# A Once-Wary Hollywood Warms to AI, Striking Deals with Runway, Luma, and InterPositive

_General · published 2026-07-22_

Hollywood's relationship with artificial intelligence has shifted from defensive skepticism to active partnership. Netflix acquired AI production platform InterPositive — co-founded by Ben Affleck — for $587 million, Lionsgate took a stake in Runway to co-develop creative projects, and Google invested in independent studio A24. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that generative AI workflows have now been used across roughly 300 titles, primarily in post-production for complex shots and sequences, while Runway's chief creative officer Jamie Umpherson said improving tools are freeing creative teams to focus on story and style.

On the independent side, director Jon Erwin's Wonder Project launched a joint venture with Luma called Innovative Dreams, developing a "hybrid" filmmaking process that wraps actors — shot without green screen or motion-capture suits — in AI-generated environments within minutes of a take. The first feature built on this method, *Young Washington*, has grossed over $40 million against a $20 million production budget. Across the industry, the emerging consensus is that generative AI is being woven into the edges of production — previsualization, effects, color grading, and post — while the actor-director-camera relationship at the core of filmmaking remains human-led.

## Sources
- [digitaljournal.com](https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/a-once-wary-hollywood-slowly-warms-to-ai/)
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