Film Industry May Be Transformed By Blockchain and AI
There’s an old Hollywood axiom – there’s no business like show business. Unless, of course, you’re talking about the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries.
The film industry has already embraced the concept of blockchain and cryptocurrency in several ways. They’re telling stories about its origin; they’re realizing the power of the initial coin offering in financing films; and they’re looking at yet another distribution hub similar to what Netflix, Hulu, and other big players already provide.
Add in the DIY potential of AI software Sora, which can be used to create realistic footage, and the revolution is nigh.
The film industry has always been one of the most technically adaptable arenas, not surprising since it was founded on advances in technology that started with Edward Muybridge, Thomas Edison, George Eastman and William Walker, and advanced into business systems by such entrepreneurs as the Warner brothers and crafted into art by Cecil B. DeMille and DW Griffith.
As it progressed from silent films to talkies, from huge movie palaces to local multiplexes, from film to digital, and now from static to streaming, the art of making a motion picture has always faced one immutable problem – how to raise enough money to finance, market and distribute the end product to a waiting world.
That’s why the early adopters in the blockchain world have eagerly embraced the possibilities of blockchain, which uses initial coin offerings to raise money without having to carve up the pie into too many pieces. So far, it’s been used mainly as a tool by independent filmmakers, but there is no shortage of major players who are looking into the technology. The indies are simply looking to get their film to market, raising funds to cover the costs of production.
The major players will use that strategy as well, but there’s also a longer game in mind — certain films have a cult following, and with the possibilities wrought by initial coin offerings, it may be possible to raise enough capital to revive popular franchises for sequels without surrendering vast amounts of equity.
Everyone in Hollywood needs to work, and reviving popular titles has a built-in audience that can be leveraged in ways that offer tantalizing possibilities to marketers.
PAYING THE AUDIENCE
One such possibility on the horizon via tokenization is solving another ages-old problem for the industry – how to get people interested enough to see the film and make back the initial investment by paying to see it. Films, in general, do not make money. The huge winners, the blockbusters, carry the freight for the smaller, money-losing films, which occasionally break out into mass appeal, but are generally confined to festivals and smaller art houses. True indies make films hoping to move up in the pecking order.
Going to the movies is a big part of the magic of filmmaking, but the growth of home theater and streaming services opens up new horizons for those making the movies. That has caused them to seriously examine another possibility – raising enough funding via an initial coin offering, then paying people with tokens to watch review, comment, promote, market and publicize the films to their peers. So far, it’s a paper strategy, but even industry giants like Universal and Disney are kicking the tires, as Universal’s prototype Watch Me and the unnamed Disney service are reportedly planning just such a strategy. Other platforms like Facebook are also in the early stage of investigating just such a plan, since they have a built-in audience.
For now, the pay-to-watch strategy is a work in progress. Blockchain platforms are still too new for, say, the next Avengers movies to try to attempt to debut via blockchain. But given the inevitably of progress, it’s likely that it will be a big part of the film industry in the next decade.
While blockbuster openings may be in the future, there’s no shortage of schemes to take advantage of the blockchain system on smaller projects.
TOKENIZATION AND DISTRIBUTION
Some smaller companies are already on the move, seeking financial backing for projects that will define the future of film.
Here’s a rundown of some of the ideas on the market:
*** Film producer Alan R. Milligan has devised a browser plug-in called White Rabbit, designed to circumvent streaming platforms. The idea is to allow fans to use tokens to directly pay content creators and other rights holders using smart contracts. Milligan is targeting Hollywood’s producers and creative community with his alternative, which will avoid the accounting issues that see films earn millions in revenue and still wind-up with a paper profit loss.
*** Another platform aiming at the Hollywood market is Treeti, created by “Blair Witch” entertainment marketer Amorette Jones and technologist Matej Boda. This is a blockchain play that also targets filmmakers who want to reach an audience directly. The blockchain will collect data on viewing which can also be monetized.
*** A giant player entering the filmmaking scene is TaTaTu, a blockchain tokenized entertainment platform that raised $575 million USD from private backers. That’s one of the largest fundraising totals of the blockchain era. The tokens generated will be used to compensate content creators and also viewers, who will be paid for promoting projects and share advertising revenues generated on the platform. Filmmakers can also use TaTaTu as a way to raise money for a project or sell directly to consumers.
*** Film producer and financier Christopher Woodrow has a project called MovieCoin, which is both a platform for film projects and a way to finance new films. The tokens, which are undergoing scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make sure they fall under compliant regulations, will be sold as a security. Under the terms of MovieCoin project investors will benefit as tokens appreciate in value based on the success of the films. MovieCoin will also be traded in the exchange market.
FILMMAKING IS STORYTELLING
At its heart, the film industry is a storytelling business. Thus, it’s no surprise that there are already several films out that purport to tell the story of the nascent business, helping to define its role for an audience that is still largely in the dark.
Here’s a sampling of blockchain films:
*** The documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain is the latest project of director Alex Winter, best known for his Bill & Ted film franchise and vampire classic The Lost Boys. The project is backed by SingularDTV, a digital blockchain studio that aims to tokenize the film industry and provide distribution, as well as create its own projects. Winter has done several tech films, including Downloaded and Deep Web, so the blockchain project is in his wheelhouse..
*** KevCoin: The Movie is a UK documentary spoof in the style of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat, spoofing real people on the existance of KevCoin, a cryptocurrency that actually exists and sits on the ethereum blockchain as an ERC20 token. The film follows director Kevin Powder as he attempts to kick-start his trillion-dollar film project by convincing people to back his KevCoin project.
*** Like scary movies? The thriller Braid follows Petula Thames (played by Imogen Waterhouse) and Tilda Darlings (Sarah Hay), two self-proclaimed artists turned drug dealers on the run. After a botched drug deal, the girls have 48 hours to repay their connection, or suffer the consequences. They run away and attempt to hide in the desolate mansion of a wealthy but disturbed childhood friend, Daphne Peters (Madeline Brewer). Trouble and horror ensues in this psychological drama.The Braid ethereum token sale raised $1.7 million in two weeks of solicitation, with ethereum studio ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin serving as the film’s executive produce
**** Another history of cryptocurrency is Banking on Bitcoin, a movie that covers the original cryptocurrency’s evolution. The film features commentary from such bitcoin pioneers as Charlie Shrem, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini and Facebook; Barry Silbert, founder & CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG); Erik Voorhees, CEO & founder at ShapeShift.io; and others.
*** Still another film documentary on the cryptocurrency world is Beyond Bitcoin, which was acquired at the Cannes Film Festival for airing on the blockchain video-on-demand platform Binge. Directed by Jake Witzenfeld, Beyond Bitcoin follows some key players in the space, including financier Ryan Radloff, blockchain trade association executive Perianne Boring, and Bitcoin Cash creator Roger Ver for a year. The film is particularly fascinating as it covers Ver’s Bitcoin Cash launch and the inital coin offering craze at its height.. The documentary will debut in March 2019 on the Binge service.
These are just some of the possibilities bubbling under the mainstream radar at the moment. Hollywood and the film industry always has been the land of dreams. Now, that dream is being extended yet again, thanks to advances in technology. And what happens next may be a true boffo, box office smash.