Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s legendary friendship has been an understated gift to Hollywood and the pair continues to deliver even 23 years after their debut in the industry and their first Oscar. As the world speculates about the rumors of Ben Affleck’s unhappy marriage to Latin pop star, Jennifer Lopez, the Justice League actor finds a better use of his time rather than addressing those rumors by putting himself to work. And the product that is born as the ingenious brain-child of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s joint venture is more rewarding than anything that has contributed to the progress of Hollywood.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Start Artists Equity Productions
The Good Will Hunting actors have begun their very own production venture and named it Artists Equity because that is what the company intends to achieve. The new profitable venture promises to take Hollywood back to its premiere golden era of production before the age of streaming took over the cinematic experience and seeks to reward the creative people attached to a certain project on the basis of its success instead of a lump-sum payment delivered in advance.
This not only ensures more creative encouragement in this new age dilemma of instant content but advocates the importance of recognizing all the aspects that contribute towards making a project successful and acknowledging their hard work in making it so. As such, Artists Equity will deliver a percentage of the profit to the artists and creatives. And according to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, their company intends to transcend the barrier of the “corporate red tape” and shift the balance of power to the creatives, giving them complete executive authority over their own vision rather than pandering to the needs of the studio execs and producers.
Ben Affleck Speaks About Artists Equity Mission Statement
With creativity comes demand, which leads to success, and with more success comes more profit. The agenda or the end goal of Artists Equity seems pretty simple but the heart behind the project is beyond quantifiable. The production house defies the strategies that guide billion-dollar studio houses and in its independent ambition, invokes the golden age of cinema that rewards the creator first, and then the investor. Ben Affleck told The New York Times,
“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.”
According to the NYT article, Artists Equity has secured $100 million from RedBird Capital Partners as initial funding for the production’s kick-off, along with individual contributions from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Affleck shares the news by revealing his involvement in the behind-the-curtains role in the company — “This is the next act of my career for a long, long time.” Matt Damon has a more hands-on part in the launch of Artists Equity as he plans to exclusively produce for the company and is set to star in a handful of films in its formative era.
Source: The New York Times
