Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming to launch a film production company with a view toward offering content creators more financial upside for commercially successful projects.
The studio’s first project, directed by Affleck and starring Damon, is a feature film about the Air Jordan brand and is slated for release in 2023. The company, called Artists Equity, eventually plans to release at least five projects per year.
“Artists Equity was conceived from Matt’s and my longtime passion for the art of storytelling and our shared desire to help creators deliver on their vision, as we have been fortunate to do throughout our careers,” Affleck, who will serve as the company’s CEO, said in a statement on Sunday.
“Our goal with Artists Equity is to build a creator-focused studio that can optimize the production process with shared participation in the commercial success of projects,” he added.
The company is backed by private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Together, Affleck and Damon have generated more than $10.7 billion in worldwide box office sales. One of the goals of the new joint venture is to more equitably share profits with filmmakers, including creators and crew members, as streaming services begin to eclipse traditional theatrical release formats.
Damon, the chief content officer of Artists Equity, said the timing is right as video streaming expands and online views eclipse box office performance as a metric of success.
“It makes sense to us to do it now because we see a real opportunity to give artists more freedom and fair compensation along with greater responsibility and accountability,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.
