Livepeer Community Spotlight: Videographer Ben (Authority_Null)
In this edition of Livepeer Community Spotlight, we feature long-time member and orchestrator Ben (Authority_Null), who used his considerable talents as a videographer and video editor to create a stylish three-minute commercial that will debut at NFT LA (March 28–31).
Ben, who was born in Manchester, England, and raised in the United States, received funding for the video through the Livepeer Grants Program.
Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself, Ben.
A: My background is in videography and editing. It was a career that happened kind of by accident. I went to school for a bit and didn’t really know what I wanted to do so I ended up moving to LA for three years. And that’s where videography and editing became my life. I saw this need in all the places I was working. I did a lot of odd jobs in LA, and everybody needed someone who could produce content. And since it’s something I’ve always had an interest in and aptitude for, it just kind of happened. It was very, very natural.
Q: When and how did your crypto journey begin?
A: I was first introduced to crypto very late 2017, early 2018. I was living in LA at the time. And I found it fascinating. I didn’t fully understand what I was looking at — I’m not a super technical person. But I saw where this was going and I thought, “Oh man, I need to at least invest a bit of money into this because this is game-changing stuff.”
Q: And how did you discover Livepeer?
A: I was part of that Merkle mine drop in 2018 when a whole bunch of tokens were distributed among (ETH holders). A couple of Livepeer tokens showed up in my wallet. Every now and then I would check in on them and the price just kept going up. So I was thinking, “There must be something to this platform because the price is just steadily rising.”
I started researching it and I fell in love with the project. I found out you could run a node server and actually contribute to the network. It all went over my head at first, but the community is so good. There are videos on YouTube created by community member Titan Node who teaches you how to do everything. Then I hopped into Discord, and everyone was just so helpful. It’s been awesome. It’s one of the best crypto communities I’ve ever been part of.
Q: Did the fact that Livepeer caters to creatives strike a chord with you?
A: Livepeer is actually a really interesting mix because it is also a very technical platform. It’s infrastructure, so it’s really more of an engineer’s game. But because it is still part of the video package, I understood the platform from the level of what it was actually doing, from a front-end perspective. It’s this crazy balance of creatives and engineers. And it’s just been awesome.
Q: Tell us about the genesis of the commercial.
A: It all just fell into place. I really wanted to contribute in some way. I saw all these other community members and how they were contributing, whether they were using their engineering backgrounds to improve the network on a fundamental level or, like Titan Node, creating content. I wanted to fit in there somehow. And the timing was just perfect because while I was trying to figure out how I could apply what I know, Livepeer at the exact same time was putting together a marketing team.
I just stayed active in the Discord, since I really wanted to find a way to add some value. The marketing team joined a couple of the weekly water cooler chats, and I started talking to them about what we could do together. And we ran through some concepts and came up with this commercial. It didn’t take too much time to get it going. It’s been an awesome experience — a professional collaboration in a decentralized community, where you’re not just engaging with your community, you’re doing business with them. It’s a very different way of working and it’s been a blast.
Q: Very web3.
A: Exactly. This is what it’s all about. It has been so cool to see it actually happening.
Q: Can you talk us through the production process and what happens next?
A: There was a lot to it in terms of finding all the right footage, getting everything edited, and going through a bunch of revisions. Right now, I’m working with a music producer to put some finishing touches on the sound design. That’s the last step. I’m also waiting on some licensing because there’s some footage in there that needs to be licensed. Just from a logistical standpoint, there was a lot that went into this. When you’re building out a video that isn’t necessarily shot by you, and you’re using a lot of footage that’s preexisting, there’s a lot that goes into making sure you can actually use that footage.
Q: Where will we be able to see the video?
A: It is specifically designed as a creative piece for NFT LA. So that’s the primary focus, but I’m sure it will be posted on Livepeer’s social media platforms as well.
Q: Can you talk us through your creative process? Was there a single point of inspiration? Something that really got your creative juices flowing?
A: That’s a great question. I had a first call with (Livepeer Head of Marketing) Meredith (Tretiak). And after that, we just bounced ideas off each other in Discord. And this one concept really stuck with me: the idea of showing this crazy period of innovation over the last 70 years in technology and media at a really fast pace — with a bit of comedy and just really engaging and fast.
We had a month. That may sound like a lot of time but because there’s all this background work that has to go into it — like finding the stock footage — you really have to pick one concept and go with it. There isn’t really time to explore multiple concepts. So we went with that one and I started forming it and editing it. The first draft was approved. And we just built on it from there.
Q: Can you share the story the video sets out to tell?
A: It starts with one of the first videos ever created. It was a man on a horse. The man who created it took a bunch of pictures and stuck them together and you have this five-second clip of a guy on a running horse. That’s how it starts. It goes from that to a lot of futurists from history talking about what the future is going to look like. And there are some clips of the original computers showing how crazy it was to even use a computer back in the 50s. Back when it was all punch cards — when you had to feed a physical card into the computer.
It basically just takes you through this crazy journey we’ve been on in technology and how far we’ve come. It just blows my mind how simple we have it now. That’s where the whole journey of the video leads to — that simplicity. Then the Internet we have now and where we’re going, which is web3 and the massive revolution that we’re in the early stages of right now.
Q: That’s a fascinating approach. So are you planning similar projects in future?
A: I hope to collaborate on more projects. I’m really interested in the documentary side of things, so I’m hoping that one day Livepeer will want to share their story and the story of the founders. I would love to be part of something like that.
Q: Thank you for sharing the story of the video’s genesis. Is there anything else you’d like the Livepeer community to know about you and about this project?
A: I think one thing I’d like to say is that this should be an example of how well collaborating with your community on a professional level can work and how working with people who really love and are passionate about your platform can generate some awesome ideas. I just hope other platforms will incorporate this kind of model as well.
