Do Movies Dream of NFTs?
How TOXICA, the first full-length feature film on any blockchain changed film distribution in 2022!
Disclaimer: This article is a short version of pioneering an innovative idea. The full journey of making our movie and its unique release will be published as a non-fiction biography.
Filmmakers should not be limited to showing audiences what’s possible,
but to make them believe that something “impossible” happens right now. And you are around while it happens…!
THE AFTERMATH OF MAKING A MOVIE
“Shall we just get drunk?” Carlos pushes aside the paperwork I had been staring at for the last couple of hours. For weeks we had dissected offers from film distributors for our feature film TOXICA, none of which managed to disguise the fact that it felt like pulling your own teeth.
While phrased like this it surely sounds dramatic, and fair enough. Yet, when you were married to your movie for a little over two years, twenty-four-seven, sacrificing Christmas with your newly born niece, you want the best exposure possible to your innovative product. Preferably without signing over your property for a dime and bending the knee to the industry, mumbling gratitude between gritted teeth.
Just like myself, Carlos, producer, post-production wizard and love of my life is not much of a drink either. But reminiscing on the rather unbalanced deals for my directorial feature film debut — my ‘baby’, birthed from tears, blood and the occasional mental breakdown — I knew that resetting reality was the only way forward.
Back in the olden days of moviemaking, when one still shot on film, edited with scissors, and collected leftover furniture for free set design, the real challenge was to MAKE the movie. In times of big Hollywood studio productions, creative minds with the right amount of madness such as Robert Rodriguez, Peter Jackson, or Sam Raimi simply grabbed their dad’s cheap camcorder to shoot on abandoned locations with handmade props and effects for free or for a favour. Most of these flicks — cult films in today’s terms — were reverse-engineered, meaning you write down resources you have at hand or can create yourself, and weave the plot around them. The outcome might not be the movie wanted to break into the industry, but it’s a good start to cut your teeth on what will hopefully become a feature film with a semi-consistent plot. And that’s how we did it, too, with our first two features, “Clay’s Redemption” and “TOXICA”, shot back to back from 2019 until late 2021.
It is also a great way to start gathering a hive of madly talented peers with a hunger for world creation and bold experiments. Your film family are your compañeros along the way, and the ones you celebrate with once the glorious last scene is ‘in the can’. And when you have made it through an entire film shoot with merely a few scratches, the camera still intact, and all your actors still alive and mostly well, then congratulations and welcome to the world of independent filmmaking. Now it’s time to take a few days off to rejuvenate. Oh silly, just kidding. Now the hard work begins.
Back in these early days of filmmaking, once a director held a finished feature of 80 plus minutes — if they were lucky — in hands, edited, scored and with a plot that made largely sense, when the wounds were patched up, the distribution used to be a walk in the park.
Of course, the difference then was that there was no overflow of movies like there is today. Studios were always looking for anything with a plot to make money. It was a solid path for ‘classic’ filmmakers to march into Hollywood. Badass self-made pioneers such as Sam Raimi with his “The Evil Dead” (1981), Peter Jackson with “Bad Taste” (1987), and Robert Rodriguez with “El Mariachi” (1992) were a huge inspiration for our team to craft a feature film after our own heart. We wanted to call the shots ourselves without the influence of executive voices. In the UK you are most likely to get your concept funded once you deliver a low-key, low-risk storyline, preferably two people in one single location. Ghosts and mental illness are preferred, and everything that ceases from expensive special effects. Since I had already penned three high-concept MMA stunt fights and various driving scenes with the vintage motorbike (a gorgeous Ducati Monster 1982), with several locations and ten actors in mind, we knew that it would be difficult to get financial support. It was simply ‘too high a concept’. I also intended to shoot in two countries, the jungles and rivers of Borneo, Indonesia, as well as London in the UK. After I pitched my plan to the BFI, a monster project like “TOXICA” was not really what they had in mind for secure sponsorship.
Determined to make my action-adventure movie with elements of Lovecraftian body horror, a mix of Indiana Jones and Bodysnatchers with mystical artefacts, and even subtle elements of the Gothic, “TOXICA” was more of a substitute for the movie I wanted to make after the release of our first feature film, “Clay’s Redemption”. I had fought for several years to get a horror western made, a Se7en-esque creature feature I wrote with Johnny Depp in mind. After the release of our feature “Clay’s Redemption”, which, too, is of high ambition, it felt wrong to downgrade now.
