A side panel slides in next to Netflix's controls. It shows the cast for whatever's on, recaps the last few episodes if you missed them, and lets you chat about what's on screen. Answers come back as text, plus posters and place photos when those make sense. The panel comes in when you move the mouse and tucks itself away when you don't.
Movies, sitcoms, animation, drama, anthology shows. One panel for everything you watch. TV episodes show the actual cast for that episode, including guest stars. Movies show the full credited cast.
Three tabs: Cast, Catch me up, Ask. The panel follows Netflix's controls. It fades when they fade and holds when you hover. Ask answers stay grounded in the real cast list and your current playback position, so they don't drift past where you are.
TV episodes show the actors actually in that episode, including guest stars and one-off characters. Anthology shows like Black Mirror are handled too.
Click Catch me up and a "Previously on…" primer streams in for the last few episodes. Written like a friend filling you in, not a logline. Generated on your device by Chrome's built-in AI. Nothing about what you watch leaves the browser.
"Where do I know them from?" "How old is this actor?" "Where was this filmed?" The Ask tab knows the show, the episode, and where you are in it. Answers are grounded in the real cast list, so you won't get made-up actor names. The chat tries hard not to spoil anything past where you are.
Mention another movie and a poster carousel slides in under the answer. Ask about a filming location and you get a photo of the spot. Cast bios pull real birthdays and birthplaces from TMDB. Behind-the-scenes notes come from Wikipedia. The chat reads like someone who watches a lot, not someone reciting a fact sheet.
Pause and Netflix's "You're watching" overlay gets a row of cast cards between the synopsis and the Paused indicator. Same data the panel uses, no extra fetch. Answers the "who's that?" the moment you stop the scene.
Every cast row links straight to the actor's IMDB page. When TMDB has an Instagram handle on file, an IG icon shows up on the right edge of the row. One tap to their profile.
No sign-up to install. No Netflix account access. Recaps run entirely on your machine. Ask uses cloud AI but is keyed to an anonymous device ID. We never see your Netflix login or watch history. Sign in with email only if you want Pro to follow you between devices.
The cast list, recaps, and pause-screen strip are free for everyone. The Ask tab is free for 30 days — 5 messages a day. Backlot Pro lifts the cap.
Everything most viewers ever need.
Or $24.99/year, which works out to 30% off.
Prices in USD. Local taxes may apply. Payments handled by Stripe; subscription managed via Stripe's hosted portal.
When the Chrome Web Store listing goes live, this is the whole setup.
One click. You don't sign up for anything or fetch an API key.
Move the mouse and the panel slides in. Cast is the default tab. Catch me up appears on TV episodes with a recap worth writing. Ask is always there. The toggle next to the subtitles button turns the panel off if you'd rather not see it. Your choice persists across tabs and reloads.
Prime Video has had X-Ray for years. Netflix doesn't. Every time I'd pause mid-scene to ask "who's that, where do I know them from?", I'd open IMDB, type the show name, scroll the cast, find the right episode.
Backlot does that in one step instead of five. Then it does the things I wanted next: a recap when I come back to a show after a week, somewhere to ask "wait, what just happened?" without ruining the rest.
The name comes from the studio backlot, the working areas of a film studio where the cast and crew hang out between takes. That's what this panel is: everything that lives behind what's on screen, while you're watching.
I built it for myself first. The Chrome Web Store listing is in review. When it ships, you'll install it like any other extension.