Adam Driver is calling out AMPTP whilst promoting his independent film Ferrari at the Venice Film Festival. The actor, who has an agreement with SAG-AFTRA to promote his film which was not produced with any of the AMPTP studios, chose to take the publicity to call out the likes of Amazon and Netflix for not being able to meet actors’ demands.
His latest film, in which he plays the titular character, Enzo Ferrari, was directed by Michael Mann through the studios Neon and STX Entertainment which have complied with the demands made by SAG-AFTRA that larger studios are somewhat unable to do. As reported by Variety, Driver stated at the event,
“I’m very happy to be here to support this movie, and the truncated schedule that we had to shoot it and the efforts of all the incredible actors working on it and the crew. But also, I’m very proud to be here to be a visual representation of a movie that’s not part of the AMPTP and to promote the SAG leadership directive which is an effective tactic which is the interim agreement.”
SAG-AFTRA does have a few deals in place that allow independent films not related to the AMPTP to continue, which has become a huge boon for that section of the industry given it’s now the only production studio in the States able to go ahead with production and marketing with their actors.
Driver pointed this fact out, adding,
“The other objective is obviously to say, why is it that a smaller distribution company like Neon and STX International can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for — this is pre-negotiations — the dream version of SAG’s wishlist, but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can’t? And every time people from SAG go and support a movie that has met the terms of the interim agreement, it just makes it more obvious that these people are willing to support the people that they collaborate with, and the others are not.”
The film, directed by Mann, also sports the likes of Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey. Speaking about how the film was made in a way that met the terms of the strike, Mann said, “Ferrari got made because the people who worked on Ferrari made it by forgoing large sectors of salaries, in the case of Adam and myself. It was not made by a big studio — no big studio wrote us a check. And that’s why we’re here, standing in solidarity.”
Independent companies, like Neon and A24, have been quietly pulling ahead in recent years as they churn out interesting and unique stories whilst the bigger studios have focused on franchises and pulling stuff out of the past for remake after reboot. These smaller studios prove that creating excellent stories and meeting the demands of those who tell those stories, the writers and the actors, is possible, so why, oh why, are the bigger studios unable to do the same?
