Blockchain Takes Over Hollywood
Blockchain has been a hotbed of conversation for a very long time. Experts are still debating about how it will affect traditional and technology-based sectors that are open to innovation to varying degrees. The world of cinema is likely to benefit the most from revolutionary technology. This industry is highly centralized. So, the decentralization of finance, film casting, and distribution of a motion picture can breathe life into the ecosystem. In each case, the blockchain will make the process faster, more efficient, transparent, and democratic. But first thing’s first.
Why Hollywood Needs Blockchain, Explained
When it comes to financial reporting, the movie industry and, in particular, Hollywood are very secretive. Many films are shot with huge budgets and have a large box-office take. But in the end, they are loss-making, or at best, break even. Bad things happen, right? The most popular writers, directors, and actors will receive a percentage of the gross income. The others get a report from the film studio saying “Sorry, but the project didn’t bring any money”.
And there is the question that plays over and over in everyone’s mind: where are final gross box office receipts worth the hundreds of millions of dollars? The answer is simple, really. The money went to fill the pockets of a bunch of intermediaries. These latter ones actually have nothing to do with the film studio. Anyway, you can’t get to the truth!
As a consequence, there is a need for blockchain which would help to ensure that the distribution of the film’s earnings is as transparent as possible. All transactions are visible, and the possibility of fraud is significantly reduced. Certainly, it is quite difficult to get all the transactions of a single movie into the blockchain, but it is possible. The main thing is to put information from an offline environment into a decentralized, distributed ledger.
There is another, and presumably, the main reason for the use of blockchain and tokenization in the film industry. We are talking about decentralization.
Don’t you ever get tired of identical films? Sometimes, the impression is that Hollywood started saving on screenwriters who just rewrite scripts and change the cast. Of course, there are happy exceptions. But billion-dollar box office movies look alike.
Now, you’re probably wondering: where does a box office success come from?
Fair enough. If you think the audience is loving such movies, think again. The thing is, viewers don’t have the right to choose. A small group of men from the world’s production companies decides for billions of people what to watch. All of this leads to the extinction of a quality picture. So, this is where blockchain comes to the rescue again. A game-changing technology allows you to decentralize film-making decisions and financing. The main character in the movie factory will finally become a viewer. He will be able to vote in favor of a new film as well as finance its production. If successful, a person can make a profit.
Now, it’s time to hear from you. Would you like to invest a few hundred dollars in Avatar 2?
Real-Life Examples of Things Described Above
Every day, more and more people are trying to unite the film industry, blockchain, and tokens. Jeremy Culver is one of them. An American film director, screenwriter, and producer, he hopes that blockchain will become a weapon of mass destruction that will turn the world of cinema upside down.
His “No Postage Necessary” is a 2017 rom-com released using revolutionary technology. Viewers can purchase it for the VUE token. Culver explained: “All you have to do is just pay for the token. It’s no more difficult than getting a dollar out of your pocket”.
This scenario proves that the American film industry is ready for integration with the cryptocurrency space. While blockchain is mostly associated with bitcoin, it is capable of so much more. It can be a tool for the decentralization of nearly all kinds of internet services and business models.
Culver adds that he would like to be the first producer to implement blockchain in cinema. He firmly believes that this groundbreaking technology will change the order of how things work in the universe. That’s a rather strong statement, but the revolution is already underway. Everything is changing so rapidly, it’s impossible to say.
It is pretty obvious that blockchain will not transform the entertainment and media market in no time. We still need good PR and promotion. The digital format will not be able to replace the traditional ones, and box offices will survive. People still want them. But for now, technology is on the way to becoming. Culver thinks that eventually it can be used for more equal payment of royalties to all those who work on a project.
And perhaps it can even help cinematographers make their films go viral. This is a plan that Jeremy Culver intends to implement with the movie release on the blockchain. “Cinephiles who watch it will receive tokens as a reward. This is a chance to use the shared, immutable ledger to direct traffic to theaters”, he noted.
A new era of digital transformation is about to start now. Films can be considered as a new asset class that can bring huge profits not only to the production company but also to a wide range of investors. In addition, such a funding model will allow you to shoot movies with a narrow subject instead of blockbusters. Unfortunately, it’s impossible at the moment because important investors have big bellies.
In the film industry, you can often hear about accusations of plagiarism, stealing ideas, or sets. If authors start placing their scripts on the blockchain, the issue of ownership will resolve itself. What is more, screenwriters can partially sell their copyright on the work and receive royalties for the use of their texts for a long time. Some projects have already been moving in this direction. Media Capital Technologies, an entertainment finance company, plans to tokenize films and make them available to investors around the globe.
