I was watching an old sci-fi movie the other day, and man, the special effects were… rough. You know the ones I’m talking about. Wobbly spaceships, explosions that look like cheap fireworks. It got me thinking about how much work, time, and money goes into making the jaw-dropping visuals we see in modern blockbusters. For every Avatar, there are a hundred projects that simply can’t afford that level of VFX magic.
Well, that entire equation might have just been flipped on its head.
Netflix just dropped a bombshell during their earnings call. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos casually revealed that they’re now using generative AI in their productions, and it’s already a massive success. This isn’t some experiment; it’s in the final cut of a show you can (or will soon be able to) watch.
The history-making show is an Argentine sci-fi series called The Eternaut, based on a classic comic. They needed a huge, expensive shot: the complete collapse of a building in Buenos Aires. On a normal budget for a show like this, that would be next to impossible to pull off convincingly. It would either eat the entire budget or look pretty bad.
Instead, they turned to GenAI.
The result? Sarandos said the sequence was finished 10 times faster than with traditional VFX tools.
Let that sink in. Not 10% faster. Ten times. He said everyone, from the creators to the execs to the audience, was “thrilled” with how it looked. This is a total game-changer.
⚙️ So, How Does This AI VFX Stuff Actually Work?
When you hear “AI-generated shot,” you might picture someone just typing “show a building collapsing” into a magic box. It’s a bit more sophisticated than that, but the core idea is similar. It’s about using AI as a superpowered assistant for human artists, not a replacement.
Think of the old way:
- Modeling: An artist would spend weeks or months creating a perfect 3D model of the building.
- Texturing: Another artist would meticulously paint every surface: brick, glass, concrete, metal.
- Simulation: A technical director would then run complex physics simulations to figure out how every single piece should crumble and fall. This takes massive computing power and tons of trial and error.
- Rendering: Finally, they’d spend days or weeks letting powerful computers render each frame of the final shot, layering in smoke, dust, and lighting.
Now, with a generative AI workflow, you can supercharge that process. Artists could use AI to:
- Generate Concepts: Instantly create dozens of visual ideas for how the collapse could look.
- Create Assets: Generate realistic textures for debris or procedurally create parts of the building that will be destroyed.
- Fill the Gaps: An artist could animate the main parts of the collapse, and then use AI to fill in the background chaos, like flying dust, smaller pieces of debris, and atmospheric effects.
It’s still guided by human expertise. An artist is the director, but AI is the massive crew that can execute complex tasks at lightning speed. This means artists can focus more on the creative vision and less on the soul-crushing technical grind.
✨ Why This Is a HUGE Deal for Everyone
I’m genuinely excited about this, and it’s not just about saving a big corporation some money. This has massive, positive ripple effects.
- 📌 For Indie Creators: This is the big one. Suddenly, that epic sci-fi or fantasy idea you had, the one you thought was impossible without a Hollywood budget, is now within reach. AI tools can democratize high-end VFX, allowing smaller studios and independent filmmakers to tell bigger, more visually ambitious stories. We’re about to see a tidal wave of creativity from voices we might not have heard from otherwise.
- 📌 For You, The Viewer: Remember that show you love that takes three years between seasons because the effects are so intense? That wait time could shrink dramatically. It also means international shows, like The Eternaut, can compete on a global stage with stunning visuals, bringing you more diverse and incredible stories from around the world.
- 📌 For the Industry: The cost savings are insane. Sarandos even brought up another example: the de-aging effects in the movie Pedro Paramo.
He said the entire budget for that film was about what it cost for just the VFX on Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
By using AI, they’re making it financially viable to tell stories that span decades without spending a fortune on de-aging.
✍️ Okay, But What About the Controversy?
Look, I get it. The word “AI” sets off alarm bells in Hollywood, and for good reason. We all saw the massive writers’ and actors’ strikes last year where protecting jobs from AI was a central issue. People freaked out when Marvel used AI for the credits in Secret Invasion, and filmmaker Tyler Perry literally paused a studio expansion because of how fast AI is evolving.
But this Netflix example feels different. It’s crucial to distinguish between AI as a replacement versus AI as a tool.
The fear during the strikes was about AI writing scripts or creating digital actors, essentially cutting human storytellers out of the loop. That’s a valid and scary concern we need to have guardrails for.
What happened on The Eternaut, however, is a case of AI augmentation. It was used to achieve a visual effect that was previously not cost-effective. It enabled creativity, it didn’t replace it. VFX artists were still needed to guide the AI, integrate the shot, and ensure it met the creative vision of the director. It’s like giving a painter a revolutionary new kind of brush that can paint entire landscapes in minutes, where the painter is still the one deciding what to paint.
🚀 Get Started: Your First Steps into AI Video
Reading about this is cool, but trying it yourself is even better. The tools the pros are using might be custom-built, but there are some seriously powerful public tools you can play with right now to get a feel for the future.
💡 Tools of the Day:
- Runway Gen-2: Probably the most well-known text-to-video and image-to-video tool out there. You can describe a scene and it will generate a short video clip. It’s awesome for creating quick animated storyboards or bizarre video memes.
- Pika Labs: Another major player in the AI video space. It has a great community and is constantly adding new features, like the ability to expand the canvas of your video or change specific elements.
- Kaiber: If you’re into more stylized, artistic, or musical visuals, Kaiber is fantastic. It’s great for creating music videos or trippy, flowing animations.
- Sora (The One to Watch): You can’t use OpenAI’s Sora yet, but you’ve seen the demos. It’s the next-level tech that produces stunningly realistic, minute-long videos. Keep an eye on this one, as it’s going to change everything when it goes public.
✅ Prompt of the Day:
Wanna try making your own collapsing building? Here’s a prompt to get you started in a tool like Runway or Pika. The key is to be descriptive!
“Cinematic wide shot of a giant concrete skyscraper in a modern city slowly collapsing. Dust, smoke, and debris explode outwards from the structure. Sunlight streams through the clouds of dust. Hyperrealistic, 8K, high detail, slow motion.”
Pro-Tip: When writing prompts, think like a director. Mention:
- Camera Shot: (Wide shot, close-up, drone shot)
- Subject: (What’s happening?)
- Setting: (Modern city, fantasy forest)
- Lighting: (Golden hour, moody neon lights)
- Style: (Hyperrealistic, anime, claymation)
This is just the beginning. We’re moving from an era where visual spectacle was reserved for the biggest budgets to one where imagination is the main currency. Netflix just fired the starting gun, and I, for one, can’t wait to see the creative marathon that follows.
The use of AI in film and television was a central point of contention during the 2023 Hollywood actors and writers strikes. Unions successfully negotiated for contract protections to regulate the use of AI in scriptwriting and to prevent the creation of digital replicas of actors without consent and fair compensation.
Netflix’s exploration of AI extends beyond visual effects. Co-CEO Greg Peters has indicated future plans to use generative AI to enhance user experience with conversational search capabilities and to create more efficient and compelling advertising content.
The Eternaut is an adaptation of a highly influential Argentine science fiction comic by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, first published in 1957. Its story of collective resistance against an overwhelming alien invasion has made it a cultural and political touchstone in Argentina.
This is not Netflix’s first time facing scrutiny over AI. The company previously drew backlash for using AI in promotional materials for the animated series Arcane and the Korean reality show Chef & My Fridge, signaling ongoing sensitivity around the technology’s role in creative fields.