NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, April 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — SYNOPSIS
The film follows Adam Bhala Lough, a father of two and a working Los Angeles filmmaker who represents the anxious everyman of the AI age. Inspired by Terminator 2 and the techno-optimism of James Cameron, Adam has always believed in the promise of technology, until the arrival of AI threatens to upend his profession, his kids’ future, and possibly the fate of humanity itself. His way of coping is to do what he’s always done: make a movie about it.
The quest begins simply enough: Adam wants to interview Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and one of the most influential figures shaping the future of AI. But Altman doesn’t return his calls. Or emails. Or DMs. When Adam shows up at OpenAI with a film crew, he’s promptly escorted off the property and effectively banned from returning. His documentary is dead in the water.
Then a headline-grabbing Hollywood controversy sparks a new idea, one bold enough to revive the film. Adam travels to the other side of the world, where he teams up with Devi Singh Jadoun, an Indian deepfake artist briefly catapulted to online fame by his surreal Bollywood-into-Barbie deepfakes. Together, they set out to build Sam Bot, an Altman-inspired AI trained on the voice and public appearances of the real man. Sharp, glitchy, and unexpectedly charismatic, Sam Bot becomes a creative foil and sidekick, reshaping the direction of Adam’s film and his understanding of human connection.
A verité film with a sci-fi comedy twist, Deepfaking Sam Altman is a sharp, surprisingly moving exploration of how we navigate the chaotic new world of artificial intelligence.
Based on reporting from New York Magazine
*Official Selection – 2025 SXSW Festival – World Premiere*
*Official Selection – DC/DOX 2025*
*Official Selection – Chelsea Film Festival 2025 – Best Documentary Award Winner*
Directed by: Adam Bhala Lough
Produced by: Kevin Hart, Luke Kelly-Clyne, Bryan Smiley, Harold Berón III
Co-Produced by: Joey Lyons
Executive Produced by:Adam Bhala Lough, JC Del Barco II, Greg Stewart, David Gordon Green, Elizabeth Weil, Dana J. Olkkonen, Scoop Wasserstein, Mark W. Olsen
Co-Executive Producer: Christian Vazquez
Director of Photography by: Christopher Messina
Edited by: Alex Mackenzie
RT: 90 Minutes
**PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE STORIES THAT MATTER FILM SCREENING & PANEL PRESENTATION AT JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG CENTER**
WHAT: Film Screening and Q&A of DEEPFAKING SAM ALTMAN as part of the Stories That Matter Film Series.
WHO: Adam Bhala Lough (Director), Luke Kelly-Clyne (Producer), Noel King (Co-Host of Today, Explained and Vox Editorial Director) Sig Libowitz, J.D. (Director and Senior Lecturer, Johns Hopkins Graduate Film and Media Program),
WHEN: Thursday, April 30th
6:30 p.m. – Program starts, Opening Remarks
6:40 p.m. – Film starts
8:20 p.m. – Panel Discussion, followed by Q&A begins
WHERE: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001
Please RSVP to AinsleyMcGovern@FalcoInk.com
ABOUT
The Stories That Matter film screening series cultivates robust dialogue among filmmakers, scholars, students, government officials, policy stakeholders, and the public through curated programs spanning U.S. and international cinema, including narrative features, documentaries, and short films.
The series provides filmmakers from the U.S. and around the world the opportunity to present international cinema to D.C. audiences—including stakeholders in the U.S. government, the international diplomatic community, and Johns Hopkins students and alumni—at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center’s 375-seat state-of-the-art theater.
Each event features a post-screening conversation with attending directors, actors, producers, screenwriters, editors, cinematographers, music composers, and documentary participants.
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center launched the series in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Graduate Film and Media program in January 2025. The Cineteca di Bologna is also partnering with the Graduate Film and Media program to present the Stories That Matter series at the 358-seat historic and newly restored Cinema Modernissimo in Bologna, Italy.
Ainsley McGovern
Falco Ink
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