Our team, Carlos, Ivo and I, had already sharpened our senses with some so-called 48-HR-challenges for SciFi London. In these annual competitions, you sign up to craft a sci-fi short film of five minutes in two days and nights, writing, shooting, post-production, special effects and all. You are provided by the organisation with a title, a prop and a line of dialogue, and sent on your way. Even though my first one, dystopia vs cyberpunk short “Yesterday Today Tomorrow”, resulted in a short blackout on my behalf, it turned out to be an ideal boot camp for testing your boundaries and toughening up for future endeavours. Three days of rest, you’ll be fine, ready to rock a dress for the screening up in big ol’ London. What such challenges do not prepare you for is the prospect of filming a feature-length movie without a studio budget.
When I pre-produced “TOXICA” I applied twice for funding and even spoke to a prominent British funding institution directly about the uniqueness of the project. Yet the prospect of getting financial support was nil. We would have to mortgage something. Fellow filmmakers had done so in the past, but since we didn’t own a house, I decided the only logical thing: I called my mom.
The same year my guardian, Grandpa Cal, had passed away, solemnly nodding off on the couch with a glass of whiskey on his chest, only 3 days before his 97th birthday. He went on his terms, just as he lived his life by. I am still heartbroken today that he won’t be physically able to attend screenings of “TOXICA”, but I know he can see it and I hope that he is proud. It was my mom who suggested to cash in the small inheritance he had left me and start making my movie.
With this small amount, Carlos and I sat down to plan the more difficult scenes such as fights, practical body transformation effects, and driving shots. It was already September. If those worked out, we would go on to shoot the drama scenes in the new year.
The weeks until our first block of shooting I spent weathering and retailoring the 1950s vintage costumes from my Harry Potter fan short “Minerva”, making them prone to the modern body shape and height of our actor Andrew Forbes (“Dr Who”, Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Bronson”). I hunted down costumes on backyard market sales and auctioned ‘Augusta’s’ retro motorbike helmet on eBay. Carlos and I crafted the props such as non-deadly ‘iron bars’ and ‘cosmic blossoms’ on our patio, followed by naps in the hammock while the paint dried in the sun or the fabric bleached and turned eerily translucent. I researched every aspect of infected fingernails and how to retrieve a metal plate from inside a body (as you do), while Carlos chased owners of favourite locations, and figured out the right times for guerrilla shooting days on locations we couldn’t afford. For one particularly versatile location that would stand in for four places in the movie, Carlos and I time banked. Meaning we would work for the number of hours we needed the location for beforehand. Bartending, collecting empty paper cups, security jobs. This Wonderland of an industrial building was worth it! Then I trained everyone to pack up and run within twenty seconds should we face legal boundaries (this is how you get some pretty powerful shots, the mixture of constant panic behind the scenes gives it a unique sense of tension).
The practical effects were patches of rubber skin which were leftovers from other movie sets such as “Alien Covenant” our HOD had worked on prior to “TOXICA”. Everything else you see on screen, including the gore-geous blood, was homemade (two days to clean that kitchen was planned for rare days off).
We began shooting in September of that year. We shot almost every scene in what I came to call Plan-B-Mode. I approach every set with a plan B, C. or even D. So when it came to my feature film I had an array of solutions for almost every issue we might possibly face. The unpredictability of everyday life, London’s unreliable underground system, and the fickle autumn weather decided to throw curveballs at us, sometimes even all at once. On other occasions, bad luck joined in: our lead actress accidentally locked herself out of her flat which ended in an Odyssey worthy of a script itself, and then she had laptop issues with a last-minute web audition. Both times we lost precious time for fight choreography that would need up to three days of shooting if you worked with a studio. We had 9.5 hours for the most complex one. Luckily our stunt choreographer Ian and I had decided to design most fights for so-called long shots, requiring minimal new setups and less cutting of the footage in the edit. That way we shot the grandiose 5-on-1 fight scene in only six hours. In the end, this technique makes the fights look more dynamic and (at least in my humble opinion) more exciting.
Plans stabilise the perception of your world.
A few days before Christmas, we had not only managed to shoot every scene as planned thanks to constantly crossed fingers and an immense amount of preparation, but also almost all the drama scenes with our lead actress. Exhausted, we wished each other Merry Christmas intending to rejuvenate before tackling the drama scenes in January. Then our lead broke the news that changed our well laid out plans fundamentally once more: She would spend the next couple of months in L.A. for pilot season (auditions for future studio tv-series and movies usually happen at the beginning of the year). When she asked if there was anything else we needed her for, I thought of the complex main scene we spent weeks writing. With her flights already booked and auditions all set up, there was no point telling her. So I shook my head and wished her a safe journey and good luck. I then called my co-writer Lorenzo to break the news to him, and we spent our respective Christmas holidays rewriting.
