Filmmaking is one of the most centralized industries in the world, where films languish in development hell or are allocated millions of dollars in funding based on the whims of a small number of executives.
“We have about five to six major studios, three of which are just the giants—the behemoths—and they make all the decisions,” Film.io co-creator Don Richmond told Decrypt. That means that for filmmakers, there’s no clear route for securing funding for projects. “You have to forge the path anew each time,” he said.
Film.io is aiming to change that with Web3 technology, by building the “world's most powerful decentralized filmmaking ecosystem.” The first and most important step is to build the community of filmmakers and fans underpinning that ecosystem.
“We wanted to create a path for filmmakers to take this whole ecosystem of creators, of fans, of investors and collapse the distance between them,” said Richmond. That, he said, will allow them to communicate “in a way that is really just focused on greenlighting projects.” By creating a “morally forward” environment, Richmond explained, “people aren't trying to rip each other off.”
The foundation of the Film.io community is its native token, FAN, which is listed on exchanges today. The FAN token is the “fuel” of the platform, said Richmond; FAN functions as both a governance token for the Film.io DAO, and a platform token for Film.io itself.
Would-be Kubricks and Spielbergs can pitch film or TV projects on the Film.io platform, which FAN holders can endorse by staking their tokens; the more staked tokens a project has, the faster it can be greenlit, unlocking features including funding tools.
Community members can earn FAN by staking, reviewing projects on the platform or through referring other users, working their way up the DAO reputation tiers in the process.
Initially, Film.io co-creator Assaf Igell told Decrypt, the platform is “super focused on gamifying that experience between creators and fans,” in order to build an active, engaged community.
Having established that community, filmmakers can turn to their universe of engaged fans for crowdfunding or NFT sales, and leverage it in order to prove to commissioning executives and investors that there’s a pre-existing audience for their project. That should, in turn, enable creators to “move faster and get traction” on their project, said Igell.
That’s already happening today, Igell added. “There are currently existing executives and investors and production companies on the platform,” he said, with hundreds of projects actively collaborating on Film.io since Sundance.
One example is “Saurus City,” a feature-length animation with an A-list voice cast including Ron Perlman and Emma Roberts. “They joined Film.io because they loved the idea of decentralizing and building their own fan base and more,” said Igell.
Film.io launched at SXSW Film Festival with a $30,000 collaboration grant, with more to come. The platform has around $50 million teed up in partnerships right now, Richmond said, adding that “it’s fast approaching all targets for getting films greenlit.”
Ultimately, Igell said, decentralized film platforms like Film.io will upend the relationship between creators, studios and talent. “As somebody that actually really believes in Web3, in decentralization, this shifts the table so that you don't need to ask for money anymore, you don't need to ask for a talent to want to be attached to your project anymore,” he said.
Instead, he said, with on-chain validation of audience buy-in, “You are going to start getting inbound demand—other producers noticing your project and asking where you're at and what kind of help you need.”
“At the end of the day,” he added, “Film.io is successful by letting creators collaborate directly with fans and having everything done on-chain where fairness, transparency and inclusion can be sustained.”
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