Lifeboat Foundation

But, it turns out, the viral videos weren’t the work of some rando on the internet — a VFX artist that specializes in deepfake technology made them.

Making the Tom Cruise Deepfake

Making the Tom Cruise DeepfakeChris Ume is one of about 20 deepfake artists and technicians working at Deep Voodoo, a studio founded by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to make deepfake-based entertainment, including their Donald Trump-skewering web series “Sassy Justice” (which also features a Tom Cruise puppet).