Matt Damon, Ben Affleck's Production Company to Adopt Inclusion Rider
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have heard Frances McDormand's call to action.
At the Oscars, the Best Actress winner made headlines (and got a lot of people Googling) when she ended her acceptance speech with two words: "inclusion rider." It turned out that it's a stipulation stars can demand in their contracts to require certain levels of gender and racial diversity on and off camera.
"Black Panther" star Michael B. Jordan recently announced he would adopt the inclusion rider on all projects he produces. And now, Damon and Affleck are doing the same for projects from their Pearl Street Films.
Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, head of strategic outreach at the production company, tweeted:
.@michaelb4jordan Thank you for always supporting broader representation in the industry. On behalf of Pearl Street Films, Matt Damon, @BenAffleck, Jennifer Todd, Drew Vinton & I will be adopting the #InclusionRider for all of our projects moving forward. https://t.co/ODit24D2Rb
— Fanshen (@fanshen) March 13, 2018
Both Damon and Affleck have landed in hot water in the past and more recently for their responses to diversity issues and the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. But it seems like they're trying to make up for that by following McDormand's call and Jordan's action.
Pearl Street Films' recent movies include "Live By Night," Manchester By the Sea," and "Jason Bourne," none of which were super diverse. However, the company could possibly apply the inclusion rider to future projects like "The Batman" and Affleck's "Witness for the Prosecution."