Netflix, Inc. acquired InterPositive on March 5, 2026, the filmmaking technology company founded by actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck. The streaming giant announced the deal on its corporate website. The acquisition brought the entire 16-person InterPositive team into Netflix’s technology division. Affleck joined Netflix as a senior advisor as part of the agreement. Financial terms remained undisclosed.
InterPositive developed AI-powered tools specifically for filmmakers. The company built its system using a proprietary dataset filmed on a controlled soundstage. The technology trained on visual logic and editorial consistency. It addressed real-world production challenges such as missing shots, background replacements, and incorrect lighting. Filmmakers uploaded their dailies to create project-specific AI models. These models then assisted with post-production tasks including wire removal, shot reframing, lighting adjustments, and background enhancements.
Affleck founded the Los Angeles-based company in 2022 after observing early AI developments in production. He sought to protect human creativity while solving technical challenges. “I knew I had a responsibility to my peers and our industry, to protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it,” Affleck stated. “In creating InterPositive, I sought to do just that.” He emphasized that the tools preserved creative judgment. “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,” he added.
The deal followed Netflix’s withdrawal from bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery. It also came days after Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company, Artists Equity, signed a multi-year partnership with Netflix. Netflix planned to offer InterPositive’s technology to its creative partners. The company did not intend to sell the tools commercially.
Elizabeth Stone, Netflix chief product and technology officer, supported the acquisition. “The InterPositive team is joining Netflix because of our shared belief that innovation should empower storytellers, not replace them,” she said. She added that the partnership would “continue building towards a future of entertainment where technology plays a part in how stories are made, but people — and their ideas, craft and judgment — remain at the core of great storytelling.”
Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer, emphasized creative control. “Our relationship with artists has always been grounded in trust: supporting the full range of their creativity and ensuring they have the power to decide how their films and shows are made,” she stated. “We believe new tools should expand creative freedom, not constrain it or replace the work of writers, directors, actors, and crews.”
Kimberly A. Owczarski, associate professor at Texas Christian University who studies media franchises, analyzed the deal’s significance. “His status in the industry as a star, filmmaker, and producer gives substantial weight as he promotes a responsible use of AI in filmmaking,” she said. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents Hollywood technical workers, declined to comment on the merger.
