How Crypto Is Disrupting The Film Industry

It’s never been harder to get projects financed than it is in today’s risk-averse, superhero heavy landscape. 

Even proven directors have found themselves inking deals with streaming platforms or even crowdfunding their projects to get them off the ground. So it was only a matter of time before filmmakers turned to crypto as a new way to raise finance. 

It’s reflective of a wider move towards crypto and NFTs.  It’s never been easier to buy and sell different currencies and more and more companies are accepting crypto as payments. Opening and running a crypto interest account can be done from mobile and isn’t just left to the techies anymore. 

The entertainment sector, and film, in particular, is ripe for disruption. Netflix is having a huge wobble due to a downturn in subscribers and movie studios are reluctant to invest in properties not already based on franchises or existing IPs. 

Crypto funded film

Investing in movies isn’t something that’s usually been possible for the everyday movie fan outside of a Kickstarter campaign. Start-ups like Moviecoin are offering the opportunity to invest their cash in production and receive any profits in the same way, through blockchain tech. 

Not only does this way of doing things allow film fans to finance the kinds of movies they want to see, but it also has the potential to dilute the power of the big studios. While many of the Moviecoin platform’s initial projects are relatively small, there are also productions on their starring people like Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe. 

Distribution 

Getting a movie made is one thing, but getting eyes on it is another. Getting an independent project into cinemas or on a streaming platform is almost impossible without a star name attached. Platforms like Netflix are always very cagey with their info too. Information on precise viewing figures or how much producers are paid for their work is a closely guarded secret. 

By applying the principles of decentralised finance to the film industry, the availability of viewing data on the blockchain can ensure complete transparency, taking the dark arts that Netflix has been using out of the equation. 

NFTs

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have also been hitting the headlines recently and are being used by filmmakers to raise money as well as a new revenue stream for studios looking to cash in on the market. 

An NFT is a digital asset that can be bought and collected. Record of ownership is stored digitally on a register. Movie titans such as Quentin Tarantino have been producing and selling their own NFTs for a while now, with NFTs of Tarantino’s handwritten script notes going for some pretty high prices. 

While some are still trying to get their head around NFTs (take a bow those responsible for the Dune NFT fiasco), the movie industry has seen the potential of NFTs, and we can expect to see them become a common part of movie marketing. 

The bigger picture

Rather than just being a flash in the pan, crypto’s disruption of the movie industry is reflective of a much wider issue. Audiences and creators want more control over what is being made, and how it’s funded and distributed. In the age of the huge studio movie and streaming platforms, people want other options, to take risks and step outside the algorithms – which can only be a good thing.