I was scrolling through my feed the other day, half-asleep, when a headline snapped me awake.
It wasn’t about a new season of Stranger Things or another hit true-crime doc.
It was about something way, way bigger. A fundamental shift in how movies and shows are made.
You’ve probably wondered it yourself while watching some epic battle or a city getting leveled in a blockbuster film: “How much did THAT cost?”
The answer is usually “an astronomical amount of money.”
It’s the kind of spectacle reserved for nine-figure budgets, shutting out smaller, more nimble creators from telling certain kinds of stories.
Well, that barrier may have just been obliterated.
And it happened so quietly, you probably missed it.
Netflix’s CEO, Ted Sarandos, just casually revealed on an earnings call that they’ve already used generative AI for final, on-screen footage in one of their shows.
This isn’t a test.
This isn’t a pre-visualization concept.
This is the real deal.
The AI-generated shots are in a finished product that you can stream right now.
It’s a massive moment, and it signals that the future of filmmaking has officially arrived.
⚙️ The Big Reveal: Welcome to El Eternauta
The show in question is an Argentinian sci-fi adaptation of a famous graphic novel called El Eternauta (The Eternaut in English).
The scene involved a building collapsing in Buenos Aires.
Normally, a shot like this would require a massive team of VFX artists, complex 3D modeling, texturing, physics simulations, and days (if not weeks) of rendering.
It’s wildly expensive and time-consuming.
Instead, the filmmakers worked with Netflix’s tech team to generate the footage with AI.
According to Sarandos, this was a game-changer for the production.
He said the show’s budget would never have allowed for a shot of that scale using traditional methods.
With AI, they produced it 10 times faster and unlocked a level of visual ambition that was previously out of reach.
This is the first time Netflix has ever admitted to using generative AI for final footage, and the implications are staggering.
✨ Why This is More Than Just a Cool Trick
It’s easy to hear “AI in movies” and immediately think of deepfakes or soulless, automated content.
But that’s not the story Sarandos is telling.
His key quote says it all:
“We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper. Real people doing real work with better tools.“
Let that sink in.
This isn’t about replacing artists; it’s about supercharging them.
Think about it like this:
- When Photoshop arrived, it didn’t eliminate photographers. It gave them a digital darkroom with god-like powers.
- When digital cameras became accessible, they didn’t kill cinematography. They democratized filmmaking, allowing anyone to shoot a movie.
Generative AI is the next leap.
It’s a tool that can take a director’s vision and manifest it almost instantly.
Imagine a young filmmaker with a brilliant script but a tiny budget.
Five years ago, a scene with a dragon flying over a medieval city was a non-starter.
Today? It’s becoming a matter of writing the right prompt and having a talented artist refine the output.
This levels the playing field.
It means an indie sci-fi from Argentina can have visuals that rival a Hollywood blockbuster.
It means more creativity, more ambition, and more diverse stories from around the world that are no longer limited by their VFX budget.
🚀 It’s Already Everywhere
That building collapse was just the tip of the iceberg.
Sarandos also confirmed that filmmakers are already using AI across the entire production pipeline.
This isn’t some far-off future; it’s happening right now.
Here are some of the ways it’s being integrated:
- ✅ Pre-visualization: This is basically creating a rough, animated version of the movie before you shoot, like a dynamic storyboard. AI can generate concept art and mock-up scenes in minutes, allowing directors to experiment with camera angles, lighting, and pacing without spending a dime on set.
- ✅ De-aging and VFX: We’ve all seen the de-aging in movies like The Irishman. It’s an incredibly complex and expensive process. AI is dramatically simplifying this, making it easier to alter an actor’s appearance or clean up shots.
- ✅ Recommendations: This is Netflix’s bread and butter. The whole reason the platform knows you’ll love an obscure Korean drama after you finish a gritty Western is because of its sophisticated recommendation AI. They’ve been masters of this for years.
This move into generative video is just a natural extension of a tech-first philosophy that has defined Netflix since its inception.