Carlos had edited the filmed footage together to see how far we had come. Counting our financials it didn’t look rosy. Too many things gone wrong had led to repeated expensive transport of cast and crew inside and out of London in cabs to save time, and consumed a large junk of the budget meant for shooting block two. I decided once again to apply for funding.
We showed the most impressive scenes, so-called ‘money shots’, to said prominent British “funding” institution as well as some long-time acquainted businessmen, explaining that the heavy lifting was already done and that we needed only a small amount of funding to finish telling the story in terms of drama. With a little bit of investment, including a return for the investors plus an executive producer credit, we would be able to walk through the wardrobe and end up in more magical locations which would further elevate the value of the film.
For reasons that will forever remain obscure to me we were told that the scenes we had ‘in the can’ were ‘impossible to shoot’ … We were baffled, to put it mildly. What more proof was necessary that I was able to juggle several jobs at once and direct a movie that projected high value on the screen? One potential investor assumed “TOXICA” was a ‘proof of concept’ and that we had used footage from other movies to show off our aspirations. All we could do was scratch our heads over the half-finished movie and brainstorm how to finish telling our story. Then I received a letter from the life insurance company I had invested in since I left home in my teenage years. Opening the letter the solution to our problem was right there. The pinch of pixie dust we were desperate to find. I cashed in whatever was on the account sans a rather big fee for the insurance company, and we finally planned the next shooting block.
The drama shoot went largely without further mad disturbances, just a little thunderstorm which annihilated trains a few times, and the usual bad luck of extras dropping out last minute without feeling the necessity to inform us. But thanks to our plans B, C and D, and various on-set script changes, all went rather well. Carlos had also developed a delicious recipe for healthy nutrition on set: veggie burritos. Homemade with care and love. On one of the final days of shooting my DOP, Jon suggested spending more time on one particularly complex scene. My stomach churned. Something didn’t feel right. Without knowing why, I insisted on pushing principal photography, going against the wishes of my teammates. An odd feeling, but I knew that I could not ignore it …
Two days after our last official shooting day, the UK went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It had happened in our blind spot while we were juggling day jobs.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FILM INDUSTRY WHILE WATCHING LIVE
Carlos and I spent the multiple lockdowns finishing “TOXICA”. Our small remote post-production crew involved sound designer Dom, Carlos on colour grading, VFX (visual effects) to enhance the practicals, and our composer at the time who was a lovely guy from down South working in video games. After many months of working on the score with him, I remained unhappy with the result. Something just felt a little flat, removed from the neon-gothic atmosphere I had conjured. With a heavy heart, I searched for a more suitable musician — only to find him when he dangled between jobs. We had followed each other for quite a while on social media. Being originally from Israel, a world of multi-faceted musical wonders, intertwining into multiple layers, his impressive musical samples proved that he was the right man for the job. “TOXICA” needed a meticulous score and detailed sound design, tailored to the visuals by the second. I will get into this mad ride in my making-of book where you will witness post-production magic at a high level. Carlos introduced sound designer Dom and composer Nir so that they could sail down “TOXICA”’s audible rabbit hole together. Merging all post-production departments is not a usual technique, but it proves to be rather beneficial, especially when it comes to a movie with so many hidden elements and layers such as “TOXICA”.
While we worked on the final touch-ups, Carlos’ friend and company partner Ivo teamed up with me for some heavy lifting. We reached out to sales agents who would then get in touch with distribution companies, who would then talk to the CEOs of streaming platforms … an endless spiral of video calls and emails, most of them remaining ignored. Meanwhile, the pandemic raged on, so our cinematographer Jon ventured through a post-apocalyptic-looking London to capture gloomy shots with his drone of the mesmerising skyline. Haze, opaque moons during daytime, and dark waters that might hide more than murky grounds, the goal was to enhance the overall scary-tale look of London’s mystical impressions of Gotham City, emphasizing the ‘goth’ aspect.
