- The streaming giant said the acquisition aligns with its approach of combining technological innovation with storytelling.
- Affleck said the idea for InterPositive emerged after he closely observed early uses of artificial intelligence in film production around 2022.
- The company designs tools to cater to the technical and creative realities of a film set.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) on Thursday announced that it has acquired InterPositive, an artificial intelligence-based filmmaking technology startup founded by actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck, as the streaming company pushes deeper into AI tools designed for movie and television production.
The deal brings InterPositive’s engineering and research team into Netflix while Affleck will serve as a senior advisor, helping guide the development of creator-focused technology for the entertainment industry.
Creator-Focused Technology
The streaming giant said the acquisition aligns with its approach of combining technological innovation with storytelling. According to Affleck, the idea for InterPositive emerged after he closely observed early uses of artificial intelligence in film production around 2022.
He said that many emerging AI systems were not built with filmmakers’ real-world workflows in mind. As a result, the company began designing tools tailored to the technical and creative realities of a film set, including camera behaviour and lighting changes.
“We believe new tools should expand creative freedom, not constrain it or replace the work of writers, directors, actors, and crews.”
-Bela Bajaria, Chief Content Officer, Netflix
Netflix stock inched 0.03% lower on Thursday afternoon. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory amid ‘extremely high’ message volume levels.
Push To Protect Human Creativity
According to a Bloomberg report, artificial intelligence is becoming more common in Hollywood, as companies like Walt Disney Co. (WBD) and Paramount Skydance Corp.(PSKY) look to use the technology. However, it has also raised worries that these tools could replace jobs held by actors, writers, and other workers in the industry.
“We also need to preserve what makes storytelling human, which is judgment. The kind that takes decades to build, experience to hone, and that only people can have. I knew I had a responsibility to my peers and our industry, to protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it. In creating InterPositive, I sought to do just that.”
-Ben Affleck, Filmmaker and Founder, InterPositive
FLX stock has gained over 5% in the last 12 months.
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