WrapPRO Special Series: From financing to distribution, there’s great promise in the next iteration of the internet for movie producers and fans
The combination of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and cryptocurrency is slowly allowing for what many believe to be the true potential the metaverse. And that will disrupt not just how we watch movies, whether that’s via VR headsets or engaging with others virtually while watching a film, but it will change the process with which movies are bought, sold and financed — as well as who controls the rights to what the next generation of creators develop.
For many producers like Baldecchi, making movies in the metaverse isn’t about creating a VR landscape that looks like a video game. This goes well beyond crowdfunding indie films or selling NFTs. You can do all of these things today. But if you’re a producer who owns IP and with the power of the blockchain, you can develop, finance, produce and distribute your movie without relying on middle-man banks, financiers and studios, suddenly everything about how Hollywood has made movies for decades can be turned on its head.
“The thing that I care most about is how do we take IP and tell stories that we want to tell and not be beholden to other folks who have different ideas about what they want to make,” Baldecchi told . “I don’t need to be inside of it. That’s not to me a game-changer, because what I care about is the story there. And if you’re in Mark Zuckerberg’s multiverse, that doesn’t change anything for me. What I want to be able to do is tell stories that we can’t figure out how to tell any other way.”
Today, there are not many real-world examples of how metaverse technologies can be used to improve the production of movies. But it hasn’t stopped players big and small from scrambling to make sure they’re not left behind in the digital arms race. In February, Disney The company tapped an ex-executive from the theme parks to head its metaverse strategy. Bob Iger, a former Disney CEO, joined Genies’ board to help create a virtual marketplace for creators. Korean entertainment company, Iger. CJ ENM recently acquired a minority share in HyperrealThe company specializes in creating hyper-realistic avatars that can be used in the metaverse.
“These giant companies are all pushing heavily, heavily, heavily into this area. That’s not something you want to ignore. And these are the same companies that are making content. So that tells you something,” Baldecchi said. “Again, it’s real early. So how do we as storytellers, people who own IP and want to tell stories, maximize what the technology has to offer?”
Web 3.0 can be described as the metaverse. Web1 was a way to connect online, exchange messages, and interact with others. The advent of video and apps has made Web2 possible. Web3 is the next evolution. It will unify all of those disconnected apps and forms digital commerce and communication.
Web3 covers many technologies. However, it can be confusing for some to see it as virtual reality or watching a movie or concert in cyberspace. Virtual reality (VR), AR, and hanging out in virtual video games spaces with friends are all possible. “Fortnite”There are many things you can do now. While technology will eventually improve everything, the hype about the metaverse is usually about something else.
Ted Farnsworth was the former chairman and founder of MoviePass, a failed subscription service for movie tickets. Now, he is excited for what could be a major shift in how projects can be developed around IP. Farnsworth believes that Web3 will allow filmmakers and artists to finance, develop and distribute movies directly through the use of intellectual property, even though real-use cases are still in their early stages.
Farnsworth went public recently with a company called Cryptyde — part of his ZASH holding company — that aims to tap into the many young artists who have already discovered the ability to use blockchain and NFTs.
“It’s a new frontier,”Farnsworth stated. “Especially in the last year since the pandemic, this has changed from just an idea about the metaverse to it’s fully blown, and every major tech company in the world is going after it trying to figure out who’s going to be first.”
Farnsworth sees Web3 as an opportunity for artists to give behind-the-scenes access through NFTs, which are authenticated via the blockchain. The technology can also offer downstream merchandising opportunities so fans can purchase content directly from the artist — bypassing studios and more traditional entertainment companies — and potentially use those items across other digital platforms and ecosystems. The wealth of options will raise many questions about artists’ digital rights in the metaverse.
But the digital arms race has already put up roadblocks as multiple parties all try and determine who controls what in the metaverse, with the lawsuit between Quentin Tarantino and Miramax over the director’s release of “Pulp Fiction”One example of how blockchain-governed real-world ownership is becoming complicated is NFTs This raises the question of whether this will make any difference in the case of blockbusters with huge budgets and wide distribution.
If Web3 sounds like a bakery full of pie-in-the-sky ideas without a clear application for how it actually affects making filmed content, that doesn’t mean people aren’t in the trenches trying to crack that code, and there are real-world examples that point to how it might all work.
Baldecchi, who is a partner in the film- and TV company Roundtable Entertainment and cofounder, was impressed by the example. LinksDAOA decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), that organized a small group tech-minded golf enthusiasts to raise $10.5million in 48 hours in order to purchase a country club. (The DAO, which currently has 9,000 members) Baldecchi was curious about what it would take for something like this to be made into a movie.