A film director’s journey never ends with the final cut. It is more of a coming to terms with the outcome of your efforts. A film is made four times: writing, filming, editing, and scoring. And frankly, “TOXICA” turned out to be quite different from what I’d had in mind. But it was still close enough to my overall idea. As much as the final cut exhausted me back then, today I see the outcome with different eyes. While it still bluntly showcases improvements in my directing style, I became blissfully aware that our small team had indeed surpassed expectations given time and budgetary limitations. And even further, we had reached our main goal: Proof that I could make a full-length feature film while leading a creative team toward a visually stunning final creation. “TOXICA” is dear to me since it gave me the chance to craft opportunities for my talented friends. “TOXICA” crafted opportunities for us all and for that I am always grateful.
Meanwhile, Ivo and I followed the next logical step:
since studios were largely unable to finish their hot productions in such unexpectedly unstable times of the pandemic, they certainly raved about movies already being completed. Flicks with a solid plot and some unique approaches to storytelling. In our heads as creators and businesspeople, this was undoubtedly a no-brainer. Well, the studios weren’t quite on the same page.
Oddly enough no one seemed to know how to market a movie like “TOXICA”. These days its action-adventure plot didn’t follow the painting-by-numbers formula of modern Hollywood. Instead of a crowdpleaser, we had written a love letter to the horror flicks of the 1990s, something audiences still love to watch as a form of escapism. Frankly, the one job movies are supposed to do. But the fun and widely unpredictable genre was also largely unknown to young audiences. They simply didn’t know what to do with a bold Indiana Jones and a cocky Lara Croft anymore, especially when they explored horror elements.
Most of the CEOs also found an issue that their studio wasn’t involved in our production process. Some demanded the final say over the cut, an offer I declined. “TOXICA”’s plot was written and directed by me and made entirely by our crew, unwavering in the fiery eye of independent filmmaking. The rights would of course remain with us — unless a few more zeros were added to the offer and they would let me have my own Director’s Cut. I am always one for negotiation. But I also always aim for a win-win situation.
On darker days the thought welled up that maybe I should have taken one of those offers. “Maybe I should have let them have their final cut” would run circles in my head. “We would have at least an international release on streaming…”
Mostly such gloomy thoughts were then diminished by walking down memory lane of the release of our first movie, “Clay’s Redemption”. The little doubt left in me was then entirely erased by an occurrence shortly after. Today I realise that we had dodged a bullet.
THE OLD WAYS — THE RELEASE OF “CLAY”
In the late summer of 2019 Carlos, Ivo and I released what was our first feature film. “Clay’s Redemption”, a sci-fi thriller with Akie Kotabe, a one-of-a-kind actor and dear friend who had appeared in “Hobbs & Shaw”, “Man in the High Castle”, co-lead “Everly” with Salma Hayek, graced “Falcon & Winter Soldier” and Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” to name only a few (and who is also a tremendous cook). It was Akie’s first role as a lead. Being reverse engineered just like “TOXICA” later on. Carlos’ directorial feature film debut was highly ambitious with a bold story and a huge number of locations and characters. I was in charge of creative production as in costume design, partial set design and the occasional prop crafting. I also made my first gallon of blood, something I have since improved on making it more authentic and much easier to clean off.
Back in 2020 “Clay” was distributed the traditional way via sales agents. Observing the process eagerly, we handed our beloved “firstborn” over for pennies, and when it finally hit a wild number of streaming platforms (Apple, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and many more), we found that it had simply disappeared after being on display for a day or two. Too many other movies with Hollywood attachments or a budget for marketing (2–3 Million dollars at the time, a sum we were slightly short of) are released every single day. The market is a gigantic hungry Kraken with a love for fast food.
It’s a cobblestone path you walk blindfolded in high heels paved with broken promises. I know: the drama, you might think. But it also sharpens your senses as a storyteller like no other profession. Now go create.
Needless to say that with traditional distribution retrieving our budget remained written in the stars. A slightly disheartening endeavour for sure, but still an experience we had to make and learn from. After more than thirteen years in the film industry, we still forged our paths through the movie jungle, machetes sharpened and ready. Mostly it was great fun. What counted for us was that we could tell our own stories and work with our talented BFFs.
The boys, Carlos and Ivo, had started with the occasional music video, worked in video games, and crafted remarkable sci-fi short films, including a proof of concept called “Welcome to Cobalt Life” which is also mineable as an NFT (I leave the links below). I met them after the release of their Star Wars fan film “Jedi’s Code”, sponsored by Lucasfilm, which is probably the biggest honour to the original trilogy to date.
