Ben Affleck and Matt Damon star in and produce the new Netflix film The Rip, from writer-director Joe Carnahan

The two Oscar winners’ production company Artists Equity struck a deal with Netflix to give all members of cast and crew a one-time bonus if the film performs well

“If you work on a project and you are successful, you ought to benefit,” Affleck said at the movie’s premiere

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are sticking up for the crew of their new movie. 

In a first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix, the two actor-producers boosted pay for all crew members on The Rip, their action thriller premiering on Netflix Jan. 16. The New York Times reported on Jan. 9 that all 1,200 people involved in the production will get a one-time bonus if it performs well on the streaming platform, which typically pays cast and crew only an upfront fee. 

“In our experience, every single person that works on this movie — it’s the most collaborative of all art forms,” Affleck, 53, told Variety at the New York City premiere of The Rip on Tuesday, Jan. 13. “Everybody is vital to it.”

“Every single person who worked on it should benefit from it,” agreed Damon, 55. 

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Affleck added that the goal for his and Damon’s production company, Artists Equity, was to “provide the decent middle class wage that was provided for decades in this country… There’s no guarantee that you’re going to get rich and successful. But if you work on a project and you are successful, you ought to benefit.”

Artists Equity is “very small, Netflix is very big,” he continued. “But they’ve been extremely supportive of it.” The star concluded with a laugh, “Also, in order for any bonus to hit, the movie actually has to be successful, let me make that clear!”

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Speaking to The New York Times, the Argo director called the Netflix deal “fundamental, philosophically, to the ideas we had in starting” Artists Equity. “We wanted to institute fairness and address some of the real issues that are present and urgent for our business.”

The Rip, from writer-director Joe Carnahan, costars Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins and Kyle Chandler. Carnahan, 56, told PEOPLE at its New York premiere that Affleck and Damon’s bond onscreen and off is what made the filmmaking process a success. 

“You're trading on a 40-year friendship,” the filmmaker said when asked about Affleck and Damon being a match for The Rip. “You're trading on them both being movie stars — which almost never happens, think about that, these two best friends become movie stars! So the movie traffics in both those worlds quite a bit.”

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The Rip premieres on Netflix on Friday, Jan. 16.