Ben Affleck has sold his artificial intelligence company to Netflix in a surprise deal, saying he was inspired to embrace a technology that initially “really scared” him.
Netflix has acquired postproduction startup Interpositive from the Oscar-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter for an undisclosed amount.
Affleck had kept Interpositive below the radar and previously downplayed the AI’s creative capabilities. This year, he told podcaster Joe Rogan that he did not think the technology would be able to “write anything worthwhile” or create films “from whole cloth.”
However, in A Transaction announcement videoThe Good Will Hunting and Gone Girl actor said that when he first encountered the technology he saw it as a “really worthwhile innovation” rather than fearing the potential impact of AI.
Affleck said that Interpositive did not provide video generation tools like Google’s Veo3 or OpenAI’s Sora – it was “not about text prompting or generating something from scratch” – but instead helped with the post-production process.
The interpositive tool is trained on your footage or dailies from a film or TV production, Affleck said, and helps tackle issues such as reframing shots, adjusting inaccurate lighting and removing wires from stunt performers.
In a significant pivot from Hollywood’s previous concerns about technology threatening creative jobs and intellectual property rights, the media industry is increasingly pushing the idea of ​​using AI to shape content and storytelling.
Late last year, Disney announced plans to allow OpenAI to use characters from the media and entertainment company’s Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora AI video generator.
Announcing the acquisition of Interpositive, Bella Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said: “We believe new tools should expand creative freedom, not constrain or replace the work of writers, directors, actors and crew.”
Last month, Netflix backed out of a high-stakes race to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets after it deemed Paramount Skydance’s rival bid superior. Netflix had offered $82.7 billion (£62 billion).
Affleck, who directed the Oscar-winning film Argo, founded Interpositive in 2022 by creating AI models trained to understand visual logic and editorial consistency while maintaining cinematic rules under real-world production challenges such as missing shots or incorrect lighting.
He added, “We’ve also created restrictions to protect creative intent, so the tools are designed for responsible exploration while keeping creative decisions in the hands of artists.”
As part of the deal, Affleck will join Netflix as a senior advisor.
