Amid the ongoing industry strikes, Adam Driver stood tall at a recent film festival in Italy.
The 39-year-old actor was at the Venice Film Festival to promote his new film Ferrari but wanted to clarify that he "stands in solidarity" with the striking SAG-AFTRA actors on the picket lines.
Since July 14, the American actors' union SAG-AFTRA has been on strike with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Adam isn't breaking any strikes rules for his appearance in Venice to promote the biopic of Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari — and here's why:
Ferrari, directed by Michael Mann and produced by Neon and STX, has an interim agreement with SAG because it was made independently of the AMPTP and complied with the rules and regulations of SAG.
According to Rolling Stone, here's what Adam had to say during the film's press conference regarding the film and support for the ongoing strikes.
"I'm very happy to be here to support this movie — the truncated schedule that we had to shoot it, and the efforts of all the incredible actors working on it, and the crew — but also, 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."
Adam voiced that the SAG interim agreements can benefit the cause because they "stop the bleeding a little bit" by allowing "independent movies to be made" by members of SAG and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), another entertainment union on the verge of joining the strikes.
Adam went on to directly call out major studios involved for not working toward an agreement with SAG-AFTRA.
"The other objective is to obviously 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…but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can't?"
"And every time people from SAG go and support a movie that has agreed to these terms, an interim agreement, it just makes it more obvious that these people are willing to support the people they collaborate with and the others are not."
"Understanding the interim agreement, it's a no-brainer for all of these reasons why you'd want to support your union, and I'm here because of that: to stand in solidarity with them by showing up and further proving the point that it's really about the people you make it with."
Adam Driver shows his support for the Hollywood strikes at a press conference for his latest film "Ferrari" in Venice. pic.twitter.com/CP27HCTkn1
Rolling Stone said that director Michael Mann, known for notable films like Heat and The Insider, agreed with Adam, also supporting the Writer's Guild.
"No big studio wrote us a check, and that's why we're here standing in solidarity with both unions," Michael finished.
And now, people are praising Adam for calling out the major studios at the Venice Film Festival:
Finally, we're seeing the different players in the film industry stepping up to meet demands. It's empowering to see smaller distribution companies excel, highlighting the potential for positive change. Kudos to them!
Absolutely true.. its high time adam driver raised and spilles the beans on this... Its true its hurtful how some execs who cant write, who cant act plan based on their remuneration.. its just bloodsucking... Great to hear this from adam driver.
Genius, lucid speaker... cinematic swashbuckler (plus he's walking the plank here poking AMPTP, wow, this is where the creatives line up right now - even non-union folks have watched everything spin down to redistribution of the wealth away from creatives).