“I’ve raised money before. I had $10 maybe in 48 hours. Or you raise $2 million in 14 months. [LinksDAO] happened because like-minded people found something they were interested in and they send cryptocurrency,” Baldecchi explained. “Can you do that for movies? Absolutely. Has anyone done it? No. We’re trying to figure it out.”
Baldecchi concedes it’s no easy task trying to finance an independent film in 2022, let alone to then develop it, produce it and distribute it. A creator in the metaverse could theoretically do all these things without intermediaries. This includes banks processing your transactions and distributors who book it into theaters.
Baldecchi’s Roundtable is in the very early days of thinking about all of this, but as a company that’s in the IP-to-commerce business, he’s trying to leverage Web3 technology to raise money, distribute content and reach an audience. What he’s observed is that the world is decentralizing and becoming “hyper niche,”Companies can survive because of a few people who are passionate about what they do and willing to pay for their work.
Instead of trying to reach a large audience and hoping that the core fans of an IP will show up, you can sell shares of your movie through the metaverse to a core fan base by means of an NFT. As the movie becomes monetized, it creates value downstream, so the individual NFTs may increase in value.
“If what you’re doing is raising money by way of NFTs, that’s your initial audience right there, because they’re going to be the first ones who want to see what you’re doing… And by the way, that might be the only audience you need to make a living,” Baldecchi said. “I don’t think you need giant audiences. I think high-value audiences who love what you’re doing — smaller, high-value audiences — are probably more interesting.”
Peter Luo, CEO of Chinese company Starlight Media and Stars Collective has backed studio films with big budgets like “Crazy Rich Asians” “Malignant,”With his recently launched Metaverse Entertainment, he has put this idea into practice. He’s recognized that the changes at the global box office in the COVID era are forcing producers to rethink the way they fund and distribute their films, and the metaverse may be one way of removing some of the film industry’s uncertainty.
“In the traditional film industry, to make a film, creating an IP and script to actually sell the film to go to the box office, the timeframe is very long, and for investors, they want to see their money come back sooner,”Luo spoke through a translator “In the metaverse, there’s many ways to utilize the IP, and the profit can be collected in multiple ways, and with a smart contract, everything is transparent. You can see how much you’re making, what are other things happening that are making your profit back with a smart contract.”
Metaverse Entertainment is a subsidiary of Luo’s talent incubator Stars Collective, which has already signed young filmmakers to cultivate their ideas. Now they’ve taken the next step by pairing filmmakers with NFT artists to give them access to the company’s own NFT marketplace. He believes Web3 can bring about a new generation of entrepreneurs. “major changes”They will show you how the films are made, how IP applied, and how they are distributed. This will help talent reach a wider audience and contribute to the creation and value their art.
To that end, Luo’s Metaverse Entertainment has also worked closely with GameFiThe ICO is a platform that allows indie game developers to launch and finance new games using the blockchain. Luo explained that game designers have innovated by allowing players to buy and sell NFTs (in-game weapons and tools) and that they can also use them in other games. He believes that films could be able expand their reach and generate similar revenue streams.
“It is another world. And in this world, everyone has their own way of creating arts in all kinds of forms. That’s a place everybody’s dream can come true,”Luo said. “They can release art in every form. There’s no class, no race, no gender in this world. Everybody can be their true self.”
When Baldecchi speaks with other executives about the metaverse, he’s often met with blank stares and perplexed faces. Luo estimates that about half of his Web3 conversations involve people who have never heard the metaverse before and don’t believe it can impact their lives.
“People are so used to things a certain way, and the metaverse is definitely a new concept for people to understand what it is, what’s it about. Especially with talent who have already accomplished in their career, they are very cautious and conservative when it comes to new ways to do things,”Luo said. “But when the internet was first born, everyone thinks it’s a crazy idea and it would come and go, and it takes time for everyone to learn about it and to actually use it.”
This is Part 2 from a WrapPRO Special Series: The Metaverse UnWrapped.
Monday: How to Lose One Billion Dollars in Metaverse, and Other Mysteries of Web3
Tuesday: The Metaverse is Why Film Producers Get So Excited: ‘Everybody’s Dream Can Come True’
Wednesday: Why VFX Companies Want To Create Your Metaverse-Realized Avatar
Thursday: Why businesses are grabbing real estate in the Metaverse
