Netflix Used AI on 300 Titles, Executive Reveals at Busan

Netflix has employed artificial intelligence across roughly 300 productions, senior production executive Sung Q Lee disclosed during a panel at the Busan International Film Festival. Lee, Netflix's senior director of production for Asia-Pacific, described applications spanning previsualization, production design, set-dressing concepts, editing, and visual effects. "The question that matters to me isn't, 'How much AI can we put into this title?' but, 'What more can this title do with AI's help?'" he said. The discussion, part of Netflix's Creative Asia event co-hosted with the Motion Picture Association, also featured Korean director Kang Yun-sung and Wētā FX chief technology officer Kimball Thurston. Kang, who co-directed the fully AI-assisted feature Run to the West with AI filmmaker Kwon Han-seul, reported that the film earned about $100,000 amid negative reaction to its AI visuals. He is now in production on The Gulf of Aden, an action film using generative AI tools from China's Kling AI, and estimates the approach will cut production costs by around 40 percent. Thurston characterized Wētā FX's use of the technology as "assistive AI" that does not alter creative intent, aimed at reducing repetitive tasks. The panel underscored differing attitudes toward AI between Hollywood, which remains wary, and Asia's content sector, which largely views it as an opportunity.