Netflix AI VFX Automation Deal Puts Global Artists at Risk
Quick Reads
- Netflix has acquired InterPositive, an AI startup automating post-production tasks like color grading, relighting, and continuity fixes.
- Industry experts warn AI tools could eliminate entry-level VFX jobs, removing key training opportunities for new artists.
- A study shows 75% of entertainment executives used AI in 2023 to reduce or consolidate jobs.
- Projections suggest significant job losses ahead as AI adoption spreads across global film and television production.
- VFX workers in India, South Korea, and Latin America lack union protections as automation expands rapidly.
On March 5, Netflix acquired InterPositive, an AI startup co-founded by Hollywood actor Ben Affleck. The deal was for an undisclosed sum. InterPositive automates color grading, relighting, and continuity fixes in film post-production. These tasks are currently done frame by frame by artists in India, South Korea, the Philippines, and Latin America.
The Netflix AI VFX automation story had been brewing for years. However, the Ben Affleck name turned a slow industry shift into urgent global news. More than 2 million professionals work in visual effects globally. Entry-level workers stand to lose the most.
“Those early-stage opportunities are where artists traditionally learn by doing,” said Mohsin Kazi, a compositing supervisor at DNEG. DNEG is the eight-time Oscar-winning studio behind Dune and Interstellar. AI replacing base tasks removes the training ground for new artists.
A study by the Animation Guild and allied groups surveyed 300 entertainment executives. Furthermore, about 75% were already using AI to cut or consolidate jobs in 2023. The study estimated up to 118,500 U.S. positions could disappear within three years. That figure covers America alone, the global toll remains uncounted.
Los Angeles County has lost 41,000 film and TV jobs in just three years. That is a full quarter of its entertainment workforce. The idea that new AI roles will replace lost ones looks increasingly hollow.
However, Kimberly Owczarski said that seems unlikely, given the shrinkage in overall productions in recent years.
Additionally, over 90% of Hollywood’s rotoscoping work is done in India. AI is inching toward automating that work too. Netflix recently opened a new facility in Hyderabad called Eyeline Studios. It is designed for what Netflix calls “generative virtual effects.”
Meanwhile, Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI in December 2025. The race to own AI in Hollywood is accelerating fast. U.S. unions are actively negotiating AI protections. Post-production workers in India, South Korea, and Latin America have no equivalent representation.
“Conversations are happening, but mostly informally,” Kazi noted.
Netflix has not confirmed whether its international VFX partners will access InterPositive’s tools. The company did not respond to questions about the impact on its global post-production workforce.
