The Truth About Bruce Willis’ Face
– Fake news about Deep Fake
– Reports about Bruce Willis selling the rights to his face to a Deep Fake Company are Fake News
– Try hard? Try harder
– Equity concerned about threat of AI to actors – Get the rights right !
Over the last few days many media outlets have reported that Bruce Willis sold the rights to use his face to Deepcake, a deepfake company.
The reports are, however, fake.
A spokesperson for Bruce Willis said there was “no partnership or agreement ” with Deepcake.
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to create astonishingly realistic videos which look and sound like the real thing.
The commercial implications are significant.
Andrew Eborn has been in direct contact with Deepcake who clarified the following:
“In August 2021, MegaFon launched an ad campaign with Bruce Willis and requested us to create a Digital Twin of the star. Upon their request, our engineers processed a dataset composed of 34 000 images of Bruce Willis and made his Digital Twin for the series of MegaFon ads. There is an official MegaFon press release confirming this collaboration took place.
Some media say Bruce Willis gave Deepcake the rights to his digital likeness, is that true?
No, it’s impossible. Those articles are inaccurate as we never claimed anything like that, besides, such a deal would not be legally possible – please read about it in our official statement that we sent to press about Digital Twin technology (set out below) [ Andrew Eborn points out that such a deal would be possible legally. For more details get in touch ]
Is there a partnership between Bruce Willis and Deepcake?
No, there is no direct partnership between Bruce Willis and Deepcake company. Deepcake was a third party in the deal of 2021 – a tech provider who created a digital twin. We got the request from MegaFon, whose bilateral contractual agreements with Bruce Willis remain unknown to Deepcake.
There is a quote of Bruce Willis on your website. Where does it come from?
It is a comment Bruce Willis gave to MegaFon after their collaboration in August 2021. It is cited in the official MegaFon press release.”
https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1440531299387813888?t=1qy7b3kI-tjqNfu5t6Koog&s=19
As previously predicted, the use of AI is set to explode presenting new opportunities as well as threats if proper protection is not in place.
Retired actor James Earl Jones, who played Darth Vader, has had his voice recreated from archive materials.
Disney released its latest Star Wars spinoff, Obi-Wan Kenobi, using Respeecher’s AI technology to reproduce Darth Vader’s speech including to make him sound younger.
Concerns have been expressed regarding the commercial implications and the fear that actors may lose jobs as a result of the fact that AI can recreate actors’ voices and images.
Equity, the UK actors’ and performers’ Union, launched a campaign called Stop AI Stealing The Show.
The truth, however, is AI wont steal the show but rather will open new revenue streams.
Understanding the technology and ensuring that contracts are drafted to ensure proper protection and compensation are key.
As always, getting the rights right is key.
Don’t miss out… get in touch!
Press release from Deepcake
AI-generated Digital Twins of celebrities by Deepcake: how it works
Dover, Delaware, Oct. 1st, 2022 – Deepcake.io clarifies how the company produces digital
copies for celebrities.
Deepcake.io is an AI-powered content creation platform with a library of AI-replicas of A-list
celebrities. Since 2020, among other videotech services, we provide famous people with
their digital likenesses. To name a few, the startup worked with Bruce Willis, Mario Balotelli
and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Deepcake engineers came up with one of its kind AI-based technology and software that
allow the creation of Digital Twins i.e. digital copies of people. To put it simply, we produce a
certain source code that graphically looks exactly like a static or dynamic image of the
person. In order to make it possible, the Deepcake team works in close collaboration with
the “original”: the person willing to create their Digital Twin. Celebrities authorize the
company to fulfill a certain project (and only that!), while Deepcake provides them with the
tech service they ordered.
After the request of a celebrity and based on their consent, we digitally recreate their image.
Our neural network “watches” various content with a certain star: movies, photos and
interviews. The power and accuracy of our neural networks allow us to create a highly
realistic Digital Twin even for a person from the past, with a single photo remaining. We do
not store or use copyright-protected material: to train our algorithms we use either data from
open sources or content given to us by clients.
As a result, one gets their own fully accurate Digital Twin which may substitute them
anywhere – on their own decision. The source code provided by Deepcake can be
implemented in videos, advertisements, animations, VR or Metaverse and other types of
visual content in order to recreate a celebrity’s image. The celebrity provides all subsequent
permissions and consent necessary for the content creation and implementation of their
Digital Twin.
Since the field of AI-generated twins is very new, and the regulatory framework is still being
developed, Deepcake can work as a service provider in collaborations of celebrities with
third parties: creative agencies, brands, content creators and others. In that case, the
famous person gives their consent to the content producer.
For instance, in August 2021 Deepcake worked with a telecom brand MegaFon that
launched an ad campaign with Bruce Willis and requested us to create a Digital Twin of the
star. Our engineers processed a dataset composed of 34 000 images of Bruce Willis and
made his Digital Twin for the series of MegaFon ads. Bruce Willis, whose bilateral
contractual agreements with MegaFon remain unknown to Deepcake, appreciated our
service and described it as “a very new and interesting experience” in the official MegaFon
press release.
“We create a digital asset for celebrities directly or for specific collaborations with their
agents, – says CEO Maria Chmir. – Our general mission is to help celebrities monetize their
digital copies while being fully in control of their use and managing the rights”.
Andrew Eborn – upcoming engagements
17th October Cannes Drama Awards
Andrew Eborn has been invited back to host these prestigious awards.
Tech & creativity live: how to make live broadcasting content more attractive with AR/VR
Andrew Eborn has again been engaged to host and interview key industry players from around the world regarding the latest developments in technology
18th October – TBS Game show launch Cannes
Andrew Eborn has again been engaged to launch the latest TV Game Show from TBS following the global success of Takeshi’s Castle and Ninja Warrior.
19th October Cannes MIPCOM Film & TV Market Tech and Creativity
The Future of Film and TV drama created by virtual/ remote/ cloud production sponsored by Sony
Andrew Eborn has again been invited to host and interview industry leaders from around the world.
29th October Hollywood comes to Luton.
Andrew Eborn presents Hollywood comes to Luton. The first in the series will be with John Stevenson who has over 40 years’ experience in international film development and production including Shrek, the Muppets, Toy Story, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda which grossed over US$600 million worldwide.
16th November 2022 Moorfields Academy
Andrew Eborn has again been booked to host, media train, interview and film key industry figures
ANDREW EBORN – RIGHTING WRONGS
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