The disruptive power of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) presents film and TV industries with alternative innovative revenue sources and quality engagement from their digital audience. This brings big production brands to explore NFT potentials while giving the audience the liberty to decide content parts provided they are NFT holders.
NFT Disrupting Entertainment Industry
The disruptive power of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) started with changing how art creators earn money via their artworks without auction houses. This disruption extends to the entertainment industry and began with the music industry.
Artists can now record their tracks and sell directly without the need for an advanced, rigorous marketing channel. They only need to launch it on an NFT marketplace and expect good returns. However, this disruption does not stop there. The film and TV sections are also investigating how NFTs can present them control over their financing and help them tailor more content to their audience.
A case study is the “Stoner Cats” anime series that sold out after thirty-five minutes of a release in July. This brought a sale record of $8,400,000 by July’s end. Every holder has an exclusive right to see different episodes of preference.
This appears to be the start of NFT disruption in the entertainment industry because interest in leveraging NFTs is on a spike from different film and TV studios. They are investigating how best to maximize the potential of NFTs in making high returns. An instance is a partnership between Enderby Entertainment (a global production company) and CurrencyWorks in creating VUELE.
Vuele is the first blockchain platform that distributes digital movie content as NFTs. These digital content are full-length feature films. This platform uses NFT technology to allow viewing and distribution of those digital content. Users have the exclusive right to buy or sell their NFTs. Likewise, they can collect while watching them.
As part of Vuele’s audience, you have an exclusive right to feature films and other personalized content, including behind-the-scenes content, exclusive question and answer sessions, and other extra features. This platform is a brainchild of increasing demand for movie content in digital format. As such, producers have direct contact with their audience.
And due to the disruptive nature of crypto overlapping with the film and TV industries, NFTs would not only become a great merchandise source. It will reshape the industry in innovative ways. This might include small, independent production firms to secure funds and allow the audience to use NFTs in deciding how to develop the plots and other things.
NFT’s Value Proposition
As with its disrupting power, NFT brings innovative features and rewards to the creative industry. This includes the film, music and photography sectors. It proposes a strong value that equates to alternative sources of income for creative and helping them engage traditional with their digital audience.
Although the NFT industry is in its infant stage, leaders from different traditional industries join the adopters’ band. This includes the film and TV industries. As such, they are experimenting with NFTs, which is establishing them as important business elements.
It is important to remember that the first Oscar-nominated film was an NFT upon its release. Likewise, some big media brands such as Fox are now investigating opportunities within the NFT space. They want to build more on the leverage and create investment opportunities.
In a discourse with Cryptonews, Alex Salnikov (Head of Product and co-founder of Rarible.com) mentioned that,
“All these actions have a domino effect: they influence other major players in the industry to give NFTs a go, while budding artists and creators get even more inspired to explore this new exciting medium.”
He mentioned that Rarible also conducted an NFT sale to obtain funds supporting the world’s first documentary. This documentary was a live film by refugees worldwide. This may seem like a baby step, but some prominent members argued that this NFT leverage might cause a significant shift in the film and TV space.
NFTs are becoming tools that different production companies exploit as revenue sources and avenues to increase direct audience engagement. However, a few complications are making it a long process to launch an NFT movie. One of them is film licensing arrangements. But having a quick resolve around this will enhance fan experience across the globe.
Zach Burks—CEO and Founder of Mintable—expressed increasing interest in NFTs across the film and TV industries. About 70%–if not all—of the professionals in the industry will get involved directly or indirectly. He revealed how NFTs could boost the popularity of shows associated with them.
Autonomy with Closer Contact
One of the ways NFTs can be lucrative for the film and TV industry is how the price of the NFT attached can increase the revenues. A case study is the price of Stoner Cat NFTs priced at ETH 0.35, which was over one thousand dollars.
Wes Levitt (Theta Labs’ Head of Strategy) mentioned that,
“The first and simplest use case is the one most people see: digital collectibles like iconic movie scenes, NFTs representing famous characters or items from movies, and other passive examples.”
Although innovative purposes will emerge from the crypto and NFT industry, this expectation will increase adoption, and production companies will leverage it to finance their shoots and allow them to have close contact with their fans.
While discussing the potentials of NFT in the film and TV industry, Cameron Chell (the executive chairman of CurrencyWorks and co-head of Vuele) explained to Cryptonews that,
“Our platform allows a production company to promote itself. They can decide how many NFTs of their film they want to distribute and if they want to package it with exclusive content such as artwork or behind-the-scenes footage.”
He further explained that Vuele will enable filmmakers to have autonomy over their price and the time to drop their NFTs. Aside from that, NFTs can become an essential marketing tool for production companies to stay updated with their audience and provide them with tailored content.
Beyond the scope of the innovative revenue generation model, Wes argued that NFTs would cause significant disruption in the industry and result in creating a new experience and format for viewers in this industry. He said,
“The really exciting use cases are still in their infancy; think NFTs granting the right to vote on how the next season of a TV show plays out, or access to special content that can only be seen by NFT holders. This next level of fan engagement is when you’ll really see demand for NFTs skyrocket and change how fans interact with their favorite IP.”
There is optimism surrounding NFT evolution in Hollywood over time. Also, individuals are anticipating that NFTs will extend beyond being an ordinary add-on for film and TV. Eventually, NFTs may change the production output for different studios. Meanwhile, some individuals are looking forward to how NFTs can protect intellectual property in the production sector.
What are the Expectations?
NFTs will cause film distribution to evolve because digital media owners will receive incentives after years of streaming their digital content. Likewise, viewers will have different innovative ways to enjoy their NFT movie collections. As such, NFTs will help filmmakers to establish quality relationships with their supporters leading to digital revolution in the film and TV industries.
