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Multinational entertainment company Disney is looking for prospective candidates who understand the burgeoning non-fungible token (NFT) industry.
A total of four jobs on the company’s careers website mention NFTs. These positions are; Director, Sales & Digital Marketing; Culture Trend Marketing Manager; Manager, Business Development; and ESPN Business Development & Innovation.
The first of these job openings looks for a candidate that will “help lead Disney’s efforts in the NFT space including monitoring the evolving marketplace, setting category strategy, and managing key partners.”
Disney’s prospective Culture Trend Marketing Manager will be asked to focus on how its Hulu streaming service can “break through into other spaces outside of streaming,” which include NFTs, as well as crypto and the metaverse.
In turn, the Sales and Digital Marketing Director will be responsible for leading efforts in emerging technologies, including—you guessed it—NFTs.
The last of the advertised positions is an internship that will run through the summer of 2022. The prospective intern will have to show “strong understanding of new technologies in the industry (e.g. NFTs, cryptocurrency, blockchain technology).”
Disney and crypto
Disney has already made some inroads into the NFT space, through licensing its IP for NFTs. Last year, Disney partnered with digital collectibles platform Veve to launch a series of NFTs featuring well-known Disney and Marvel characters.
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger recently hinted at the company’s ambitions for NFTs and the metaverse during an interview with New York Times journalist Kara Swisher. "When you think about all the copyright and trademarks, characters Disney has, and the NFT possibilities, they’re extraordinary," he said.
Unsurprisingly, Iger expressed concern about the level of IP infringement in the NFT space, singling out NFT marketplace OpenSea for criticism. “I was amazed at all the Disney stuff that was there, and most of it was pirated,” he said.
Iger also highlighted the risks of “toxic behavior” in the metaverse, noting that, “something Disney is going to have to consider as it talks about creating a metaverse for themselves is moderating and monitoring behavior.”