Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are launching their own production company, called Artists Equity.
Affleck and Damon, both actors, writers and producers, are some of the most powerful people in Hollywood and are expressing their dissatisfaction with the streaming era and the way money is handled.
© GettyImages“This is the next act of my career for a long, long time,” said Affleck in an interview with The New York Times. He explained that both collaborators have committed money to the project and plan to star, produce and direct a number of films for their new company.
Artists Equity plans to take advantage of streaming services’ focus on making quality films vs simply making “x” amount of films and TV on a given year. They plan to lure filmmakers and talent to their company by offering them a cut of the profit that the film makes, guarenteeing that they’ll make money if the film is a success.
“As streamers have proliferated, they have really ended back-end participation, and so this is partly an effort to try to recapture some of that value and share it in a way that’s more equitable,” said Affleck. “Not just writers and directors and stars. But also cinematographers, editors, costume designers and other crucial artists who, in my view, are very underpaid.”
© GettyImagesAffleck will be chief executive while Damon will be chief creative officer. In the coming year, the company plans to release three films. Following that, the goal will be to make five films a year.
The first film remains untitled but it focuses on the real life story of the sneaker salesman who convinces Michael Jordan to team up with Nike in the ‘80s, changing the future of sports marketing. The film will be directed by Affleck and will star Damon in the lead role. Affleck will co-star, with the two of them collaborating on the script.
