Metaphysic Announces Strategic Hires of Leading Hyperreal AI Creator Sam Head and AI Compositing Supervisor Thomas Salama and Leads Scott Bourne and Matteo Olivieri-Dancey

By PRNewswire On Mar 3, 2023

Metaphysic announced the appointment of leading hyperreal AI and VFX creator Sam Head, publicly known as Shamook, as the company’s Senior AI Model Artist, as well as Thomas Salama, AI & Compositing Supervisor, Scott Bourne, AI Compositing Lead and Matteo Olivieri Dancey, AI Innovation Lead. The team arrives from George Lucas-founded and Walt Disney Company-owned entertainment firm, Industrial Light & Magic, where they collectively led de-aging and hyperreal content for ABBA: Voyage concert experience, The Book of Boba Fett, and more. Head, Salama, Bourne, and Olivieri-Dancey will report to Metaphysic’s Chief Innovation Officer, Jo Plaete.

The new hires mark a significant investment in Metaphysic’s creative team following an extraordinary year of high-profile partnerships and projects in the entertainment industry. Global film and television studio Miramax recently tapped the company as its official Generative AI partner for the major motion picture “Here,” and Metaphysic also entered into a strategic partnership with CAA. The entertainment industry took note of Metaphysic following a history-making run on “America’s Got Talent.” Metaphysic created live hyperreal performances of Elvis Presley, bringing generative AI to TV for the first time ever and effectively changing the future of entertainment.

Thomas Graham, Co-Founder & CEO of Metaphysic, said, “The entertainment industry is rapidly evolving, and Metaphysic has quickly become an in-demand technology provider to help production houses and studios produce real-time, realistic enactments. As we enter into new partnerships and projects to shape the future of entertainment, we are thrilled to be joined by the AI and compositing spaces’ brightest minds: Sam, Scott, Thomas, and Matteo.”

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Hyperreal content artist Sam Head rose to fame for creating hyperrealistic avatars of iconic movie scenes on YouTube, including reimaging Tom Holland within previous portrayals of Spiderman, inserting Mel Gibson in Mad Max Fury Road, and de-aging avatars of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. The videos garnered millions of views and drew critical acclaim for the artist’s work reimagining young Luke Skywalker in the Mandalorian. Sam’s work caught the attention of Lucasfilms, and in 2021 he was hired as Senior Facial Capture Artist to help lead the company’s technological capabilities to achieve photorealistic de-aging.

Sam Head, Senior AI Model Artist at Metaphysic, says: “As a visual artist, my goal is to surprise and delight the viewer, recreating or completely reimagining iconic scenes and moments in entertainment. Metaphysic is the preeminent technology company, setting the bar for the entire industry by developing hyperreal, photorealistic content for TV, film, and beyond, and I am thrilled to join this incredibly talented team.”

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