Actor Adam Driver, currently attending the Venice Film Festival to promote Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” film, has lammed streamers like Amazon and Netflix for refusing to meet SAG-AFTRA’s demands.
Mann’s film received an interim agreement, and thus, the actors involved are allowed to promote the film and appear at the festival.
Appearing at the film’s press conference, he was asked about appearing to promote the film in the midst of the actor’s and writer’s strikes.
He responded: “I’m very proud to be here to be a visual representation of a movie that’s not part of the AMPTP”. He then goes on to talk about how the film’s indie distributor NEON has already met the demands of SAG-AFTRA, and asks why aren’t the bigger studios:
“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?
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.”
In order to obtain an interim agreement, a film’s producers and distributors must operate independently from companies belonging to the AMPTP and agree to terms proposed by SAG-AFTRA in its negotiations. “Ferrari” is one that qualifies, as does the upcoming “Priscilla”.
A Gallup Poll released this week finds an overwhelming majority of Americans support writers and actors over the studios in the ongoing strikes. Writers are pulling in support figures of 72% compared to the studios at 19%, whilst actors are 67% to the studios 24%.
Source: Variety
