Netflix Buys Ben Affleck’s AI Production Company – Will It Change the Service’s Production Process?
Netflix bought Ben Affleck’s InterPositive, an AI production startup, in March. For an undisclosed sum (reportedly up to $600 million, depending on performance metrics), Netflix has gained technology that lets post-production staff adjust lighting, color, and visual effects; remove unwanted elements (e.g. stunt wires); reframe shots; correct continuity errors and, in theory, speed up the editing process as a whole.
So is AI set to reshape Netflix’s growing body of original films and TV series? Or is this just a headline because it’s Affleck?
InterPositive – Exclusive Technology to Netflix
Netflix has stated it does not intend to sell the technology; instead, it will be used solely in-house. Two years before the Netflix deal, Affleck’s firm promised to save producers millions. A patent application from 2024, reviewed by Deadline, showed that InterPositive said its technology would save companies 50% on visual effects and 70% on background actors. The document included an example of a real production that started in 2023, and claimed the technology could reduce below-the-line production costs by $7 million (from a $32.1m total).
The estimated spending on original films and series in 2022 was over $140 billion, which InterPositive stated it would have reduced by around $8-16 billion. Although the focus of the document was cost savings, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria, has since said that for her, “it’s not really about cheaper”, but “better”. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos suggested something similar in 2025 when he said AI could “help creators” with quality, not just expenses (per Deadline).
Netflix’s collection
Netflix is consistently ranked as the best, or among the best, TV streaming services. Tech Radar has said both Netflix and Apple are “constantly” adding content. Netflix tends to release more films and TV series at the start of the month. What Hi-Fi? recently gave its “best video streaming service” award to Apple, but Netflix is widely appreciated for its larger selection.
The collection of films and TV series, of course, depends on where you are in the world. Many UK viewers, for example, have wished they had access to the USA selection. If you’re on vacation overseas and can’t get access to your usual service, a VPN lets you join a server from back home – you can test CyberGhost VPN risk-free – without any restrictions or geo-blocking.
Among the highest-rated films on Netflix, according to the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, are Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, The Perfect Neighbor, Godzilla Minus One, Under the Shadow, Schindler’s List, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, I Lost My Body, Blackberry, I’m Still Here, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which all scored between 97% and a perfect 100%.
As for Netflix’s original content, Stranger Things, The Crown, Adolescence, and BoJack Horseman are among the most critically acclaimed (and watched). How much Affleck’s and InterPositive’s technology may influence future Originals series remains to be seen. One thing is reasonably certain: Affleck won’t be asking AI to write a script for him. He said in a Joe Rogan interview in January that he thought it was unlikely that AI would ever “write anything meaningful”.
Final Thoughts
For now, at least, Netflix’s production process will change – and, if InterPositive’s projections are correct, it could save them hundreds of millions – but humans will still be doing the writing.
