How blockchain technology is impacting filmmaking

It has become a common refrain that cinemas are dominated by big franchise blockbusters. But while this used to be an eccentric concern, it is now an accepted fact. At the same time, we see a more diverse range of talent on and off the screen. Web3 has something to say about both.

A UCLA report found that women and people of color have made significant gains in the film industry over the past decade. Non-white actors playing lead roles and receiving writing credits have quadrupled since 2011. The number of people of color sitting in the director’s chair had also tripled in the same period.

The proportion of women in senior roles had also doubled during that time. But the most encouraging statistic was that female directors had increased fivefold in 10 years. A statistic that is less than surprising to many film enthusiasts. Talents like Greta Gerwig (Ladybug, little women) and Chloé Zhao (Eternals, The Rider) have become giants in the industry over the last half decade.

But with the rise of socially conscious filmmaking, there has been a corresponding rise in blockchain-based projects with similar goals.

Using Blockchain to make a difference

Astrolucha, a utility non-fungible token (NFT) pool designed to help fund movies, TV shows and other media for marginalized groups, is one such project. They feel that better representation is needed. In 2021, official statistics said 19% of the US population is Latino/a. It doesn’t take a statistician to see that it doesn’t match what is shown on the screen.

“Astrolucha came about from a deep desire to see more diversity in entertainment,” says Moisés Zamora, one of the project’s co-founders. “I wanted to create a solution to a decades-old problem: why can’t people of color be the heroes of their own stories?”

Zamora is also the creator of the Netflix series Selena, a biographical series of the charismatic Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla. A widely acclaimed series that helped cement Quinanilla’s place in the canon of Mexican-American musical culture.

Its intellectual property and aesthetics are based on the concept of the luchadors. Professional, free-flowing wrestlers who also act as colorful superheroes. From that concept, they have created a trading card game and intend to develop a live-action series. “Hollywood loves IP, so that’s what we do – IP creation,” he says. “We want to make sure we’re set up for success, so creating a DAO and a community that’s incentivized to collaborate and help each other will help us succeed.”

In their conversations with BeInCrypto, it is clear that the project’s goals are more reformist than revolutionary. “Astrolucha’s goal is not to replace Hollywood, only to expand it, and to give Latino/a and other marginalized creators more opportunities.”

Democratizing filmmaking

For context, last month, in a shock move, former Disney CEO Bob Iger made a surprise comeback. His short-lived predecessor, Bob Chapek, presided over a period of commercial turbulence. Nevertheless, in 2021 Disney films accounted for 25% of the entire film market share in the United States and Canada. Because despite a global pandemic, owning a quarter of one of the world’s largest film markets was not enough. Of course, there were other reasons why Chapek was canned. But it’s telling that even that metric wasn’t good enough to save him.

But in the spirit of Web3, there are projects whose task is to level the playing field. Blockchain’s inherently decentralized nature can be used to democratize film. Unlike studio mega-producers like Marvel’s Kevin Feige, the film industry’s DAOs can provide a healthy counterweight.

The nature of movie attendance – the butt on the seats – is, of course, a form of democracy. But we can go further, according to Film.io co-creator Lauren Magura. For them, a decentralized funding structure is an opportunity to build an inclusive decision-making community of fans and creators. “Blockchain technology enabled us to develop our proprietary Vault Lock technology that protects your original ideas by recording all entries to your project in an immutable public record,” she says. “Blockchain also ensures fairness and transparency by its very nature, tearing away the curtain that has shrouded the film industry for so long.”

But with traditional top-down industry structures, some creators will always keep their distance from viewers. By democratizing film via blockchain, we can see films that better reflect the audience, she says. “Humans are creatures of routine… If a dominant gender and/or race is essential, we’re going to see a dominant gender and/or race on screen.”

Give talent its fair share

Although many blockchain projects share similar goals, they are certainly not the same. Austin Worrell, one of the founders of KINO, had a winding road into the film industry. Classically handsome, he tells BeInCrypto that he grew up wanting to be a film actor. But while he was still young, his family business imploded suddenly and violently. “There were many lawyers involved; I remember that very clearly. But I remember thinking, why didn’t the lawyers fix this?”

Driven by a sense of injustice and angered by the fog of the legal system, Austin chose to become a lawyer himself. After studying at Miami University and the London School of Economics, he co-founded ElonGate. A philanthropic Web3 company that took its name from a Musk-based meme. Five hundred thousand people invested, and they soon reached a market value of half a billion. “That kind of gave me the amazing firsthand realization of the power of this new era of digital presence on the web.”

After a mixture of passion, years and experience, KINO was born. A core criticism of the project was that only some workers saw the rewards of a film success. Others worked just as hard, putting in unglamorous hours, without seeing any residual income. “You put your heart and soul into creating this amazing story, and a select few ended up getting percentage points and ownership.”

Big star or emerging actor, cameraman or production designer, blockchain can give you ownership, he says. Someone has to defend the middle class in Hollywood. By using a trustless economic system, we don’t have to rely on the benevolence of the powerful. “Blockchain enables the transparent, immutable, accessible ledger.”

For many, Web3 is the best solution

For everyone BeInCrypto spoke to for this article, unsurprisingly, blockchain was fundamental. In the last decade, crowdfunding has become a popular grassroots way of financing projects. Why do it this way? After all, involving yourself in the Web3/crypto space can be controversial at best. Why not make it easier on yourself and ban this space altogether?

For many, principles are more important than optics. “The very ethos of the blockchain speaks to solving these problems,” continues Lauren of Film.io. “All metrics for support and funding are stored on a transparent blockchain, offering immutable protection and a transparent view of the project’s growth.”

Technology and principles aside, there is an infectious and palpable ambition in this community. A wide-eyed and sincere belief that good work and good principles can produce great things. “Five years from now, I want to see a KINO movie at awards shows,” says Austin. “In some ways, it’s not really about the technology; it’s just another way of making good movies.”

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