Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity Shakes Up Leadership Team

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After launching just over two years ago, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production banner Artists Equity is retooling its executive ranks and bolstering leadership with a new business affairs hire.

Former Paramount Pictures chief operating officer Andrew Gumpert is joining the shingle in a newly created role of president, business affairs & strategy, the company said on Wednesday. Damon and Affleck are also promoting Dillon West, who joined Artists Equity in Nov. 2022 at launch from investor RedBird Capital Partners, to chief operating officer.

The moves were made in tandem with the news that Artists Equity founding COO Michael Joe would be stepping back from the role into an advisory position but remain on the company’s board of directors. Joe joined Affleck and Damon’s venture after runs at STX Films and Universal Pictures.

Gumpert’s time at Paramount and Nickelodeon Studios — he worked on Top Gun: Maverick, the Mission: Impossible series and the Transformers franchise — lasted six years until his exit in 2023 amid the studio conglomerate’s shifting priorities ahead of its sale. The exec also previously served as president of worldwide business affairs & operations at Sony Pictures for more than a decade.

Artists Equity, which launched with projects including Amazon MGM’s Air (which grossed $90 million globally) and Cillian Murphy drama Small Things Like These ($10 million in worldwide receipts), has Affleck’s The Accountant 2 as its next big swing in theaters. The action thriller sequel will be hosting its premiere at SXSW in March. Affleck and Damon’s banner also backed Jennifer Lopez starrer Kiss of the Spider Woman, which bowed in Sundance to generally positive reviews.

On the streaming movie front, Artists Equity has backed Doug Liman’s The Instigators, set up with Apple Original Films, as well as William Goldenberg’s sports drama Unstoppable for Prime Video.

The banner was launched with a reported $100 million investment commitment from Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners, which has been active in backing production vehicles over the past several years. As its Artists Equity name implies, the company was founded with a pledge to give performance-based incentives to cast and crew to share in the profits of a feature.

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