South Park Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone delve into the realm of “deepfakes.”
The pair created a new company called Deep Voodoo from their Park County holding company, hoping to create a new platform for artists, creators, producers and others in the industry to incorporate deepfake technology into their work.
Deep Voodoo has raised $20 million in a new funding round led by Connect Ventures, W.L.L Joint partnership between CAA and VC firm New Enterprise Associates.
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace faces on characters. Stone and Parker previously used the technology in a web series they created called Shameless justice, as it has been used to emulate Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, among others. Kendrick Lamar has also used Deep Voodoo in a music video this year.
“We stumbled upon this amazing technology and ended up recruiting the best deepfake artists in the world,” Stone said in a statement. “We’re excited to share their brilliance with the creative community in Hollywood.”
Michael Blank of Connect Ventures added, “Deep Voodoo has established itself as a leading platform for synthetic media technology that is already making an impact on traditional entertainment. Deep Voodoo uses artificial intelligence to power production in innovative ways that are faster and more cost-effective than traditional VFX technology.”
While Deep Voodoo started as part of Park County (which includes South Parkmusic The Book of MormonCasa Bonita restaurant and other projects), was formed as its own entity, with the Connect Ventures fundraising round being its first outside funding.
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