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Netflix’s The Rip Will Give Every Crew Member A Bonus
Image courtesy of Netflix // Illustration by Kate Walker
The Rip, an upcoming Netflix movie produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, may have just pulled off a streaming first — negotiating a deal that would give every cast and crew member a bonus based on how the movie performs.
The Big Picture: Artists Equity was founded on the idea that movies could be made for less — and turn out better — if everyone involved in the production was entitled to a bonus when a film sold well, became a box-office hit, or racked up views on streaming services. The company has delivered on that promise with acquired films, but The Rip deal marks the first time it’s secured this kind of unique arrangement with a streamer that’s also financing the movie.
Behind The Scenes: The Rip — a $100 million crime thriller directed by Joe Carnahan — wants to make all 1,200 people involved in the production a little richer.
No one on the production — including Affleck or Damon — received an upfront bonus.
Bonuses will instead be determined based on how the movie performs 90 days after Friday’s premiere.
The size of the bonuses depends on how the film stacks up against other titles on the platform.
While the specific bonus tiers weren’t disclosed, Affleck told The NYT that “a grand slam” payout would necessitate viewership on par with KPop Demon Hunters, which hit 325 million views in 90 days (something he doesn’t expect to happen, of course).
Final Tally: While Netflix chief creative officer Bela Bajaria said she’s not opposed to making more deals like this, she also mentioned that no one else has opted to since Affleck and Damon did so a couple of years ago. That likely means all of Hollywood is waiting to see how The Rip performs — and, maybe more importantly, scrolling crew members’ IG feeds to see whether anyone posts a direct-deposit receipt tied to the movie. That could open the floodgates to similar deals… as long as people with the stature of Affleck and Damon are the ones spearheading them.
Coming Soon: As it becomes increasingly likely that Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., The Rip deal could foreshadow how Netflix plans to handle bonuses — both theatrical and streaming — for those titles.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited, Polled, and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.