Netflix Acquires Ben Affleck’s AI Production Startup

Netflix on Thursday said it acquired InterPositive, a filmmaking technology company founded by Ben Affleck, as it looks to expand its suite of AI-powered tools for filmmakers.

The deal will integrate InterPositive’s team of engineers, researchers, creatives and producers directly into Netflix, with Affleck serving as senior advisor. The company said Interpositive’s proprietary AI model and features will work with tools offered by the streamer’s third-party partners and in-house tech unit Eyeline.

The deal represents Netflix’s continued foray into artificial intelligence at a time when the technology remains a sensitive topic in Hollywood. While studios have steadily embraced AI, they’re careful to do it in a way that doesn’t trigger fears that it will replace the creative talent in the industry.

In order to protect creators, InterPositive’s model is trained solely on dailies from a specific film or television production to ensure the output is relevant. The tools can be used on any live-action film or TV show during the production or post-production process to address challenges such as replacing missing shots, reframing existing shots, correcting lighting and replacing or enhancing backgrounds.

“It’s not text to video prompts, but rather tools that fit into real production workflows and respect the artistic intent that’s behind the story,” Netflix chief technology and product officer Elizabeth Stone told TheWrap. “It’s really anchored in the story that the director is telling and it’s tailored to that specific production, which is really what allows the controllability and consistency that can be very hard to get with other AI models and tools. So the creator is able to very flexibly iterate, adjust and refine shots using their own production’s data.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Expanding creative choice

Affleck founded InterPositive in 2022 after witnessing the rise of AI in production and seeing firsthand how the technology’s models fell short.

“I had some experience and relationships with people in the precursor to AI visual effects community to go and see some early versions of what was being done with generative AI video and it really scared me,” Affleck said in a video interview shared by Netflix. “But what I learned pretty quickly was that that was a little bit of an illusion. It would often fall apart.”

He recalled being shocked by the level of engineering, math and science-based expertise associated with generative AI and just how much the technology was truly lacking on the artistic filmmaking front. 

“I was worried that this was a technology that was going to grow outside of the ecosystem of filmmakers and artists,” he added. “I saw what I thought was a real opportunity and a real authentic danger. But most importantly, I thought this is a really meaningful innovation.”

He would assemble a team of around 16 engineers, researchers, creatives and producers to develop the proprietary model on a controlled soundstage and started introducing it to the rest of the world a few months prior to the end of 2025. It immediately piqued the interest of Netflix, who would ultimately enter into conversations about an acquisition of InterPositive.

“What impressed us as we got deeper into looking at the technology and the workflows they had built was not just the rigor they brought to it, but also the care and even constraints as they were thinking about the jobs to be done here,” Stone said. “They were clear on what the tools needed to be able to do from a creator’s perspective and they also knew that it was important to honor and protect the creative intent that was involved in the story.”

Protecting human creativity

Despite fears in Hollywood that AI will be used to replace actors and human creativity, Affleck emphasized that the company’s goal is to allow filmmakers to focus on the performance, intention, meaning and humanity of their storytelling while removing logistical and technical production barriers.

“You’re improving your editorial process, your ability to mix color, finish your film, do visual effects. It’s not a way of imposing a new set of reactions or something alien or foreign to the character. It can only understand this and only build this tool because it’s trained on the character that the actor has already built,” Affleck said. “The filmmaking process, really since its inception, has been one long technological progression. We’ve always been seeking to make it feel more realistic, more honest. InterPositive is, I hope, another iteration or step in keeping with that long and storied history.”

When it comes to implementation, the development of InterPositive’s model is still in its early days and Netflix will look to interested TV and film productions to help refine and scale it.

“That’s going to help us continue to improve it and make sure that we’re solving problems that have value to solve. But this will be creator-led, not Netflix-led. It wouldn’t be something that we’re mandating across productions,” Stone said. “It’s not like it’s a fully complete and ready to go tool for every production. So we still have some advancement in the technology to drive.”

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