The film industry might be on pause amid the Hollywood strike, but Venice Film Festival is full steam ahead, drawing A-list stars such as George Clooney and Adam Driver.
But don’t be fooled, this doesn’t mean these Hollywood elites are breaking any strike rules. In fact, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) are actually on board with their recent appearances at the Italian festival.
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After SAG-AFTRA members like Clooney and Driver started catching heat for attending red carpets and similar festivals, the union released a statement explaining.
Adam Driver attends a red carpet for the movie “Ferrari” at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2023 in Venice, Italy. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
“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,” the statement read. “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 (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) work for them.”
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“To be crystal clear,” the statement continued. “Once an agreement is in place, we fully encourage all of our SAG-AFTRA members to work under that agreement AND to promote work made under that agreement. The more projects that get made with the Interim Agreement, the weaker the AMPTP becomes. So, let’s lift up our fellow performers who are out there working.”
So basically, celebrities such as Driver were given the green light through their SAG interim agreements to promote such projects because they are indie films that weren’t produced by AMPTP members.
George Clooney is seen arriving ahead of the 80th Venice International Film Festival 2023 on August 29, 2023 in Venice, Italy. (Jacopo Raule/GC Images)
In actuality, their presence at the festival is facilitating a platform for SAG-AFTRA actors to promote the strike’s message. Driver, star of “Ferrari,“ hasn’t been shy about using the festival as an opportunity to speak out.
“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,” a teary-eyed Driver said during the film’s press conference.
He also used the moment to call out streaming giants Netflix and Amazon.
“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 he’s not the only A-list celebrity standing in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA at the Italian festival. Among the stars in attendance are George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, and Jessica Chastain.