Ben Affleck used AI ‘for lots of things’ in ‘Animals’, his latest directorial effort

Here are some photos from the LA premiere of Animals, a film cowritten, directed by and starring Ben Affleck. I’m including pics of Ben, Kerry Washington, Matt Damon and Matt’s wife Luciana. Kerry’s dress is from Carolina Herrera! In Animals, Ben plays an LA mayoral candidate and Kerry plays his wife. Their son is kidnapped and held for ransom. You get the idea. One of the big headlines about the film is about Ben’s use of AI as a director. Earlier this year, we learned that Ben founded an AI company in 2022 and he sold it to Netflix in March in a massive, nine-figure deal.

After unloading his AI firm on Netflix earlier this year, Ben Affleck is showing off the tech in action with his latest project. The 2x Oscar winner recently revealed that he “did use” artificial intelligence “for lots of things” in the making of Animals, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in, premiering Oct. 9 in select theaters and on Netflix.

“I used [AI] for lots of things in that movie,” he revealed at a Q&A for Bloomberg Screentime. “I’m a little bit hesitant to point out what they are or even talk about it because, in my business, we’re trying to foster the illusion of reality, right? It’s sort of like if you went to a magic show and the magician walked out and said, ‘Just before I start, I want you to know there’s another bunny under here. This guy’s a plant.’ It sort of ruins it, right?”

Affleck continued, “But yes, we did use it. And in fact, I thought it was a good example because it’s a very human movie. It’s not in space, it doesn’t have visual effects, but it allowed us to move in some cases more quickly, really mostly in post-production, to do things that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do.”

Co-written by Affleck, Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray, Animals stars Affleck as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, whose son is kidnapped, giving him and wife Abigail (Kerry Washington) a few hours to get their hands dirty and come up with the ransom money.

Affleck’s latest Netflix film comes after the streamer bought his AI firm InterPositive in March for $587 million. He quietly founded the company in 2022 and served as CEO, taking on a senior advisor role after Netflix’s acquisition.

[From Deadline]

I’m reminded of the fact that The Brutalist’s use of AI was seen as so controversial, there was a lot of conversation about whether the AI use should or would hamper the film’s Oscar chances. Less than two years later, and Ben is playing fast and loose with where exactly he used AI in his derivative Netflix film. *sigh*