'Always Sunny' Actor Rob McElhenney Launches Web3 Writers Room With Ethereum NFTs

The Web3 world is built on a decentralized, collaborative ethos—and it’s pulling in creators from traditional media industries who want to try something new. Now, actor and filmmaker Rob McElhenney from hit TV series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” aims to use the tech to co-create content and share in the potential royalties ahead.

Adim is McElhenney’s new “entertainment-tech” company, which will see the “Always Sunny” and “Mythic Quest” co-creator and star work alongside emerging creators to develop new characters and story ideas. The “Adimverse” will span original IP created by the participants, and those co-creators will benefit from future entertainment projects that tap into that IP.

“Every beloved character throughout TV, movie, and gaming history has been imagined and brought to life through collaboration,” said McElhenney, in a release. “Adim is building for the next evolution of these groups—communities of creators, writers, artists, designers, developers, fans, and friends working together to create and own a new generation of content.”

In the initial format, 100 creators will be chosen from all applicants to join a virtual writer’s room with Adim co-founder and Co-Chairman McElhenney plus TV writer Keyonna Taylor. At the end of each session, all participants will receive a “Core Character” NFT that conveys a share of ownership over the IP that was developed in that cohort.

Ultimately, owners of those non-transferrable NFTs will be eligible to receive royalties or revenue share from any projects that use their co-created IP. While the Adimverse website doesn’t specifically note which blockchain network will be used for the NFTs, it mentions Ethereum gas fees (the costs associated with transacting on the Ethereum network) and cites Ethereum wallets like MetaMask and Rainbow.

An NFT is a blockchain token that serves as a proof of ownership to an item, and often represents digital goods like profile pictures, artwork, collectibles, and video game items. They can also work like ownership shares, as in this example and others—such as rapper Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league selling team ownership shares via NFTs.

Adim has raised $5 million in seed funding in a round led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. General Partner Chris Dixon tweeted about the funding today.

“Blockchains are social mediums. Composability gives artists the power to take assets & information generated by NFTs or protocols and use them anywhere on-chain,” Dixon wrote, in part. “Adimverse community members could fork characters created by users and build outward from the original Adim universe.”

Alongside McElhenney, Adim was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Richard Rosenblatt alongside Chase Rosenblatt, Melissa Kaspers, and Spencer Marell. Richard Rosenblatt is also co-founder of Autograph, a sports and entertainment NFT company that includes NFL quarterback Tom Brady as a fellow co-founder.

Adim’s board of advisors includes McElhenney’s wife and “Always Sunny” co-star Kaitlin Olson, as well as actor Ryan Reynolds, who co-owns Welsh soccer team Wrexham A.F.C. with McElhenney.

This isn’t the first Web3 project to take a stab at collaborative creation with an NFT component. Archie Comics, for example, recently revealed an Archieverse project that lets NFT owners take part in a large-scale writer’s room to develop comic book stories.

Lost Children of Andromeda, meanwhile, lets NFT collectors develop characters that may be used in author Jason Michael Primrose’s future sci-fi novels. Likewise, The Gimmicks—a project co-created by the studio of actress Mila Kunis—is a wrestling-themed animated series that lets NFT owners develop character and story details for the show.