions that foreigners are funnier if they mess up speaking Mandarin. While I can personally attest to the entertainment value this provides in real life, it's funny that the TV producers still want a fluent foreigner to mess up, even intentionally. On "Foreign Babes" the TV show, DeWoskin was sometimes overdubbed by someone else with less-carefully accented Mandarin over her well-rehearsed and well-executed CCTV-accent Mandarin.
What is most interesting to me, though, about this article is the price quoted to get a foreigner to participate in the entertainment industry here. It seems that 1000 RMB must be the magic number to get us to bother. That is how much Myles makes for his photo shoots for the catalog companies here as well. In the fall I compared how this per diem income measures up against other legitimate forms of adult employment here. Remember, the minimum wage in China is managed locally, and inside the SEZ of Shenzhen, which isn't the entire city, the minimum wage is 810 RMB a month. This is the highest in China. In November I wrote:
In the past three weeks, Myles has had three shoots, each earning him another 1000 RMB. One day, he was the only child, so we were done in 2 hours! But that is the going rate for a foreigner, 1000 RMB.
Here are some pictures from the various shoots. The first two are from the Teletubbies catalog itself that was photographed in November.
This one was for a brand of clothes called Lucky Baby.
It is starting to be the fall/winter catalog season, so the two most recent shoots have been indoors.
Some sort of old American West theme. These clothes had a Chinese-language brand name, and had some sort of faux-quasi vintage thing going on. That meant a lot of sepia tones. I wish we could have kept the hat. It was this cool, beat-up Von Dutch ballcap.
This was another Chinese brand, I think called "Australia" in English. For the winter clothes they wanted to set up some sort of minimalist Christmas feel. It looked rather bleak to me. But then again, I don't know anything about fashion marketing in any country. Maybe a Christmas of emptiness is hip and cool.
Again, none of these brands are available outside of China. But the advertising will tell a different story, won't it?
Beijing - If you've got the looks, the talent, and the Mandarin, forget Hollywood – the Chinese entertainment industry wants you.
And even if you're a foreigner in China who doesn't have any of those things, don't worry. You've got a decent chance of getting on television, anyway.
In cities nationwide, recruiters are prowling university campuses and expatriate hangouts in search of aspiring variety show performers, game show contestants, and film extras.
Pretty much any kind of foreigner will do, with one exception: "They definitely prefer people that don't look Asian," says American expatriate Ben Ross.
snip
Television producers offer between 400 and 1,000 RMB ($50 to $125) per episode, but money is not the only motivation for some Western actors. "A lot of these shows I would have done for free, just to have fun," says Wily Boyle, a Canadian who appeared on some of the same shows as Ross.
If you want to understand the phenomenom more, the article is an interesting read. It echoes the original set-up described in the memoir Foreign Babes in Beijing, which I read last month. DeWoskin was asked to be on the TV show, simply because she was young, pretty, and spoke fluent Mandarin, not because she was an actress. The article also mentions that foreigners are funnier if they mess up speaking Mandarin. While I can personally attest to the entertainment value this provides in real life, it's funny that the TV producers still want a fluent foreigner to mess up, even intentionally. On "Foreign Babes" the TV show, DeWoskin was sometimes overdubbed by someone else with less-carefully accented Mandarin over her well-rehearsed and well-executed CCTV-accent Mandarin.
What is most interesting to me, though, about this article is the price quoted to get a foreigner to participate in the entertainment industry here. It seems that 1000 RMB must be the magic number to get us to bother. That is how much Myles makes for his photo shoots for the catalog companies here as well. In the fall I compared how this per diem income measures up against other legitimate forms of adult employment here. Remember, the minimum wage in China is managed locally, and inside the SEZ of Shenzhen, which isn't the entire city, the minimum wage is 810 RMB a month. This is the highest in China. In November I wrote:
The following is the amount of time it takes to earn 1000 RMB in China:
If you are are a minimum wage worker in Shenzhen with no over-time, more than a month.
If you are an ai yi/helper/housemaid who speaks no English, one month.
If you are a Filipina ai yi/helper/housemaid that speaks excellent English, 2-3 weeks.
If you are Chinese national, mid-level professional, a week or less.
If you are a cute white kid who follows direction well, 4-5 hours.
In the past three weeks, Myles has had three shoots, each earning him another 1000 RMB. One day, he was the only child, so we were done in 2 hours! But that is the going rate for a foreigner, 1000 RMB.
Here are some pictures from the various shoots. The first two are from the Teletubbies catalog itself that was photographed in November.
This one was for a brand of clothes called Lucky Baby.
It is starting to be the fall/winter catalog season, so the two most recent shoots have been indoors.
Some sort of old American West theme. These clothes had a Chinese-language brand name, and had some sort of faux-quasi vintage thing going on. That meant a lot of sepia tones. I wish we could have kept the hat. It was this cool, beat-up Von Dutch ballcap.
This was another Chinese brand, I think called "Australia" in English. For the winter clothes they wanted to set up some sort of minimalist Christmas feel. It looked rather bleak to me. But then again, I don't know anything about fashion marketing in any country. Maybe a Christmas of emptiness is hip and cool.
Again, none of these brands are available outside of China. But the advertising will tell a different story, won't it?
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