Ben Affleck, Matt Damon made deal with Netflix to give The Rip crew performance bonuses

In The Rip, a movie making its debut on Netflix on Jan 16, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon lead an ensemble cast playing police officers dealing with a dead captain and some possible internal corruption.

- Nicole Sperling

(From far left) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in The Rip. PHOTO: NETFLIX

(PHOTO: NETFLIX)

Loyalties are questioned. Guns are drawn. It is not clear who is on what side.

The American actors' loyalties have been much clearer behind the scenes.

The pair and their company, Artists Equity, successfully pushed for a deal with Netflix that could have implications for an industry going through major changes.

Nearly all Netflix shows and movies pay the cast and crew only a set fee determined upfront, a sharp departure from how the industry used to do business.

Traditional studios preferred to pay most members of their production teams an upfront salary, but some people were also eligible to collect back-end payments if a show or movie performed well. Other companies have followed in Netflix's footsteps in ending any payments after a production's release.

But under the contract Artists Equity reached with Netflix, all 1,200 people involved in the nearly US$100 million (S$129 million) production, whether Affleck or a production assistant, will get a onetime bonus if the show performs well on the streaming service.

"We wanted to institute fairness and address some real issues that are present and urgent for our business," Affleck, 53, said in an interview.