Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, in partnership with Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners, have announced the launch of Artists Equity, an artist-led studio that aims to empower creativity and broaden access to profit participation for filmmakers. The new studio will form “entrepreneurial partnerships” with filmmakers and operate as an intellectual property monetization platform. Affleck and Damon, who have collectively generated over $10.7 billion in worldwide box office sales, will lead the company.
Artists Equity’s first project, features Affleck directing with Damon acting in a true story behind the creation of the iconic Air Jordan brand, in partnership with Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports, and Mandalay Pictures. The company expects to scale production to five projects per year and has plans to release three projects in 2023.
Artists Equity seeks to provide performance-based incentives to creators and crew to enable broad access to profit participation along the production value chain. The company will focus on partnering with established and emerging filmmakers that want to work in a talent-friendly environment. The studio aims to leverage a data-driven approach to distribution to optimize reach and valuation of content.
Affleck will serve as CEO of Artists Equity while Damon will be the company’s chief content officer. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and led by Michael Joe, the former COO of STX Films and former EVP at Universal Pictures. RedBird Capital Partners is providing strategic capital and operational expertise to accelerate development and production.
