Hollywood could fund movies using crypto, NFTs – James Mackie and Matt Hookings

(Kitco News) – In the future, movies may be funded through cryptocurrencies and NFTs, which could democratize the filmmaking process, according to James Mackie, Team Lead at Moviecoin.com, and Matt Hookings, an actor and producer, and founder of Camelot Films.

“Underlying the NFT, we’ve got this technology that allows us to monetize and give a profit-share or it’s baked into a smart contract, and then if someone sells that NFT because they no longer want the profit-share, they can,” said Mackie. “It perfectly fit what we needed [for movie funding].”

He added that funding movies through this means allows for more decentralized and audience-based decision making about the production process.

“Once you’re a fully successful DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, you can allow the voters to pick the next lead of the movie, or which cinemas it’s shown in,” he explained. “You can give the rights of the whole curation of the movie to the crowds.”

Mackie and Hooking spoke with David Lin, Anchor and Producer at Kitco News, at the AIBC Summit in Malta.

The Prizefighter film

Mackie used NFTs and crypto to fund Prizefighter, an Amazon Prime movie starring Hookings as Jem Belcher, a 19th Century English boxer. The movie also stars Oscar winning actor Russell Crowe.

Hookings, who also wrote and produced Prizefighter, said that the NFT funding model has paved a way for other films to raise capital in this manner.

“With Prizefighter, we did [NFT funding] on a small scale, it was a small part of the funding,” he stated. “But because of the nature of it, being an Amazon film, and because we had Russell Crowe and lots of well known cast, I think it tickled the idea of this is where studios could go.”

Hookings added that he had met with a producer who was looking to “fully fund his next film with NFTs.”

Remakes and Sequels

The traditional funding model for movie studios has meant that they prefer to do remakes and sequels, instead of risking capital on new and untested ideas, said Mackie.

“If you have a completely unknown cast, apart from the odd exception, that movie won’t sell in cinemas,” he said. “You can even look at the prices that are attached to certain actors… For me, that ruins everything a little bit. I don’t often see films that I am just engrossed by anymore.”

He suggested that NFTs can change that, and allow for more creative and original content in movies.

“[When] you allow the crowd to fund the movies, then it’s completely down to the producer’s creative discretion as to what they make and what they show,” he said.

To find out how social media has changed movie content, watch the video above.

Follow David Lin on Twitter: @davidlin_TV

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