Even before Hollywood’s historic strike, Ben Affleck was taking things into his own hands to address the industry’s challenges with the help of his production company. Faced with the ever-evolving and difficult-to-navigate world of streaming, fluctuating residuals, and changing business dynamics, the actor has implemented a groundbreaking rule. According to this new approach, if a film continues to succeed for years after its release, the benefits should extend beyond just the producers and should also involve the actors.
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Ben Affleck’s New Rule Is A Game-Changer For Hollywood!
Ben Affleck is shaking up the industry with a plan aimed at securing fair compensation for actors even after their work on a film is completed. Underlying that actors deserve a more significant share of the success they contribute to. In an interview with Wired, he revealed,
“It came to mind, slowly, through my experience producing and directing movies and looking at how the resources were spent. Also recognizing that the evolution of streaming services was putting a cap on people’s abilities to benefit in the long term on an annuity basis.”
Essentially, Affleck’s approach is going to fix what the traditional way lacked and thus has the potential to reshape the entire industry. With more than enough experience in the entertainment business, the actor has a deep understanding of how the industry has evolved over the years.
The also further explained, how it has been quite a time since the actor put this into practice by saying,
“We’re in our fifth movie. It’s been the greatest pleasure to see people capture bonuses based on their own work, that reflects their merit—and to not have people feel like anonymous drones. I’ve worked in this business for a long time. I know that anyone who’s really good has put their work before their self-interest as a matter of course. But they want to be empowered.”
At the end of the day, he and his production company, Artists Equity aim to assist not only actors but the entire crew as well.
Ben Affleck’s New Artists Equity Rule Will Impact the Entire Film Crew, And Not Just Actors
The goal is to ensure that everyone, from the actors to the behind-the-scenes team, benefits from the success of the project. It’s a way of creating a more inclusive and fair system within the film industry. He said,
“The founding philosophy is to reward the artist, to allow them to be more responsible and accountable and to expand their compensation if their work is successful. And by the artist, I mean writers, directors, actors, cinematographers, prop people, and a whole host of people you never see in movies but who are contributing an enormous amount.”
He then shared his own experience, which truly motivated him to push for this change by saying,
“One of my fondest memories is of discovering a $400 residual check in the mailbox when I was on the verge of bankruptcy—if you can call it that when you don’t own anything. If you’re an actor and you did a week on a TV show that was very successful, you would expect to be able to make some [annuity] money because of the success of the collective effort. Now, that’s not the case. So I constructed this model.”
As Hollywood watches closely, Affleck’s initiative has the potential to set a new standard for how the industry compensates its contributors. It marks a very crucial shift towards recognizing and rewarding the collective blood sweat and tears that really go into creating pieces of cinema.
