--- title: "Lucasfilm Hires Random Guy Who Made Amazing Luke Skywalker Deepfake" description: "Legendary production company Lucasfilm has hired a YouTuber who impressed them with stunning, photorealistic deepfakes of \"Stars Wars\" franchise characters." date: "2021-07-28" modified: "2021-07-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lucasfilm-hires-amazing-deepfake" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "cgi" - "deepfakes" - "star wars" - "the digest" --- # Lucasfilm Hires Random Guy Who Made Amazing Luke Skywalker Deepfake ![Legendary production company Lucasfilm has hired a YouTuber who impressed them with stunning, photorealistic deepfakes of "Stars Wars" franchise characters.]() *\Image: Shamook via YouTube\* ## Better Deepfakes Legendary production company Lucasfilm Ltd. has hired a YouTuber who impressed them with stunning, photorealistic deepfakes of "Stars Wars" franchise characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Grand Moff Tarkin — results that looked even better than the company's own attempts, [*IndieWire* reports](). It's a stunning new milestone in the advancement of computer generated imagery, greatly democratizing access to photorealistic digital effects without access to a whole team and multi-million dollar budget — and Hollywood is starting to pay attention. ## Young Luke Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) has included the late actors Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing, as well as a young Mark Hamill, with the use of CGI in several "Stars Wars" movies and spinoffs in recent years. https://youtu.be/wrHXA2cSpNU But those effects weren't quite impressive enough fora YouTuber and CGI wizard who goes by the handle Shamook, and who reworked ILM's [de-aging of Mark Hamill's cameo]() as a young Luke Skywalker in the hit Disney+ show "The Mandalorian." The video — which took Shamook a mere four days to complete — ended up earning him millions of views, [*The Verge* reports](). ILM's own approach to de-aging Hamill for the show were quickly criticized by audiences, despite their excitement over the return of the star, *IndieWire* reports. https://youtu.be/_CXMb_MO3aw ## Hiring Talent Shamook announced the hiring in a comments section of one of his videos, noting that as a result he hasn't had "time to work on any new YouTube content." *IndieWire* was able to confirm the news with ILM. The company "is always on the lookout for talented artists and have in fact hired the artist that goes by the online persona 'Shamook,'" a Lucasfilm representative told the site. "Over the past several years ILM has been investing in both machine learning and AI as a means to produce compelling visual effects work and it’s been terrific to see momentum building in this space as the technology advances," the representative added. **READ MORE:** [Lucasfilm Hired the YouTuber Who Used Deepfakes to Tweak Luke Skywalker ‘Mandalorian’ VFX]() \[*IndieWire*\] **More on deepfakes:** *[New Anthony Bourdain Documentary Used AI to Recreate His Voice]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()