CAIRO, 20 April 2005 — Prominent Egyptian actress Elham Shahin shocked the committee for artists’ wages at the Egyptian Broadcasting Union when she demanded to be paid $500,000 to star in a television drama series.
The committee strongly felt that the actress was jacking up her remuneration and said that such a price has never been paid to any artist since the introduction of television in Egypt.
According to the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the committee was also surprised by a raft of demands by other stars for an increase in their wages. The committee said that it will discuss the issue of wages, which is threatening the production of any new television dramas.
Elham has notified the Egyptian Media Production Company that she has set three million Egyptian pounds as her wage for starring in any television drama and will not accept anything less.
Elham had demanded this sum when she was offered the leading role in the upcoming television drama “Raya and Iskeena”, but the media city refused her demand and so found a substitute.