Hollywood star Ben Affleck recently slammed Netflix for similarly producing movies to an “assembly line.” He recently launched his own production company with fellow actor Matt Damon where he will take up the Chief Executive Officer role while Damon performs as the chief content officer.
The actors have worked on several projects together and will once again collaborate in the debut film for their production company. The story is centered on Nike and its contract with NBA royalty Michael Jordan. The movie will see Affleck function as director and scriptwriter and take up the role of Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
While talking about his new production company, Affleck revealed that he wanted to maintain a model vastly different from that of Netflix. He went on to call out the steaming platform for its practice of releasing multiple films with little care and attention.
Read on to learn more.
Ben Affleck Blasts Netflix For Its ‘Assembly Line’ Of Movies
During the New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Affleck slammed Netflix for the streaming giant’s onslaught of content. He compared the platform to an “assembly line” due to its frequent movie releases. The Oscar-winning actor just launched Artist Equity, his new studio, in collaboration with RedBird Capital Partners and Damon.
According to Affleck, via his new studio, he hopes to introduce a fashion model on the opposite side of Netflix’s content-churning structure. Per Variety, he said, “If you ask [Netflix co-CEO and chairman] Reed Hastings… he’d say, ‘Hey, we went for quantity to establish a footprint.’”
The actor continued, “I’m sure there’s wisdom in that, and I’m sure they had a great strategy, but I would have said, ‘How are we going to make 50 great movies? How is that possible?’ There’s no committee big enough. There aren’t enough — you just can’t do it.”
Ben Affleck Says Movie Making Needs ‘Attention And Dedication’
The DC star further stated that the act of movie-making “requires attention and dedication and work, and it resists the sort of assembly line process” in which Netflix has made the order of the day. He went on to commend the head of Netflix’s original films, Scott Stuber, for being a “really talented, smart guy who I really like…but it’s an impossible job.”
Affleck agreed that action movies had a larger audience than small dramas; however, he encouraged the platform to create titles with care regardless. “There’s bigger audience for action movies than there is for small dramas. I get that,” the actor said. “Certain genres play more broadly, and you can’t not be mindful of that. But let’s do a good one, let’s surprise the audience, let’s make them care about it.”
Despite his comments, Affleck was a lead character in the 2019 thriller “Triple Frontier.” The film was directed by J.C. Chandor and included stars like Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Garrett Hedlund, and Charlie Hunnam.
He Just Launched His Production Company, Artists Equity
Affleck recently collaborated with his longtime friend and work colleague Damon in a newly launched production company called Artists Equity. While the “Gone Girl” star will be the CEO of the firm, Damon will assume the role of its chief content officer.
Affleck promoted Artists Equity during the Wednesday discussion and explained that the company aims to produce quality productions that would be remembered decades after. Its first project is currently in production and features Affleck as an actor, scriptwriter, and director.
The film is yet to be titled however it is centered around the birth of Nike’s famous Air Jordan sneaker brand. Damon will star in the film as Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike executive who scored the famed endorsement deal with the former Chicago Bulls player, Michael Jordan.
The superstar player will reportedly not make a physical appearance and instead be depicted as a shadowy figure watching things unfold. Besides Artists Equity, Amazon Studios, Mandalay Pictures, and Skydance Sports are part of the project’s list of producers.
Ben Affleck On The Current State Of The Movie Industry
Affleck also spoke on the movie industry and how it portrays celebrities, especially those of a certain age. He said per The Post, “On Netflix, the biggest movies are Christmas or these kind of early aughts stars. They had a level of awareness then that is much bigger than your sort of person on a TV show does now because there’s just so much to see.”
The actor further made a note of older actors, especially people within his age group. He mentioned his wife, Jennifer Lopez, and how there were not a lot of stars around her age in the 1940s and ’50s. The actress’ Netflix movie “The Mother” is set to be released in May 2023.