Big news from Tinsel Town. A Hollywood NFT studio is being established by producer Niels Juul (‘The Irishman’). His idea is to revolutionise an “antiquated funding system”.
To realise this, Juuls hopes to raise between $8 and $10million from NFT sales to public and institutional investors. This will happen via his new company, NFT Studios. To our knowledge, it’s the first dedicated to financing movies through non-fungibles.
If you understand how films are paid for, the rationale makes sense. It can take up to eight years for productions to reach screens because of funding. Under Juuls’ proposals, this could be significantly reduced by democratisation. To clarify, that means allowing lower levels of investment. Not to mention opening opportunities to those outside traditional film financing.
The Hollywood NFT Studio is Active
According to The Guardian, Juul has secured $1million for NFT Studios so far. This has come from NFT Investments, which funds new opportunities in the market. In return for cash, anyone involved can expect a share of box office receipts and rights. Alongside a chance to visit locations, meet actors, and attend premieres.
Obviously, that sounds tempting. The first title has been confirmed, too. Juul is working on ‘A Wing and a Prayer’. The movie tells the true story of Brian Milton retracing Phileas Fogg’s round-the-world trip. Amazingly, he did it in a microlight. Apparently, the idea came out of a bet made at the Reform Club. Significantly, Fogg was a member of the same society in the original Jules Verne story.
Keeping it on the DL?
Equally important to note is the matter of secrecy surrounding the film. While we know the tale, and the overall idea, the director, and any big-name stars attached have not been revealed.
Basically, keeping elements of the movie under wraps from investors has a number of benefits. Firstly, it means each production will be treated equally to the next in the eyes of those financing them. This should ensure that investors of all levels of resources have an equal opportunity to buy into any NFT Studios film. In short, the system might help avoid hysterical clamouring for one opportunity over another.
So can this really revolutionise film financing? Clearly there is potential. And if we look at the numbers the need is obvious. COVID-19 decimated creative industries. None more so than independent cinema. 2019 saw this sector bring in 11.4% of the global box office. However, this nosedived in 2020. After all, theatres were largely closed and many releases delayed as a result.
Now, consider the view of an investor. What makes more sense, to try and get in at the bottom of a low level production that may be subject to ongoing delays? Or, spend money on output from major studios prioritised by distribution and exhibition circuits? Now, consider how different this would be if financing were easy to understand and open to everyone?
NFTs and Movies
NFT Studios is the latest example of movie non-fungible activity we have reported on recently. Other instances include the official Star Wars series. This forms part of the wider Disney Golden Moments collection. We also had ‘The Rise‘, a new film being released in NFT form, made by George C. Romero. Basically, he’s the son of legendary horror master George A. Romero. Elsewhere, there was the ‘Saw‘ movie drop. Fittingly, that coincided with Halloween. And James Bond’s latest, ‘No Time To Die‘, also went NFT. Of course, this is before we mention ‘Dangerous‘, India’s first NFT movie.
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This article is educational material.
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