I for my part come from a background as a music video director for gothic rock, heavy metal and EBM and as a writer for video games, venturing into wildlife documentary filmmaking, mostly as a diver in Egypt and Tunisia, before making my second short film with the boys. My first one had been a highly ambitious scary tale called “Hunting Snow White”, a grisly Snow White and Bluebeard horror based on my second novel. The second one was directed by Carlos, produced by Ivo and written by me. “Story of Frank”, our multi-award-winning coming-of-age horror, sits currently on Amazon Prime.
From here my life took a fundamental turn. I was now marching the paths of fictional storytelling, this time off the page and projecting them onto the screen. I fully transitioned from an award-winning author to primarily filmmaker and occasional horror author.
After observing the journey of our peers’ feature film distributions and “Clay”’s traditional release, we returned to browsing contracts and offers for “TOXICA”. I had spent several months gathering and creating the so-called deliverables necessary to sell a movie. An endless list of time-consuming paperwork and technical demands.
While our post-production team finished the final touches on “TOXICA”, Ivo once again spoke to the sales agents. They were truly excited about “TOXICA”’s premise and loved the visuals and characters we had created. We examined contracts with our lawyers and unearthed the past of distribution companies and their reputations. None of the offers however was lucrative, given the effort, time and financial input we had already committed. The movie was soon valued at over 100 times its actual budget, which resulted in a little happy dance because it showed that our hard work and love for the craft had exceeded its limitations.
You see, Carlos is one of these people who have it all, the talent, the passion, the love for film and the finely tuned reception for an opportunity. When we released his directorial feature film debut “Clay’s Redemption”, we were certain that we had finally ‘made it’. That we could make the movies we wanted to for such a long time. “Clay” had followed up on our multi-award-winning short “Story Of Frank”, and the boys’ rock-solid proof of concept “Welcome to Cobalt Life”. We also crafted two well-made fan films, the aforementioned Star Wars fan short “Jedi’s Code” and my Harry Potter short film “Minerva”. And yet, the waters had remained calm. Somehow we had failed to make waves.
One evening, my heart was heavy but I was defeated. I was ready to sign with a particular and rather well-mannered distributor when Carlos made the offer that changed our entire journey. “Shall we just get drunk? You can still sign it tomorrow…” I dropped the pen as if it was on fire. And drink we did. And dance. And forget about the poor deals. A piece of gentle advice at this point for our fellow indie filmmakers: if your contract asks for a fax number, it’s probably ancient. Walk away.
THE NEW WAYS — TOXICA’S BECOMES THE FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH MOVIE NFT
Most filmmakers and sane people think NFTs are scary, but we think it's the way to go from a financial return and audience exposure perspective. It was on that evening that we met the right person at the right time and our path — and perspective — would change entirely.
Carlos’ old band pal, George, celebrated his birthday down at the seaside, and we were invited. The guys had recently rekindled their old bonds, and once George was done fluttering amongst his party guests like a butterfly, we finally caught up. He told us tales of the mystic realm of crypto and NFTs and introduced us to a small but rebellious and forward-thinking community called Cardano. It was like reading Tolkien for the first time. Like a spell. We didn’t understand a word. There be Proxies, Cosmic Cuties and — Crex the Mage? Well, sign me up! George, who had himself worked in this community for a while, granted us a peek into a new world that seemed more than a little odd to us.
Needless to say, we only understood “it’s like collecting and trading Magic cards back in the days, ‘member?”. And that was good enough for us. After all, we liked Magic and token collectables fondly remembered from our teenage years. It was Carlos who recognised the opportunity to try something new. We argued that we had quite frankly nothing to lose, and the prospect of not only bypassing the binge mentality on overcrowded streaming services but also of building a tribe sure was appealing. Most importantly this approach might offer long-term visibility for our “TOXICA”.
Once sober, we had to ask ourselves:
- what did we want from our feature film?
- what was the overall goal for us having made two movies back to back?
- what made us want to craft a full feature in the first place?
The answers were simple yet ambitious. We wanted “TOXICA” to be our second business card as filmmakers doubling down on our achievements with “Clay”. We wanted “TOXICA” to showcase that not only were we able to make one high-quality film without a studio budget but also that we were creative enough to make another one, this time with an even higher concept. I for my part as a director wanted to show off the quality work of my talented cast and crew and of course myself. I wanted to prove, once and for all, that I was able to shoot drama and bring hard-boiled action to the screen. That I wouldn’t shy away from handling practical effects and even body transformation horror. I also wanted to introduce the world to a female lead who had almost gone extinct in the past few years. A woman who embraces her vulnerability grows her strength by trying harder than anyone else. One who isn’t afraid to ask for help. A sister in spirit to Ellen Ripley, Buffy Summers, Morticia Addams, and Tarantino’s The Bride. One that was able to balance strength and empathy.
