Ben Affleck and Matt Damon team up to launch creator-first production company
Los Angeles, California - Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have officially launched a new production studio that aims to keep the power of filmmaking in the hands of creators.
![Matt Damon (l) and Ben Affleck have teamed up to form their own artist-led production studio.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/x/u/xumozugcvt4reuz80p3km12197ape6lc.jpg)
The two stars explained the intentions behind the new artist-led studio, called Artists Equity, in a recent interview with 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," Affleck (50) explained.
"Not just writers and directors and stars," he continued, "but also cinematographers, editors, costume designers, and other crucial artists who, in my view, are very underpaid."
Affleck and Damon also acquired assistance from private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, who has made "a significant financial commitment in launching the company, providing strategic capital and operational expertise to accelerate its development and production pipeline."
The company plans on releasing three projects in 2023, and five per year after that.
"Historically, the success of a film was based on its box office performance," Damon said. "Now, with the rise of streaming, the business behind filmmaking has intrinsically changed."
He added, "Ben and I know that the power will continue to be in the hands of the creators, no matter which direction the industry evolves."
Artists Equity's untitled first project will star Matt Damon in a film directed by Ben Affleck about the true story of the creation of the Air Jordan brand.
Cover photo: FRAZER HARRISON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP