Art director Sally Choi, who worked on the Blumhouse hit Obsession, has criticized the compensation she received for her work on the film. According to World of Reel, Choi reportedly wrote on Instagram that she was paid $300 a day, which after taxes amounted to $6,741 for 20 days of work, with no mileage reimbursement.
The whole thing has drawn attention because, according to reports, Obsession was made for about 7.1 million kronor, but is now expected to gross over $250 million globally, which is roughly 2.4 billion kronor. Choi writes on Instagram that she regrets not pushing the production harder before accepting the job.
"I kick myself every single day for not flipping this production. I was encouraged not to and I naively listened,"
It's yet another reminder of the strange imbalance in the film industry, where an extremely low-budget production can become a massive financial hit—while many of the people behind the scenes have already received their fixed compensation and don't get to share in the upside when the film suddenly explodes.
For Sally Choi, however, it's questionable whether complaining in this way is a particularly smart move. The whole thing reeks of burned bridges.
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