Performers slam producer Bass Fam for failure to pay them
Performers who appeared in sell out shows have lifted the lid on the dark side of the industry as they reveal up to two years of pain.
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An acclaimed producer who has worked with the likes of Dannii Minogue and had hit shows at the Sydney Opera House and major festivals is being slammed by performers who haven’t been paid, leaving them thousands of dollars out of pocket.
News.com.au is aware of at least $182,500 owed to artists and a lighting design company but sources said many more are chasing money.
The shows, called Matador, Mansion, Memories and Oracle, were created by producer Bass Fam, and staged at the likes of the Opera House, the Sydney Spiegeltent and Adelaide Fringe Festival.
His show Matador was described as an “electric fusion” of burlesque, dance and jaw-dropping circus acts which originally performed sold out seasons in The Melba Spiegeltent in Melbourne, Sydney Opera House, The Tivoli Brisbane and Adelaide Festival Centre.
Some artists have been pursuing money they say is owed to them for more than two years while news.com.au understands that artists’ agencies also raised issues around payments back in 2022.
The performers say they were also promised a payment plan at one stage but money hasn’t been paid in months, according to the group.
In an email to a cast member Mr Fam said that once he had a “consistent cash flow pattern with my work”, it would be much “more attainable to create a payment plan that I could stick to which would consist of regular small payments, with lump sum injections from any additional big jobs/events”.
‘Absolutely no end in sight’
One Australian burlesque performer who goes by the name Bettie Bombshell, featured in the award-winning touring production Oracle but has since posted scathing social media stories claiming she is owed $7000 as well as superannuation.
She said the issue had been going on for “around two years now with absolutely no end in sight” and said for a “brief moment” she was tempted to accept giant gold martini prop glasses in her desperation to be paid.
In a phone call with news.com.au, Mr Fam said he had “nothing to hide” but “couldn’t answer” many of the questions put to him for “legal reasons as there is something way bigger than me”.
He claimed he got the prop glasses for Bettie out of storage, buffed the metal and then she changed her mind about taking it as payment.
Do you have a story? Contact sarah.sharples@news.com.au
‘Risking my life every night’
Bettie told news.com.au she initially agreed to the prop as payment because “I wanted to get rid of this situation”.
“Upon reflection and some very major events happening in my personal life I realised I couldn’t pay my rent and bills with a prop. Wild hey?” she said.
“So I messaged him to say that would no longer work, and that I was in a bit of trouble financially. He still didn’t pay me. He contractually agreed to pay me $7000. The prop was worth about $3000.
“The fact he is pushing the sob story of he had to get the prop out of storage and clean it is just so wild and insulting. I worked for years for this person risking my life every night performing fire, and he refuses to pay me what I and so many other performers are owed.”
‘Feel very taken advantage of’
Other artists spoke to news.com.au on the condition of anonymity detailing their “heartbreaking” financial struggles, how they feel taken advantage of and the despair of chasing rehearsal fees, pay for a whole season’s performances and superannuation in an already insecure industry.
Freya* is one artist who is owed thousands and said she would “never work” for the producer again.
She said payments started arriving late initially but the cast and crew were understanding as it was a new company and small.
“What these producers do is they ... they say ‘when we go to West End or New York or I’ve been in contact with Cirque Soleil or I’m in contact with Singapore’ so you feel like you’re working towards a goal,” she explained.
“But nothing like that happened. He said he went to Europe to look at venues and he went with our money and nothing was ever booked or went ahead.”
Freya said Mr Fam had posted pictures on Facebook in London and Germany, at parties and staying in the best hotels, while money was still outstanding.
“Being a performer is quite expensive as you need physio, makeup, fake tan and all of 2023 I was under financial stress, yet I was working non-stop. Then there is the super amount – it hasn’t even been really acknowledged, it’s almost like he see it as an optional bonus,” she said.
“I feel very taken advantage of.”
Mr Fam said he did not think super was an optional bonus and knew it was his responsibility to pay it.
On the Europe trip, Mr Fam claimed he had four meetings in London to bring Matador there and was even quoted by a venue but it was “too expensive”.
“Everything almost went ahead, I have no reason to lie are you f**king kidding me?” he said. “I have been doubted and mocked and ridiculed for trying to do things that are way beyond what other people are even trying.”
‘Show had made no money’
Delilah* is another performer waiting on thousands to be paid.
She said she was initially fed a “series of excuses” about the late pay such as Mr Fam waiting on paperwork or someone was sick.
“Then late December last year we got calls from him that there was no money, apparently the show had made no money and we weren’t going to get paid immediately and he would try and do a payment plan,” she told news.com.au.
“There are at least 15 of us from those two shows that are owed most of our money.
“It impacts me a lot. Basically that’s the equivalent of randomly going away for six weeks and not working.
“That’s six weeks of no work, no pay, nothing going into the bank account.
“It took me a year to recover financially from the loss. I kept holding out for another payment but it didn’t happen. It’s quite a significant chunk of money that I earned and need.”
Mr Fam’s company called Bass Fam Creative also boasted a design client list including Dannii Minogue, L’Oreal Professional Australia, Dracula’s Cabaret Gold Coast, Star Observer, Patrick Studios Australia, and Slippery Stone Bali, according to reports.
