Adam Driver called out Amazon and Netflix for refusing to meet SAG-AFTRA’s demands during “Ferrari‘s” press conference at Venice Film Festival on Thursday.
When asked about appearing at Venice to promote “Ferrari” in the midst of the actors and writers strikes, Driver said: “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.”
Driver continued, “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.”
Netflix and Amazon did not immediately respond to PvNew‘s request for comment.
Leading up to the festival, SAG-AFTRA agreed to grant interim agreements to certain productions so that they can promote their films. In order to obtain an interim agreement, the 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. Such is the case with “Ferrari,” “Priscilla” and other films premiering at Venice who aren’t produced or being distributed by a streaming service.
Driver has worked closely with Netflix before, starring in 2019’s “Marriage Story” alongside Scarlett Johansson. For his performance, Driver was nominated for the Oscar for best actor. Driver plays Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann‘s drama, which chronicles a pivotal year in the automotive tycoon’s life. “Ferrari” also stars Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey.
“‘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,” Mann said. “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.”