But there is one specific character ‘Augusta’ who is heavily inspired by, one of my favourite meta-humans in comic book history: the burlesque, sexy and dangerous Poison Ivy of DC Comics.
So how would we get the attention we needed to get our next movie projects made? How to emphasise our craft and passion for boosting original movies again? The answer was to make sure “TOXICA” remained visible. And for that, we had to lay all distribution deals aside. At least for now.
The rabbit hole called crypto with its bundle of blockchains and communities is multi-faceted, diverse — and endless. I will keep it short so you can buy my making-of book later to learn more about our Cardano journey in depth. At first, it was utterly overwhelming for us. We followed George’s advice religiously, and once we told him what we wanted “TOXICA” to do for us, he introduced us to a team of blockchain wizards. Before we met said wizards, George repeatedly came to our place to teach us the ways of Cardano and blockchains, and to make sure we understood at least five per cent to keep us going without setting anything on fire. This world couldn’t be more opposed to the film industry.
The wizards, Terry and Nathan of RetroNFTs, are blockchain developers who specialise in building relationships with emerging artists and help them expose their talent to a global network by using the Cardano blockchain to create collectable NFTs. Those two merge technology and retro style, hand-select artists from around the world, and ensure each collection is as unique as the individual that created it. Exactly what we needed to get started without having the slightest idea how. We only told them: “can you make our movie into an NFT? You know, no more tickets. Just mint — make popcorn — press play. All in high res?”. “Sure”, they said, exchanging nervous looks.
Fast forward three months and our team of filmmakers and blockchain developers worked at super speed. Since each of us has unique talent (s)he specialises in, we decided to spread out as much as possible to make sure “TOXICA” would find its tribe.
When we had pitched team RetroNFTs our goal: releasing our movie as a ‘DVD in your ‘wallet’, not once did they tell us how mad this idea was, nor that it was considered ‘impossible’, repeating the self-defeating mantra of the film industry. At the time Cardano’s first film project, a short documentary, was released as an FG (fungible token) which means that the buyer needs to access the short film via a so-called ‘ticket’ aka links and by minting NFTs.
The partial development of new blockchain technology by using already existing parts of Cardano’s system was entirely RetroNFT’s focus.
A few weeks later a precious being called Soup’nSando joined our team, a marketing magician who would support us in our endeavour to connect with the community. Gladly Carlos, Ivo and I are natural geeks, rather introverted, and widely uncomfortable with banging chests as is usual in the film industry. Adapting to the loving community of cheerleaders on Cardano was like ceasing to act and just being our Selves again.
While Carlos and the RetroNFTs conjured technological spells, Ivo made sure that we had a marketing plan. Soup’nSando worked with me on how to represent our company SERENITY Pictures, and how to shill “TOXICA” to our new tribe. He introduced me to the idea of Spaces and showed me which hosts to keep an eye on as I was graced with a most important job: marketing “TOXICA”.
But before then I had to learn about blockchain, ADA, Fiat and Cardano. So for the first month, I merely listened in Spaces and managed to understand almost five per cent of it all. I was acquainted with mad talent and refreshingly original characters. I watched several YouTube videos, and finally gave my first interview and shilled in my first Space
Today I host my own Space, every Thursday at 7 pm UK time. In “Pumpkin’s Midnight Movies” we talk about a film topic at a time, from villains and mentors to vampires, pirates, and aliens. We don’t shill, we just connect over genres and movie monsters and we emphasise a special guest matching the topic.
Getting into Cardano suddenly sustainable creative life was abundant. Our cheerleaders didn’t expect anything in return but supported us out of love for the team and excitement for the project. It is indeed priceless. In one Space with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Snoop Dogg, Snoop asked for movies on Cardano. Mere seconds later our DMs exploded, saying “anyone else shouting at the screen ‘SERENITY’???’. Our Twitter went nuts with messages and comments to Charles and Snoop, tagging the holy banana out of them. Sadly it didn’t get Snoop to check out “TOXICA”.
A few weeks later word spread out to Charles once again, this time through one of our truest peers, Cosmic Cuties. He acknowledged it briefly, then went on with his love for Lovecraftian lore. We are certain that one day he will check us out to celebrate our immense technical evolution on his blockchain with us.
