Affleck Used AI Extensively In Netflix's 'Animals' — SkimNews
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- Ben Affleck revealed at a Bloomberg Screentime Q&A that he "did use" AI "for lots of things" in 'Animals,' his upcoming Netflix film, but declined to identify which elements, comparing it to a magician revealing how a trick works.
- Affleck said AI was used "mostly in post-production" to enable things "otherwise we wouldn't have been able to do," and stressed the film is "a very human movie" with no visual effects or space-set scenes.
- 'Animals' premieres Oct. 9 in select theaters and on Netflix; Affleck co-wrote it with Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray, and stars as LA mayoral candidate Mark Kimball alongside Kerry Washington as wife Abigail.
- Netflix acquired Affleck's AI firm InterPositive in March for $587 million; Affleck founded the company in 2022 and transitioned to a senior advisor role after the sale.
- Affleck, a two-time Oscar winner, directed, co-wrote, and stars in 'Animals,' which follows a mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped, forcing him and his wife to gather ransom money within hours.
Why it matters: Netflix paid $587 million for Affleck's InterPositive AI firm, and the first high-profile public deployment of those tools is now a Netflix original directed and starring Affleck himself — turning the streamer into both investor in and customer of its own filmmaker's AI pipeline. Affleck's insistence that the tech was used on a grounded, effect-free drama suggests AI's near-term value in Hollywood may be in invisible post-production work, not flashy VFX.
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