Adam Driver Puts Amazon and Netflix on Blast for Not Meeting Actors' Demands

Adam Driver questions the streaming giants' inability to consider strike demands at the Venice Film Festival’s press conference for Ferrari.


Ferrari star Adam Driver called out Netflix and Amazon’s refusal to meet SAG-AFTRA demands deliberate, in light of support received from smaller distribution companies.


Driver took the opportunity to speak in behalf of SAG-AFTRA interests on Thursday. The actor was present to promote his movie Ferrari at the Venice Film Festival press conference, in compliance with interim agreements hashed out ahead of the event. Variety reports Driver was grateful for the opportunity to represent both the movie and the industry even as the actor and writer strikes continue. "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," he said.


The actor commended Ferrari’s production company for its support of SAG-AFTRA initiatives, in contrast to the downright refusal of streaming companies with significant resources and capabilities. He questioned, "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?"


A Call to Consider and Collaborate


Driver said the streaming giants' unwillingness to collaborate is even more evident in light of SAG’s conditional support for movies, adding, "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." Both Netflix and Amazon have yet to respond to Driver's sentiment.


Director Michael Mann's Ferrari is one of the handful of films premiering at the festival that are not produced or distributed by a streaming service. Ferrari's production companies Neon and STX International comply with SAG-AFTRA negotiations, and with interim agreements on film promotions that require producers and distributors to operate independent of AMPTP companies. Mann also shared the sacrifice necessary in making the film, saying, "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."


The SAG-AFTRA strike that started last July 14 continues, calling to resolve new and mounting industry issues involving artificial intelligence, data transparency, residuals, and salaries.

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