The Prosecutor-General’s Office has undertaken a check of the Nu Image case concerning child labour, as ordered by Minister of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) Emilia Maslarova.

The check found numerous violation of working conditions by the American company Nu Image, which owns the Bulgarian studio Boyana Film, in hiring children for its film productions. Maslarova announced this to journalists on February 1.

She did not name the exact alleged irregularities by Nu Image, but said that children under 16 and under 18 years old were hired with incorrect contracts.

Maslarova said it was premature to say whether the parents who signed contracts for filming on behalf of their children would also be sanctioned, but called on adults to not let their children participate in further Nu Image productions.

The issue became public when, on January 14, the Steering Committee for Protection of the Rights of Children and Performers in the Film and TV Industries (PRCP in FTVI) sent a letter to the MLSP alleging violations of children’s rights, as The Sofia Echo reported on January 19. Later, on January 24, Sofia City Inspectorate of Labour (SCIL) director Stefka Diksokova told a news conference that parents signed their children’s contracts according to law.

The Steering Committee for PRCP in FTVI said that the under-aged worked for the film company without SCIL permission and in bad working conditions. However, the parents were afraid to complain because of the money received for the films.

Nu Image rejected these allegations and underlined that they provided medical control, transport to and from the shooting location, food and drinks, as well as rest and proper entertainment for the kids. “Nu Image follows the instructions of the Labour Inspectorate related to the participation of children in cinema productions,” Nu Image manager David Varod said in a media statement published on February 1 by Bulgarian news agency BTA.

On February 4 the public committee accused government inspectors of failing to conduct a proper check into reported violations of children’s rights in the film industry, BTA reported on February 5.

The committee, which is chaired by TV director Kamen Kostov, said that instead of looking into cases of “child exploitation” involving Nu Image, SCIL examined only working conditions at the film studios. A lawsuit will be brought against Diksokova for “covering up and helping David Varod in his crimes”, said committee secretary, casting agent Miroslav Paskalev.

Varod runs the Bulgarian operations of Los Angeles-based Nu Image/Millennium Films. Paskalev said the public committee had evidence that, against the law, 156 under-aged actors had been filmed during night hours.

He said long shooting sessions were another example of “exploitation of child labour”. The MLSP was wrong to assume that young actors’ parents were the ones responsible for how their children were treated by the filmmakers because, in at least eight cases, actor’s contracts had been signed not by the parents but directly by the children. In addition, the signing usually took place after the filming job was finished.

“The actual employment relations are unlawfully disguised under contracts of service that do not require the employer to pay for social security,” Paskalev said, as quoted by BTA.

In general, the committee is dissatisfied with how governmental departments and political parties have responded to its claims. It wants changes in the Penal Code, the Labour Code and the Child Protection Act. One of the suggestions is to allow governmental agencies to exercise control over the children’s rights situation in commercial corporations, which is impossible under present legislation.

The committee also said that Nu Image/ Millennium Films is going to be sold. According to unconfirmed reports, the future transaction price amounts to $250 million. The Sofia film studios cost half that price, Paskalev said.