Why Do Female Leads in Vertical Drama Still Earn Less Than Male Co-Leads?

An important question the industry should address: why do some female leads in vertical dramas continue to earn less than their male counterparts?

The audience and the protagonist

Many of the genre’s most successful productions are driven by female audiences and centered around female protagonists. The billionaire romance, the format’s single most reliable earner, is a story told from her point of view, marketed to viewers like her, and carried by her performance.

If a female lead is a primary factor in a show’s success, should her compensation reflect that contribution equally?

What performers describe

Accounts from working leads, including Vanessa Schwarz’s interview with PEOPLE, describe a consistent pattern: male leads often receive more for the same billing on the same title. The gap is not explained by audience draw, since the audience is largely there for her. It is explained by negotiation happening in the dark, with no published rates and most performers representing themselves.

The association’s position

This is a conversation worth having among actors, producers and platforms alike, and the association intends to keep having it. VPAA’s standards call for two things:

• Published rate ranges by role type, so that every performer knows the market before they negotiate.
• Equal pay for equal billing, as a stated production policy.

Neither caps what a star can earn. Both remove the conditions that produce the gap. A format whose audience and protagonists are women can afford to pay its female leads what they are worth.