At the turn of the millennium, the skin was conquered by the Dot-Comes. The start-up of a new generation of technologies has arrived on the cruise ship, flooding the hotel facade with banners and billboards and promising to revolutionize the film industry thanks to this new technology called the Internet. A year later, those flags disappeared. The technical bubble has burst.
For the 2022 skin, replace dotcoms with cryptocurrencies and internet blockchains. Crypto and NFT funded panels, parties and events are all over the Croisette this year. Even the main sponsor of the May 26 amfAR gala in Cannes is coming to the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The tech startups flocking to Cannes this year have the new buzzwords: “NFT,” “metaverse,” “Web 3.0,” but their promise to revolutionize and democratize the film industry sounds all too familiar.
“It’s reminiscent of the days of the internet bubble, when I was so close and sitting in the front row,” said Mark Kim of Electromagnetic Productions, a film and television production studio that developed NFT and blockchain technology. Part of your business model. “There were a lot of companies doing the gold rush, companies whose valuation didn’t make any sense. [and] A whole kind of bad actor ecosystem. But the technology has continued, and companies that use it wisely and wisely grow their customer base and expand their business.
If anything, the technology involved in this new wave is less understood than it was on the internet in the year 2000. The foundation of it all is blockchain, a computing protocol that can be used to create a decentralized digital database. A blockchain is a digital ledger used to prove transactions in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and dogecoin, and is the basic code for irreplaceable tokens or NFTs that can be understood (more or less) as legal acts for digital goods or services. So you can buy NFT, which gives you ownership of a limited-edition digital work by Sylvester Stallone, or NFT, which gives you exclusive access to Kevin Smith’s upcoming horror-comedy anthology. Kilroy was here.
Blockchain and NFT technologies can be used to build entire digital ecosystems, including decentralized autonomous organizations or DAOs, where all decisions, for example, to light green projects or approve key talent, are voted on by users./owners. An organization that is automatically implemented through digital “smart contracts” without the need for human intervention.
If that last paragraph has slipped your mind, you’re not alone. The technology is complex and the hyperbolic nature of some of the cryptocurrency industry’s drivers – remember those Super Bowl ads behaving with dignity? – You may come to the conclusion that all this is just a big disadvantage. It is clear that the cryptocurrency industry has been in a bad spot for a few weeks now, as the value of various digital currencies, including Bitcoin, has plummeted and the share price of Coinbase Global, a cryptocurrency exchange, has plummeted, losing thousands, millions of dollars. market capitalization .
But even in the independent film industry, an embarrassing business that attracts viewers of all shades, there are many serious players who are serious about cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this year, Steven Soderbergh, a production company, signed Extension 765 to support Decentralized Picture (DCP), a blockchain-backed film platform founded by Roman Coppola, Leo Machet, and American Zoetrop Michael. Placed on the DCP platform. Ahead of Cannes, DCP announced a new partnership with the Gotham Film & Media Institute, which will award a final prize of $50,000 to selected documentaries. DCP, a non-profit organization, argues that the use of blockchain technology makes everything on its platform decentralized, democratic and transparent, from project presentation to public voting and review of public response data.
“Our mandate is to focus on supporting disadvantaged and underrepresented filmmakers to give them access to an industry that can be very taxing and difficult to understand from the outside,” said Mechett.
London-based filmmaker Goldfinch, who supports projects like the 2019 animated film Bombay rose and last year Irony, Starring Lena Headey and Michael Caine, launched FF3 earlier this year, a crypto crowdfunding platform for independent filmmakers that launched winter is deadA horror thriller project by Stephen Graves that tells the story of a classic ghost versus a homeless crisis.
“We are currently just scratching the surface with the potential of this technology,” said Phil McKenzie, CEO of Goldfinch. “Web 3.0, which uses cryptocurrencies, blockchains and smart contracts, can solve many of the challenges we face as filmmakers, financiers, distributors and sales agents. It can change the way we fund content, the way we publish it, the way we create it.”
McKenzie argues that using NFTs for crowdfunding to offer unique digital art or other cryptographic assets related to an independent project can be “substantially more effective” than traditional crowdfunding through sites like Kickstarter, McKenzie argues, because NFTs are “real assets with real property”. Which gives fans a real stake. Using blockchain technology and smart contracts in the production and distribution process will allow companies to easily and transparently monitor how money moves on a project, “something the traditional film industry is really fighting for.”
Some of the most ambitious cryptocurrency projects that go beyond raising funds or improving transparency include DAO, launched by cryptocurrency company Film.io, which will allow fans and developers to invest and help Greenlight projects generate Fan Tokens, digital currency. A decentralized platform with your participation is used.
“It’s not just about crowdfunding,” said Film.io co-founder Chris J. Davis. “It just came to our attention then. [and] Connect with like-minded people who may have an additional skill set. So if you need a lookbook or a poster, there will be people who are already part of our community who can do that and are looking for projects to invest their time, energy and talents.
The harsh legalization of film financing, which is strictly regulated in many countries, including the US, could break most cryptocurrency projects in Cannes this year. The fledgling entertainment business NFT has yet to come up with a success story to show that this new technology can be truly revolutionary.
“People are very skeptical right now, they’re very ‘buyer cautious,'” said Peter Xat, president of CreaTV Media and a prolific commentator on the digital media industry. “People have to be very careful. Be afraid, very afraid. But just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start experimenting. There will be a lot of nonsense out there, a lot of people trying to get money. But in the end, you will have real success. “Because this technology, the technology behind it, is real.”
Suspects should also remember that in 2002, in the midst of all those Cannes failures, another company went public and online gaming would revolutionize the entertainment industry. your name? Netflix
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
