Adam Driver uses Venice Film Festival appearance to call out Netflix and Amazon
Adam Driver was granted an interim agreement to appear at the festival because his new film, Ferrari, is being distributed by an independent studio
Astronomical summer may be coming to an end, but Hot Labor Summer just keeps on rolling. While we likely won’t get many steamy red carpet moments from the festival circuit this year, we’re certainly not lacking for burning hot takes. And that, in light of the current Hollywood climate, is infinitely more tantalizing.
The latest big-wig tear-down comes from Adam Driver, whose upcoming starring vehicle (heh) Ferrari was granted an interim agreement to send its cast to the Venice Film Festival by SAG-AFTRA. Per the rules of these controversial allowances, certain independent productions (meaning those not distributed by studios under the purview of AMPTP) are allowed to continue work and promo without crossing picket lines because, per an official statement, this “demonstrates to the AMPTP and the struck companies that independent producers at all budget levels are eager, keen, and able to work with our members under these terms.”
Driver, whose film is being distributed by independent studio Neon, echoed these sentiments in a press conference. “Why is it that a smaller distribution company like Neon or STX International can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for in this pre-negotiation but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can’t?” the actor asked, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Every time people from SAG go and support a movie that has agreed to these terms—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.”
“When this opportunity came up, it seemed like—understanding the interim agreement—a no-brainer for all of these reasons of why you want to support your union,” he continued.
This stance isn’t shared by all of Driver’s fellow guild members. Viola Davis, for example, recently chose to step down from a project despite it being granted an agreement.
Ferrari director Michael Mann, however, is as on board as Driver. “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,” he added. “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.”
You can watch Driver’s statement below: