Adam Driver is one of only a handful of A-listers attending this year’s Venice Film Festival, and he’s using his time there to make a strong statement about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
During a press conference at the festival on Thursday, the Star Wars actor didn’t mince words, explicitly calling out Netflix and Amazon for refusing to meet the demands of striking actors and writers.
“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,” said Driver, who is in Venice to promote his new film Ferrari.
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The Michael Mann-directed picture received an exemption from SAG-AFTRA for being made outside the main studio system. Such an interim agreement, Driver said, allows independent movies with no ties to the AMPTP to allow people in the movie and TV industry to be able to work.
And, he 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.”
Driver has worked with Netflix before; he previously starred in Marriage Story and White Noise, two films that were exclusively distributed by the streaming giant. Annette, a musical in which Driver played stand-up comedian Henry McHenry, was distributed by Amazon.
Earlier this week, SAG-AFTRA released a statement defending stars making appearances in Venice as part of the interim agreement: “Some of our fellow members have been subject to negative comments for participating in projects with an Interim Agreement, particularly when it comes time for them to promote their work, including at festivals. Whether from within or without our organization, not only are remarks of this nature unhelpful to performers, but by dividing us, they do the AMPTP’s work for them.”
Driver added toward the end of the press conference that it was a “no-brainer” to use the opportunity to attend the festival in an effort to “stop the bleeding a little bit” and help his fellow union members get back to work.