The Melbourne producer said he had been told to liquidate the company.
“I can’t do that. We own nothing. There are no assets in the company’s name and if I do no one gets paid,” he said.
“I am only liable for everyone’s super and the two bank loans I have taken out as I have signed as a director. No one’s invoices get paid if I liquidate, it will be thrown away and that will be a heartbreaking end to the f**king struggle that I have gone through.
“I don’t want the end of my legacy to be that no one got paid.”
From dancer to pizza delivery driver
The group of artists owed money told news.com.au that some people couldn’t pay their rent or mortgage and had to borrow money from family, while others had to go back into retail jobs or teaching.
“I think a lot of really talented industry dancers had to scrimp and save and get pizza delivery driver jobs when they have trained their whole life to dance and it’s a real big shame,” Delilah added.
A career highlight had turned into a sour experience, she added.
“I had been aiming at it for a long time as his shows are quite well received, a lot of people come and see these shows and he attracts big audiences. I was quite excited to be a part of it,” she said.
“It’s really soured the whole experience. I try not to even think about it.”
Rachel* is another performer who has been left out of pocket in an industry that is cut throat.
“There are university style programs in Melbourne and there are 300 new dancers each year and a handful of spots in musicals and gigs,” she said.
“Through the week there are launches through brand and entertainment but there a lot of people looking for limited spots.”
‘It’s heartbreaking’
Rachel said it was “disappointing” not being paid when the performers put in so much “hard work”.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s something we love and it’s niche industry.”
Adding fuel to the fire was Mr Fam’s trip overseas, Rachel said.
“Through all the loss of money (for artists) he was on trips in Europe for a few months obviously spending money. He was posting in designer stores like Valentino, wearing a Gucci scarf, while owing thousands dollars in invoices and super,” she said.
“He said to my agent he couldn’t pay it, yet the next day he posted in a designer store buying Valentino shoes and I was like ‘what the f**k?’”
Mr Fam said he travelled in Europe in 2022 when money was being made from the shows and said he “bought one pair of Christian Louboutin shoes when Oracle sold out in the Sydney Opera House”.
“Everything else I have bought vintage or second hand and I’m judged for how I’m dressed?
“I’ve tried to sell everything. I’ve had seven evictions notices and instead of paying my rent I pay the artists,” he said.
“At the end of the day my name is on the door. It’s risks that I have took (sic) and it’s not their job for the performers to stress about the money. They did their job and they should get paid. I set out to make a difference in this industry. I did that for four years, I paid $1.3 million worth of wages but I got too big too quick.”
Rachel is also furious because Mr Fam was still hiring performers.
“The reason why this needs to be brought to light is my agent (in October) sent me a job offer from Bass, so he is still in the industry trying to hire dancers,” she said.
A well known Victorian lighting company, which has worked with Mr Fam for a number of years, is owed $157,000 for lighting design, supply and technicians on all his shows, news.com.au understands.
Mr Fam said he did owe the money to the company but there were discrepancies in the invoices and once that had been resolved it was “mid-2023 when there was no money”.
‘The cast was phenomenal’
For Freya, it’s particularly sad that it has come to this as she said Mr Fam did create spectacular shows that were brought to life by the performers.
“As a dancer you often don’t get a story with a start, middle and end with characters – you are usually dancing behind singers or actors,” she said.
“The show explored lots of different dance styles and when I watched the show I thought it was absolutely amazing and the cast was phenomenal and a lot of his success was for the people that he hired.”
She added waiting on money is “exhausting”.
“It’s a hard industry to make it as a freelancer but then producers like this make it impossible,” she claimed.
Delilah doesn’t think she will ever see the thousands owed to her paid.
“I want to make sure that young dancers and performers know not to work for him,” she said. “I want to do it for awareness.”
‘Horrible, heartbreaking end’
Mr Fam said he had two options to deal with the situation.
“No one getting paid and a horrible heartbreaking end to all of this,” he said.
“The other option sees me working my arse off to pay all this off. Not in a conventional 9-5 job, then I would need a five-year plan. I want to pay this off quickly so I can go back to what I used to do but do it better.”
He said the company’s financial situation and diminishing cash flow throughout 2023, his own personal mental health struggles, and the catastrophic effects of what happened in Sydney in October 2023 completely broke me.
“My inability to find an immediate solution to prevent the heartbreak that this was causing to my team, and to an industry I love and respect, caused a complete mental and emotional breakdown and total burnout. In the first few months of 2024 communication was impossible as I had no answers to everyone’s questions,” he said.
“But that has since changed. I have been working and paying off debts and invoices. So far this year I have paid back over $47,000 worth of invoices with another lump sum going out to artists by Christmas once I get paid from work I just finished.
“I have opportunities in 2025 that I am excited about as they will see me paying off these invoices way sooner than I had anticipated, as well as catching up on any missed super payments.”
Some of the artists had reported the lack of superannuation payments to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) but said the government agency had done nothing to help recover the outstanding money.
A spokesperson for the ATO said they cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or entity due to our obligations of confidentiality and privacy under the law.
*Names have been changed
sarah.sharples@news.com.au
Originally published as Performers slam producer Bass Fam for failure to pay them
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