Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity Launches New Indie Banner: Artists Equity Independent Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)

Artists Equity, the production company co-founded by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, has launched a new indie film division called Artists Equity Independent Pictures (AEIP). The division aims to release films from emerging filmmakers and broaden the types of stories being told. Amy Baer, Artists Equity's president of film and television, will oversee the development of AEIP's slate.

Affleck and Damon, who serve as the company's CEO and CCO respectively, emphasized their commitment to independent cinema and its role in discovering and refining talent. AEIP is backed by an independent film fund and will operate with a creatively ambitious and fiscally prudent model. The division has already developed two projects: "A Woman in the Sun," directed by Julia Cox and starring Renée Zellweger and Sissy Spacek, and "Downriver," the feature debut of Sam Jones, who previously worked on episodes of "Ted Lasso" and is directing a script co-written with Carl Hiaasen.

AEIP is also developing other projects in collaboration with various production companies. The company's existing slate includes the Netflix drama "Animals," directed and co-written by Ben Affleck, starring Affleck and Steven Yeun, and produced by Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson. Additionally, AEIP is producing "Free Byrd," an action-drama starring Dwayne Johnson, directed by Greg Kwedar.