Netflix has disclosed a $587 million cash payment for a business acquired in March 2026. The transaction has been linked to InterPositive, the AI filmmaking startup founded by actor and director Ben Affleck.
The company announced the InterPositive purchase on March 5 but withheld the price. Its latest quarterly filing records a March business acquisition for about $587 million in cash. The filing does not name the target, although its timing matches the InterPositive deal.
InterPositive develops AI tools for film and television production. Its work focuses on post-production tasks such as missing shots, background replacements and lighting corrections. Netflix said the technology should support filmmakers while keeping people in control of creative decisions.
The acquisition brings InterPositive’s full team into Netflix, while Affleck joins as a senior adviser. Netflix has not published the startup’s revenue, earlier valuation or a detailed purchase-price breakdown.
Affleck said he started developing the company after studying production AI systems in 2022. He believed existing models did not meet the needs of filmmakers. His team later recorded a private dataset on a controlled soundstage to train its first model.
This model studies visual logic, editing consistency and real production conditions. InterPositive says its smaller datasets focus on filmmaking methods rather than performances. Affleck said he wanted to ‘protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it.’
Film productions often discover missing material or visual errors after shooting ends. Fixing those problems can require reshoots, new sets, extra crew time and more spending. InterPositive designed its tools to handle some corrections within the editing process.
Its system can generate or adjust footage while following the style of existing material. The tools aim to match lighting, camera movement and scene structure. Netflix has not identified which InterPositive products are already active on its films or series.
Netflix has also not confirmed whether outside studios will receive the technology. In March, Affleck said he expected the broader creative community to access future work. Neither Netflix nor InterPositive provided a release schedule or licensing plan.
Company executives said AI tools should expand creative choices without replacing writers, directors, actors or crews. Netflix has not released employment figures, savings estimates or production data tied directly to the startup’s technology.
Netflix’s second-quarter shareholder letter shows wider generative AI use across its content pipeline. The company said AI workflows featured in roughly 300 titles during 2026. Most of that work took place during post-production.
Netflix named Glory from India, Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri and The American Experiment as examples. Those projects used AI for enhanced crowds, historical battle scenes and large establishing shots. Netflix said some shots may not have appeared without the technology.
The streamer also uses AI for title discovery, natural-language search and advertising services. Buying InterPositive adds filmmaker-focused production software to that wider technology plan. Netflix has not stated how quickly the acquisition could reduce costs.
The $587 million disclosure gives investors a clearer figure for Netflix’s spending on production AI. Future filings may provide more information about integration expenses, accounting treatment and the startup’s contribution to Netflix’s operations. Those disclosures could also show whether the tools reach outside productions.
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