Netflix has acquired InterPositive, an AI-driven filmmaking company founded by Ben Affleck, for an undisclosed sum. In a video released with the announcement, Affleck explained that InterPositive’s technology lets filmmakers create proprietary AI models from their own footage to streamline repetitive production tasks.
Affleck described practical uses for the tools, saying filmmakers can use their models to remove stunt wires, reframe shots, recover missed coverage, adjust lighting, and enhance backgrounds. He will also join Netflix in a senior advisory role.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents many technical workers in Hollywood, told NPR it does not comment on mergers and acquisitions.
The acquisition builds on recent collaborations between Affleck and Netflix. Earlier this week, Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company Artists Equity signed a multi-year deal giving Netflix first rights to develop and distribute their future streaming projects. Affleck has released several films through Netflix, most recently The Rip, a thriller starring Affleck and Damon.
Affleck has said he wants to keep humans central to creative work and is one of hundreds of industry figures involved with the Creators Coalition on AI, a group formed to discuss AI’s impact on entertainment and to advocate for what it calls responsible, human-centered innovation.
Elizabeth Stone, Netflix’s chief product and technology officer, said in a press release that InterPositive is joining Netflix because both organizations believe innovation should empower storytellers rather than replace them. She said the partnership is aimed at a future in which technology assists storytelling while people and their judgment remain central.
The InterPositive deal follows a high-profile shift in Netflix’s wider corporate plans. About a week earlier, Netflix abandoned its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount subsequently agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a transaction valued around $110 billion after the WBD board deemed Paramount’s offer superior to an earlier $83 billion bid from Netflix.
Kimberly A. Owczarski, an associate professor at Texas Christian University who studies media franchises, told NPR that partnering with a prominent filmmaker like Affleck sends a reassuring message to an industry grappling with AI’s growing role. She said Affleck’s stature as a star, director, and producer lends weight to efforts to promote responsible AI use in filmmaking.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.