Long time friends and business partners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon aim to balance the power dynamic in favour of actors and creative with Actor’s Equity.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been a dynamic duo ever since they won an Oscar for jointly scripting Good Will Hunting in 1997. Since then, they have worker on a plethora of projects together, including one of this writer’s favourite ever film pastiches – Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season, as part of Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
The duo previously owned Pearl Street, a production company responsible for films like Manchester By The Sea and The Last Duel.
Now, they’re launching a new venture, Actor’s Equity, which aims to put the power back in the hands of creative rather than executives.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Damon said that the company will allow talent to “take ownership of their creative power, providing a platform for both established and emerging filmmakers to streamline the development of their content.”
Affleck criticised the streaming model, saying that “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. Not just writers and directors and stars. But also cinematographers, editors, costume designers and other crucial artists who, in my view, are very underpaid.”
The company currently has three films on its slate. So far we only know the details of the first, which will be an as yet untitled sports drama starring both, directed by Affleck and co-written by Affleck, Damon and Alex Convery.
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