In the history of technological disruption, the most consequential changes often begin quietly—with a corporate memo, a strategic pivot, or a decision that seems administrative at first glance. Such moments rarely announce themselves as turning points. Yet, in retrospect, they often reveal the contours of an industry’s future.
The South African film sector may now be standing at one of those moments.
Two developments—seemingly unrelated—have emerged from opposite sides of the global streaming landscape. The first involves the French media giant Canal+ and its decision to close down Showmax. The second concerns Netflix and its unexpected decision to acquire an artificial-intelligence startup founded by Ben Affleck.
Individually, each decision reflects a corporate strategy. Taken together, they reveal something deeper about the evolution of the film industry.
When Canal+ explained the reasoning behind the Showmax shutdown, the language was characteristically corporate but revealing. The company noted that “this evolution is also consistent with the ambition of MultiChoice, a CANAL+ Company, to deploy its in-house large-scale streaming platform capable of meeting the expectations of African and international consumers.”
Translated into simpler terms, the problem was not merely content. It was technology.
Showmax had struggled with losses, but Canal+ also identified technological inefficiencies within the platform. Rather than continue refining the existing infrastructure, the company decided to replace it—deploying its own streaming technology as the backbone of a new service designed for scale.
This is a familiar pattern in the modern media economy: when technology becomes the bottleneck, ownership of the platform becomes the strategic advantage.
Yet Canal+ is hardly alone in recognizing that the future of streaming will be shaped as much by software as by storytelling.
Netflix demonstrated this shift in dramatic fashion. At a moment when industry observers expected the company to pursue large content acquisitions—such as its previously rumored interest in Warner Bros.—Netflix instead moved in a different direction. It chose to invest in technology, acquiring an AI-focused startup associated with Ben Affleck.
At first glance, the move seemed unusual. Affleck is best known as an actor and filmmaker, not a technology entrepreneur. But the origins of the company illuminate the logic behind Netflix’s decision.
In 2022, Affleck began exploring how artificial intelligence could address some of filmmaking’s most persistent logistical challenges. Film production, after all, is a complex orchestration of schedules, locations, lighting conditions, budgets, and creative decisions. The startup he launched sought to build software tools specifically for that ecosystem—from managing intricate production logistics to streamlining visual workflows.
Across the industry, studios are experimenting with similar technologies. Artificial intelligence is now being used to assist with visual effects enhancement, script analysis, location planning, and automated editing support. Some tools can even simulate how lighting will interact with digital environments before cameras begin rolling.
What once required weeks of experimentation on set can now be modeled in software.
In effect, artificial intelligence is beginning to touch nearly every stage of the creative pipeline—from story development and production planning to editing and audience analytics. As streaming platforms compete to produce vast quantities of content for a global audience, technologies that accelerate production may become not merely useful, but essential.
It is important to note what this technological shift is—and what it is not.
For the moment, the film industry is not embracing AI primarily to replace actors. Instead, the technology is being deployed behind the scenes to improve processes, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. The goal is competitive advantage.
There are experiments involving synthetic actors and digital replicas, but these remain peripheral. The real transformation is happening in the invisible layers of production—the scheduling systems, editing tools, and simulation platforms that shape how films are made long before audiences see them.
And this is where the implications become particularly significant for the South African film ecosystem.
The most immediate impact of these developments will likely be felt not by actors or directors, but by the network of supporting companies that orbit the industry—production service providers, logistics coordinators, post-production specialists, and technology vendors. As studios adopt more integrated digital systems, many of these traditional roles may be reshaped or absorbed by software.
For actors, the disruption is less immediate but no less important.
The next frontier in creative ownership may not be the script or the performance alone, but the digital identity of the performer. Actors may soon find themselves negotiating rights not just to their likeness, but to the digital replicas—or “digital twins”—that can reproduce their voice, movements, and expressions. In that future, intellectual property will extend beyond the film itself. It will include the data that defines the performer.
