NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTs) are creating new ways of generating revenue and building fanbases that are here to stay, according to a panel of experts who spoke at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time conference last week.
“We’ve all watched, probably from the sidelines for most of us, as non-fungible tokens or NFTs have in the last 12 to 18 months or so seemingly come out of the blue to become one of the most talked about newcomers in the crypto space,” said Mike Cosentino (above, top left), president of CosMedia.Inc and the moderator of the Prime Time panel NFTs For Entertainment: How a Smart NFT Strategy Can Drive Buzz and Revenue.
“I guess the reality is this newcomer’s having a love affair with the entertainment sector – ViacomCBS, Fox and other Hollywood players have already announced their plans to integrate their IP with NFT platforms going forward,” he said, arguing there is clearly “an opportunity here to harness NFTs as a way to drive revenue, in the short and long term, and of course, build a critical buzz, especially if you’re producing film and television.”
“We were able to drive up viewership and engagement and we generated quite a bit of money for each of these NFTs that provided recoupment without having to give up anything.” – Gorav Seth, co-chair, film finance at Mogul Productions
NFTs are digital certificates of authenticity, explained panelist Gorav Seth (top right), co-chair, film finance at Mogul Productions.
Mogul Productions is a global NFT marketplace and decentralized financing platform specifically for film and entertainment. It has sold over $10 million worth of NFTs, according to the company’s website.
Seth explained NFTs are not necessarily the asset itself, rather “you buy the digital asset and the NFT comes with it – think of it like a digital certificate of authenticity for whatever you have attached to it.”
NFTs, in other words, prove ownership of a digital asset. The digital asset can be any number of things and can be monetized in different ways.
Mogul Productions, for example, worked with the mockumentary Reboot Camp on NFTs. “The film had already been made and distributed, but they took the deleted scenes and some of the artwork and they turned those into NFTs,” Seth said. “We were able to drive up viewership and engagement and we generated quite a bit of money for each of these NFTs that provided recoupment without having to give up anything.”
Mogul Productions is also working on a project that pays homage to Hollywood and the creation of the Hollywood sign in 1923, Seth said.
The company is working with Erick Tran, an animator who has worked on shows including The Simpsons and King of the Hill, to create “1,923 unique CGI characters that are metaverse-compatible, that are able to interact with multiple different metaverses,” he said, explaining there will be different tributes to famous TV and movie characters that are sold as NFTs that can be used within the metaverse.
Seth said people should be paying attention to NFTs “because it’s an important part of a strategy that can help producers meet various needs whether it be financing, building a fanbase, getting engagement, building a community [or] drawing viewership.”
“… right now, I would say you can either be early to this party or you can stand on the sidelines and wait and watch it grow and surpass you or blow you right by, but the choice is yours.” – David Cormican co-founder of DCTV and Washington Square Entertainment
David Cormican (bottom right), co-founder of Don Carmody Television (DCTV) and Washington Square Entertainment, believes NFTs are particularly beneficial for Canadian producers, who often own the intellectual property (IP) rights that underpin their projects instead of the studios owning that IP as is often the case in the U.S.
Producers who own their IP can go back into their catalogues and release bloopers, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and artwork, among other possibilities, Cormican explained. This becomes “an opportunity to engage even deeper with your fan base,” he said.
“I would also see an opportunity to take existing hits like Schitts Creek or say Letterkenny – these producers would have a chance to go and take, for Schitts Creek the ‘ew David’, which is a meme that has sort of blown up… they could take that and release a collection of those NFTs.”
NFTs may not always be called NFT’s, “but the reality is what NFTs are, are here to stay, and right now, I would say you can either be early to this party or you can stand on the sidelines and wait and watch it grow and surpass you or blow you right by, but the choice is yours,” Cormican argued.
NFTs are also a game changer for actors. “NFTs, I think really give the artist back his or her power to monetarily create growth where before… you did the job and you got paid and that was it. Now you have an opportunity to reuse your likeness… and create something for yourself,” said actor and producer Lyriq Bent (bottom left).
“You can really create not only a fanbase, but you can also generate an income that usually the studio would be generating,” he said.
