Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Working Together Again in 'Air'
2023-04-08
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1In the early 1980s, Michael Jordan was a great college basketball player at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
2No one was sure he would become one of the world's most famous athletes.
3At the time, the shoe company Nike was best-known for running shoes.
4Nike was not famous for basketball shoes.
5When Jordan left college to become a professional basketball player, he did not have dreams of wearing Nike shoes.
6But 40 years later, Jordan and Nike are known as a team.
7The new film, Air, tells the story of how Nike recruited Jordan to endorse its shoes.
8The famous acting team of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reunited to work on the film.
9Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro, who looked at all the college players for Nike and decided on Jordan.
10Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
11Affleck directed the movie and Damon plays one of the main characters.
12Viola Davis plays one of the other main characters, Jordan's mother, Deloris.
13Damon and Affleck became famous when they made the 1997 movie, Good Will Hunting.
14The pair won an Academy Award, or Oscar, for writing the movie.
15In over 25 years since then, they have not often worked together.
16It was not until they worked on The Last Duel, which came out in 2021, they understood that they missed each other.
17Damon said his wife told him that he laughed differently with Affleck than anyone else.
18So, Damon and Affleck decided they should "make it a priority" to work together.
19Amazon Studios helped make Air, but the film is the first to come out of the production company started by Affleck and Damon.
20It is called Artists Equity. Affleck is the chief executive and Damon is the content leader.
21Their goal is to give the people who work on movies a greater piece of the profits.
22Affleck said a lot of people who work on movies "are underappreciated and undervalued and make a huge difference in the quality of the experience in a film."
23He said his company wants to "recognize" those people in the same way Nike recognized Michael Jordan for "generating the art, the beauty, the majesty."
24Artists Equity helps keep Affleck and Damon together and it permits them to work with people they enjoy spending time with, including Davis.
25Davis said working on Air was one of the best experiences she has had on the job.
26She said she knows acting, directing and running a production company takes a lot of work, because she does it herself.
27Her production company, Juvee Productions, worked on last year's The Woman King.
28Davis said being in charge is what all actors want once they have been in the business for many years.
29"What they're doing is what our fantasy is as actors, especially once we've reached a certain level," adds Davis.
30"We want autonomy and agency."
31The production company has two more movies coming out soon:
32The Instigators, with Damon and Affleck's brother, Casey; and Unstoppable, with Affleck's wife, Jennifer Lopez.
33The story of Air has to do with how Jordan and Nike helped each other build their brands.
34A brand can be two things.
35It can be a recognized line of products, or it can also be a person's public image, what they are known for.
36People came to expect Jordan to do surprising things in basketball games.
37They expected Nike to create nice sports shoes.
38Both Affleck and Damon have a brand, too.
39They are a creative team and best friends.
40People go to their movies because they expect them to be interesting.
41Affleck said having a brand is "a hard thing for me to reconcile."
42That is because, in his words, he is "complicated, contrary, and nuanced, and brands are simple."
43But life is different for them than it was in the 1990s when they established their brands.
44The men are both in their 50s now.
45They have been in many movies.
46Affleck was once married to actor Jennifer Garner, but is now married to Lopez.
47Photographers who follow movie stars follow him and sometimes catch him looking sad, but he says he is happy.
48"I have a good life. I'm very lucky," he said.
49I'm Dan Friedell.
1In the early 1980s, Michael Jordan was a great college basketball player at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. 2No one was sure he would become one of the world's most famous athletes. 3At the time, the shoe company Nike was best-known for running shoes. Nike was not famous for basketball shoes. 4When Jordan left college to become a professional basketball player, he did not have dreams of wearing Nike shoes. But 40 years later, Jordan and Nike are known as a team. 5The new film, Air, tells the story of how Nike recruited Jordan to endorse its shoes. 6The famous acting team of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reunited to work on the film. 7Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro, who looked at all the college players for Nike and decided on Jordan. Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight. 8Affleck directed the movie and Damon plays one of the main characters. Viola Davis plays one of the other main characters, Jordan's mother, Deloris. 9Damon and Affleck became famous when they made the 1997 movie, Good Will Hunting. The pair won an Academy Award, or Oscar, for writing the movie. In over 25 years since then, they have not often worked together. 10It was not until they worked on The Last Duel, which came out in 2021, they understood that they missed each other. 11Damon said his wife told him that he laughed differently with Affleck than anyone else. 12So, Damon and Affleck decided they should "make it a priority" to work together. 13Amazon Studios helped make Air, but the film is the first to come out of the production company started by Affleck and Damon. It is called Artists Equity. Affleck is the chief executive and Damon is the content leader. Their goal is to give the people who work on movies a greater piece of the profits. 14Affleck said a lot of people who work on movies "are underappreciated and undervalued and make a huge difference in the quality of the experience in a film." 15He said his company wants to "recognize" those people in the same way Nike recognized Michael Jordan for "generating the art, the beauty, the majesty." 16Artists Equity helps keep Affleck and Damon together and it permits them to work with people they enjoy spending time with, including Davis. 17Davis said working on Air was one of the best experiences she has had on the job. She said she knows acting, directing and running a production company takes a lot of work, because she does it herself. Her production company, Juvee Productions, worked on last year's The Woman King. 18Davis said being in charge is what all actors want once they have been in the business for many years. 19"What they're doing is what our fantasy is as actors, especially once we've reached a certain level," adds Davis. "We want autonomy and agency." 20The production company has two more movies coming out soon: The Instigators, with Damon and Affleck's brother, Casey; and Unstoppable, with Affleck's wife, Jennifer Lopez. 21The story of Air has to do with how Jordan and Nike helped each other build their brands. A brand can be two things. It can be a recognized line of products, or it can also be a person's public image, what they are known for. People came to expect Jordan to do surprising things in basketball games. They expected Nike to create nice sports shoes. 22Both Affleck and Damon have a brand, too. They are a creative team and best friends. People go to their movies because they expect them to be interesting. 23Affleck said having a brand is "a hard thing for me to reconcile." That is because, in his words, he is "complicated, contrary, and nuanced, and brands are simple." 24But life is different for them than it was in the 1990s when they established their brands. 25The men are both in their 50s now. They have been in many movies. Affleck was once married to actor Jennifer Garner, but is now married to Lopez. Photographers who follow movie stars follow him and sometimes catch him looking sad, but he says he is happy. 26"I have a good life. I'm very lucky," he said. 27I'm Dan Friedell. 28Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 29____________________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31recruit -v. to find someone to joint an organization, a company or the military 32endorse -v. to publicly say you like or use something in exchange for money 33character -n. a person in a book, play, TV show or movie 34priority -n. something that is more important than other things 35underappreciated -adj. not valued enough 36generate -v. to cause to happen, to create 37majesty -n. the condition of being very impressive 38fantasy -n. a wish or hope 39autonomy -n. when a person is able to do things on their own 40agency -n. being in charge of one's life 41reconcile -v. to fit things or ideas together 42contrary -adj. disagreement 43nuance -n. a small idea, a small difference between two things 44__________________________________________________________________ 45We want to hear from you. 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