'Calladita' Director: Filmmakers Need New NFT Funding Models, 'The Space Moves So Rapidly'

By Stephen Graves

Director Miguel Faus made headlines with his novel approach to funding his feature film "Calladita" by selling NFTs. But, he cautions, he "wouldn't recommend" that other filmmakers duplicate his approach exactly because the Web3 filmmaking space has already moved on.

"Our mint collection worked quite well, and we were able to fund the movie—but that's over now," he told Decrypt at the NFT Paris conference. "The space moves so rapidly, that model is gone," he explained, adding that it's important for filmmakers to take an open mind, innovate and iterate on what's gone before.

"This spirit of continuous innovation is very important" to the burgeoning Film3 movement, he said. "It's important to try things out and learn from what works and what doesn't."

As an example, he pointed to the NFT all-access passes created for the film. "We tried to have a very low entry price point so that more people could join our community, but that didn't catch on as much as we would have hoped."

Nevertheless, with the film in the can, the NFT fundraising effort for "Calladita" is demonstrably a success. "We are now moving on to sound editing, color grading, and the original score, and hoping to have the movie done around mid-May," ahead of its launch on the film festival circuit, Faus said.

The 'Calladita' DAO

Future plans for the film include the launch of a DAO governed by "Calladita" NFT holders.

Faus described the DAO as a "workaround" on stage at NFT Paris, noting that, "we cannot offer direct revenue shares to our NFT holders in the movie, because that would turn our NFTs into securities."

Instead, the DAO will own 50% of "Calladita" in perpetuity, with proceeds from the film going into a treasury governed by NFT holders. "It's really exciting to get to found a new body in the ecosystem that can help foster the future of decentralized cinema," Faus told Decrypt.

Faus has already explored new avenues for Web3 funding; in January, "Calladita" picked up a $100,000 completion grant from "Ocean's Eleven" director Steven Soderbergh, awarded through the Web3 funding platform Decentralized Pictures.

"It's a dream come true," Faus said, adding that Soderbergh has seen the film and passed along his notes on the edit—albeit "very sparse" ones. "He really liked the film and didn't have much to say about how to improve it," Faus added.

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