Recently, the topic "short film actors with salaries of 40,000 CNY/day" has climbed to the top of searches on Chinese social networks and caused much discussion.
With a cat-xe of 40,000 CNY (about 150 million VND) per day, if a movie is filmed in 10 days, an actor can receive up to 400,000 CNY (about 1.5 billion VND) - a very impressive number compared to ordinary workers.
However, according to Chinese media, 40,000 CNY is not the common income level for short film actors, but is only the daily cat-xe ceiling for a very few top stars, regulated by platforms.
Short film actors' salaries plummet
According to industry sources, platforms such as Hongguo Short Drama have set clear rules: actors' salaries must not exceed 40,000 CNY/day. This means that 40,000 CNY is only the highest salary level for a few A-list actors when filming in a day, who usually have to work from 12-14 hours each day.
Usually, a short film is shot in about 7-10 days. Accordingly, the total cat-xe of a top main actor is about 280,000-400,000 CNY for each work.
To achieve this level, actors must own many best-selling works and belong to the top star group in the industry, accounting for less than 1% of the total number of actors; the remaining 99% is completely unrelated to this number.
Taking daily cat-xe to convert into annual income is inappropriate in the Chinese short film industry. Because after completing a project lasting 7-10 days, actors may not immediately have a new project.
Even famous actors only receive a limited number of projects each year, and the free time between films does not have any income. Therefore, the actual income for the whole year will depend on the number of projects they receive.
More importantly, 40,000 CNY/day was already the ceiling after being reduced in salary. Previously, the salaries of leading actors in the field of Chinese short films ranged from 50,000-100,000 CNY/day.
The situation of mid-range and fairly high-end actors is even harsher. Those who used to receive 5,000-8,000 CNY/day are now mostly under 3,000 CNY/day. Meanwhile, the group that used to receive 1,500-2,000 CNY/day is now only paid 500-800 CNY/day.
At the lowest level of the short film industry, some male leads currently only receive 400-500 CNY/day. Many new faces even accept acting without a salary just to accumulate works and build professional profiles. The salary of extras also decreases from about 150 CNY/day to 80-150 CNY/day.
AI star occupies waves
According to experts, the real force that is changing this short film industry is not actors, but AI (artificial intelligence).
In the first quarter of 2026, about 128,000 short films were released in China, of which more than 95% were produced by AI.
The production cost of AI short films and films shot with real people is sky-high. An AI short film only costs about 3,000–5,000 CNY, and it only takes 5 days to complete 80 episodes.
With the same amount of money, if producing real-life films, it is even not enough to pay a day's salary for the main actor, while AI can create a complete film.
The difference in costs quickly affected the number of projects started. The number of real-life short films shot has decreased by 75% compared to the same period last year. When AI can produce mass content at a cost of only 1/50, the high-cash period of real-life actors is also threatened.
In the industry, AI actors have emerged to become phenomena, typically Phuong Dao Tu with an account with more than 400,000 followers.
She never goes late, does not need to rest, does not demand cat-xe, is not hindered by schedules and does not make any requests on the film set. For the producer, this is almost an actress without management costs.
According to assessments, the period of quick money making from short films has closed. The industry bubble is gradually evaporating and tens of thousands of workers are forced to leave the game. The restructuring created by AI is only in its early stages, and no one can yet predict how many jobs will continue to disappear.
