Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park and various other media outlets, have raised $20 million over the years for Deep Voodoo, a studio for creators.
The company launched during a media shutdown in 2020 when the pandemic banned most travel and event products. Parker and Stone have begun assembling a team of AI artists for their upcoming film, focusing on creating tools that will be used later when Covid intervenes.
“We stumbled upon this amazing technology,” Stone said in an announcement on Deep Voodoo’s website. I have reached out to him for more information and will update this post if I hear back.
Parker/Stone Cache made its official debut alongside none other than Kendrick Lamar. The video for “Part 5 of the Heart” has the musician performing the lyrics in one view, but when he speaks directly to the camera, his face looks at the faces of others: OJ Simpson, Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant and Kanye West.
Of course deep fake technology was used for this – just like the dragons in Game of Thrones are obviously not real. Although the replacement is by no means perfect, it is still very effective.
Since then, and with $20 million in funding from Connect Ventures, Deep Voodoo has begun “offering” its technology to others in the business.
Naturally, he’s not the only one doing this by a long shot. Digital aging and “resurfacing,” as it’s sometimes called, have become staples of Disney media.
The technology is clearly here to stay, but how creatively – and ethically – is still an open question. Stone and Parker, despite their reputation for off-color jokes and marital controversies, seem to be well-meaning when it comes to basic questions of fairness and storytelling. That’s a start.
