Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) proved their versatility in 2021. Entrepreneurs have found compelling uses for them in e-sports, digital art, music and much more. Now the movie industry is joining this new world by launching their own NFTs. Creating NFTs for films has been gaining steam, whether for enhancing the real-time theatre experience, selling merchandise, raising capital for independent films, promoting new releases, or generating nostalgia for classic cinema.
The animated series “Stoner Cats” raised $8.4 million through an NFT sale at the end of July, selling out in only 35 minutes. These NFTs allowed their holders the exclusive right to view certain episodes.
Fox Entertainment has announced a $100 million creation fund for the NFT industry. They’re doing it through Blockchain Creative Labs, with the purpose of operating a digital marketplace. Customers will be able to buy characters, background art, and GIFs associated with the series and other projects that join the platform.
An NFT collection was launched in collaboration with IV gallery, Lineage Studios, and MakersPlace as part of the promotional campaign for the movie Dune. The first set of the collection was released on 22 September 2021, with subsequent releases following, with the film premiering in American theatres on 22 October 2021.
Funding is another aspect of the use of NFTs that the movie industry may gain from. Recently, Award-winning director Michael Beets generated funding for the world’s first documentary filmed by refugees from all around the world selling NFTs.
All these actions can be the first steps of NFTs inside the movie industry. But will NFTs only be limited to promotional campaigns, production strategies, and film funding?
The covid-19 pandemic caused the movie audience to move to digital streaming. Today many VOD (video-on-demand) platforms are offering different types of audio-visual content for internet users from all over the world. The new form of watching movies created a new audience that has a facility for adapting digital features. At this point, NFT technology can integrate into the movies in various forms so much quicker than we can imagine.
The NFT has begun to establish itself in the video game industry. Let’s look at some examples. Axie Infinity. Inspired by Pokémon, this is a management and strategy game with creatures called Axies. They fight each other and can be bought and sold as NFTs. CryptoBlades is also a game where characters fight each other. You can also get item upgrades with NFTs. Lastly, Wanaka Farm. This is a farm simulator where you cultivate your land and raise your pets. You can upgrade your farm with NFTs from the game.
It's hard to imagine this kind of change in video games being realized in movies for now. But it is also true that the younger generation that grew up with the Internet differs in the way it consumes audio-visual content from the way films were made in the 20th century. Today films have a much lower impact than they did back then.
Films always impressed the audience with the technology that they used. It's clear that technological features have always found their respective places in the film industry and were adopted so easily in this sector. These features range from sound recording, digital computer effects, camera drones, and many more. Now we have new digital features in our life like NFTs, metaverse, and blockchain technologies, the functions and uses of which we are still learning. It is possible that these digital features find a place in films in the near future.
Developments in the NFT technology could lead filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers to create movies with different perspectives and to provide us with completely different film experiences after the first quarter of the 21st century.
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