One aspect I spent a significant amount of time on was finding out about other filmmaking peers on blockchains. Soon we heard about a project that was indeed the first film on Cardano, so I eagerly checked it out. How did they release their movie and what was their experience with the NFT community crossing into the film industry? Was it a war of the worlds? And why hadn’t we heard from them?
It was rather easy to research the team, but the project was so very different from what we did with “TOXICA”. We had found a short film project that could be minted via ‘ticket’. I discovered other movie projects on Ethereum and other blockchains, but it seemed that their technology was not evolved in a way that full-length feature films could be released as NFTs, especially not in high resolution. The only option to release a movie in 4K was to release it episodically. Ten minutes at a time seemed to be the only possibility.
We made friends with an Ethereum streaming service called Midnight Movie Club helmed by Hollywood actor and a favourite of mine since my teenage years, Matthew Lilliard (“Scream”, “Scooby Doo”, the “13 Ghosts” remake, …), who adored our project and loved the way we had opened the gate for more filmmakers. At the time team, Lilliard had themselves built a portal for decentralised streaming, a noble idea we love and support. He offered to screen “TOXICA” a few times on his MMC streaming service. Needless to say, we are beyond humbled.
SO … WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE FILMMAKER?
There is one specific question which comes up first and foremost, the most essential one for every storyteller: Do I get to keep my IP?
Let’s take a sober look at the “film as NFT model” and consider the pros and cons from the POV of an independent filmmaker.
On the surface, you are entering a niche market with a built-in audience. They are curious and inventive cyberpunks, experimenting in an ecosystem playground that evolved as a resultant off-shoot of blockchain technology. The more ‘indie’ your movie is, the more you speak their language.
Then you are essentially turning your film into a currency: a digital stock valued for its artistic content. NFTs are a type of engine for, among other things, turning an artistic product into value. As such, your film will be sold at its initial “mint price”, and then gain or lose in value as the market dictates. Regardless of which, the “smart contract” you build in means that every time you sell you receive a percentage. Are you beginning to see the possibilities yet? “Smart contracts” mean that in contrast to financial products and film distribution, there is no need for brokers and distributors or exhibitors. All royalties go directly to you. As NFT creators will tell you, this market can be very lucrative when respected and understood right.
When launching your film NFT collection, you set out your virtual stall, on Discord or other blockchains. You plant your flag in the ground, and the audience comes to you directly. Think about what this means: you are opening this virtual cinema with your film playing, introduced onto the stage by you. In short, this is a direct dialogue with your audience!
First, you need to know what you’re doing.
Meeting your audience and letting them know about your collection or your film requires interacting with the community daily, no more, no less. A massive marketing effort will chase them to run for cover, but an open and genuine attitude and a willingness to mix will work well for you, in addition to a reasonably built online presence of course. You also need someone on your team who is technically proficient. This means recruiting a coder who is familiar with the blockchain, smart contracts, and building portals, and will help you release your movie and soothe your mind in this labyrinth. It is all part of the same process, because if you ruck up on the virtual spaces with an interesting and valuable proposition, its citizens will point you in the right direction, and most likely some will recommend whom to work with. The community, especially on Cardano, is utterly helpful and resourceful. Art and innovation rule. Here it is useful for you to remember the crypto mantra:
DYOR. ‘Do Your Own Research’.
Anyone worth working with will have a good reputation, and a bit of research and talking to folk will make this evident.
NFTs are a kind of public art, and the NFT film holder may want to show it off, to others, online. Do Not Panic.
You are in the crypto space now, this is a feature, not a bug. Showing off your film will attract other NFT hunters, and works to grow your audience. This audience sees your film not just as two hours of entertainment, but also as a way to grow their portfolio and bring value to the blockchain. This requires a counterintuitive approach from the filmmaker. Your film is out there in a way you can scarcely control. If you pause to think about that, it is a slightly different version of handing your film to a distributor, only here you program the “smart contract”, which does not depend on their honesty to be fulfilled! On your side, you have the most powerful marketing engine ever invented: word of mouth.
At this point, you sent your movie out there into the meta jungle to be minted. You made a huge step. You followed the path you forged as a new form of film distribution. This time without the time-consuming headache-inducing paperwork dreadfully called “deliverables”, the endless list of requirements such as subtitles, translations in different languages which are supposed to ease your sailing route in certain countries, and so on and so on …
Another positive aspect is that you, the filmmaker, will be able to decide upon a minting price, the precise number of mints — or will it be an open mint? — and the time of minting. It is a freedom that will prove itself quite precious. You’ll see.