🤔 The Big Questions & The Road Ahead
Of course, this technological leap doesn’t come without some serious questions.
Kate O’Neill, a tech expert and Netflix’s first-ever content manager, pointed out that the tech is moving much faster than the legal and ethical rules to govern it.
She predicts this kind of AI usage will be mainstream in just 18 to 24 months.
Here are the major hurdles and conversations we need to be having:
- 📌 Job Disruption: The fear that VFX artists will be replaced is real. But the reality is more likely a role-shift. The job will evolve from painstakingly creating pixels from scratch to becoming an “AI director”: an expert who can craft the perfect prompt, guide the AI’s output, and artfully composite and refine the final result. The skill will shift from manual labor to creative direction.
- 📌 Copyright & Training Data: This is the elephant in the room. What data was the AI trained on to learn what a collapsing building looks like? Was it trained on news footage, stock videos, or scenes from other movies? The legal gray area around training data and intellectual property is a minefield that the industry has yet to navigate.
- 📌 Authenticity and Transparency: Should viewers be told when a scene is AI-generated? Does it change our perception of the art? I personally think transparency is key. Acknowledging the tool doesn’t diminish the artistry; it highlights the innovation.
- 📌 The “Soul” of Cinema: Can AI create something with genuine emotion and soul? I’d argue that the AI is just the paintbrush. The soul comes from the artist wielding it. It’s the human director, the writers, and the actors who infuse the story with meaning. The AI is just helping them build the world around that story more efficiently.
✍️ Prompt of the Day: Cinematic Building Collapse
So how might the team on El Eternauta have actually done this?
While their exact tools are proprietary, we can imagine what a prompt might look like in a modern AI video generator like Sora or Runway.
Here’s a potential prompt to get a similar effect:
cinematic ultra-wide shot of a 1960s brutalist government building in Buenos Aires, the entire structure begins to collapse into a cloud of dust and debris, realistic physics, smoke plumes billow into the sky, papers fly from the windows, hyperrealistic, 8K, shot on Arri Alexa with an anamorphic lens, dramatic, gritty afternoon lighting, style of a Denis Villeneuve film –ar 16:9 –style raw
Breaking it down:
cinematic ultra-wide shot...: Sets the camera angle and scale.1960s brutalist government building...: Defines the specific architecture and location.the entire structure begins to collapse...: Describes the core action.hyperrealistic, 8K, shot on Arri Alexa...: Specifies the desired visual quality and camera style to make it look like a high-end film production.style of a Denis Villeneuve film: Guides the AI on the mood, color grading, and overall aesthetic.
This is no longer just a fun toy.
This is a professional creative instruction.
The next time you’re watching a new Netflix Original and you see a shot that looks impossibly epic, take a second look.
You might not be watching traditional CGI anymore.
You’re watching the first wave of a creative tsunami, powered by a simple text prompt and a whole lot of imagination.
The game has officially changed.
- Beyond Visual Effects: Netflix’s use of AI extends far beyond on-screen visuals. The technology is deeply integrated into the platform’s core functions, powering the personalization algorithms that drive user recommendations and the internal systems that help optimize production schedules and budgets.
- The Center of a Hollywood Debate: This move places Netflix at the heart of a contentious debate. While executives frame AI as a tool to empower creators and make high-quality effects accessible to smaller-budget projects, many artists and guilds express concern over potential job displacement and the long-term impact on creative crafts.
- Future Applications in Advertising: The company plans to introduce AI-powered interactive advertising in late 2025. This initiative aims to create more engaging and personalized ad experiences, demonstrating Netflix’s strategy to leverage AI not only in content creation but also in its monetization and user engagement models.
- A Successful Test Case: The critical success of El Eternauta, which has been renewed for a second season, serves as a crucial proof of concept for Netflix. The positive reception suggests that the use of AI-generated footage did not detract from the audience’s or critics’ enjoyment, potentially encouraging the company to deploy the technology more broadly in the future.