And finally, there is the most wonderful reward once you made your decision to be an NFT filmmaker. You can interact and get to know your audience on a personal level. Never will you get better insight into the minds of your fans, and rarely will you be able to enjoy your success of making and releasing your movie more than with your audience right beside you. It certainly is one of our favourite perks. Enjoying their company, their excitement and their love for movies in my Space, “Pumpkin’s Midnight Movies” every Thursday at 7 pm UK time, is pure bliss. You might also be surprised by what wonders are created on Cardano once you get to know your peers. Most things people “out there” are missing are crafted right here, on Cardano.
Having objections?
“But NFTs make no sense.”
Neither does art. Why combine canvas and paint, when you can see the original thing with your own built-in eyes? Neither for that matter does modern art to people who are not into modern art think conventionally. But there is a very interested and hungry audience who does not. They understand modern art and are very willing and able to monetise this understanding. If you then take the trouble to understand them also, the sky’s the limit.
“But I want my film on the big screen.”
Watching films on the big screen and as NFTs are two vastly different experiences, and are very likely to co-exist side by side. By going the NFT route you are embracing an alternative to streaming services, one that already exists next to the big screen, but who are rarely kind to the indie filmmaker. As such, there is no law which says you can’t release your film in cinema as well as via NFT.
Of course, it takes leaps of courage to make the change from our demanding and highly gatekept industry of movie magic to something so utterly new and uncharted as Cardano or crypto in general. But then — you have just tossed yourself amongst the waves of telling a story! You have defeated the jungles of principal photography! You have overpowered the beasts of post-production. You might be strong enough to take on the leviathans of distribution now. But it’s not about strength at this point. Or even willpower.
It is about what you want. What do you want for your movie? What kind of visibility? What kind of audience? Why did you make it in the first place? How can your movie serve you, now that you have created it, in the best possible way?
Sure, our NFT release disrupts the film distribution model as we know it, but it enables the filmmaker to utter creative freedom. And there is a direct dialogue with your audience.
It is not an alternative to theatrical distribution, but to streaming, mind you. And finally: are you ready for a new quest into the unknown?
It’s not that the film industry has a mainly well-known straightforward guideline. So why not just jump and try something new for once?
CONCLUSION — SAYING THE SPELL OUT LOUD
In today’s world, times are truly exciting for us filmmakers, now that elaborate options are abundant in terms of distribution. Was it the pandemic that shook things up and parted the veil to other dimensions where decentralised filmmaking is possible and the filmmaking lifestyle sustainable? Possibly. Surely NFT movie release makes little earthquakes in both the film industry and the crypto world. Building your tribe and connecting cheerleaders over your project surely is a wonderful way to make people aware of unique cultural goods. There are more than just films out there on blockchain. You can find everything people crave in the real world in terms of music, fine art, collectables, and even games. Ad infinitum, as they say.
TOXICA was released on Easter Sunday 2022, and the first impressions were rather overwhelming. We are confident that one day the world will discover the evolution of this blockchain, and then they are more than welcome to join one of our virtual screenings of course. We bring popcorn.
Comparing our first feature adventure “Clay’s Redemption” and its traditional release with our experience with “TOXICA” and its release on Cardano is almost impossible as they stand on the opposite end of the same scale. “TOXICA”’s visibility hasn’t ceased since we started shilling and is much higher since we started our mint. The cheerleading for our team and our movie is the most magical word of mouth we ever experienced. We can now interact with our audience, and these peers are much more than just that. They became a tribe. Some of them are even dear friends.
First and foremost we would like to bring back original stories. Being storytellers ourselves with heart and soul, we love telling new stories and have a huge array of such in our repertoire. We won’t run out of new tales to tell until our dying days. Might that be a sci-fi thriller about obscure organisations, a creature feature horror western a’la “Sleepy Hollow”, or the as of yet untold story of a young, rebellious musician right before the biggest band in history almost didn’t happen?
These days it becomes harder to get such OGs made. Connections within the industry become more and more essential for the ambitious filmmaker. It can be quite frustrating at times when it seems like nothing is happening and your work remains unseen.
Yet, there is no such thing as ‘being stuck’. There is always a way to live your passion in this huge world of ours. So, dear artist, as soon as you see a lucrative opportunity, go grab it. Don’t let go. And never regret it. You won’t have to. Because courage always pays off, one way or another. And in the end, you will be just fine.
LINKS:
Instagram filmmaking daily blog & Linktree TOXICA: https://linktr.ee/serenity_pictures
