This post was written by Lauren Magura, VP of Entertainment, Ingredient X ; Co-Creator. Film.io
It is no secret that Hollywood is controlled by a centralized few. These centralized powers have controlled the decision-making in the industry for 100+ years.
The traditional industry process for greenlighting, funding, producing, and distributing film and TV projects is no longer serving the talented creators responsible for our favorite films and TV shows, or the fans who feel their opinions aren’t considered.
The future of the industry can operate in a way that allows all its stakeholders—fans, creators, writers, actors, and studios—an equal say. Talented, independent creators lack meaningful opportunities to create projects on their own terms with full creative freedom and are struggling to showcase their work to audiences.
Similarly, fans are traditionally excluded from this process. Fans are often little more than spectators, only being called upon when it’s time to pay for and view content. Their opinions on what kinds of content are interesting or valuable to them are not heard.
This all leads to a bias about what kind of content is created, prioritizing potential revenue over a film’s artistic or educational value, but a shift is happening.
Especially in the midst of the strikes in Hollywood, creatives are taking a stand and calling for major changes to be made. It’s time for the script to be flipped on the industry and power put back into the hands of the people.
Film.io’s core mission is to do just that—to empower fans with more influence in the creative process and liberate creators by providing them with key access to resources that will make their projects successful through the decentralization of Hollywood.
What Does the Democratization of Hollywood Look Like?
The filmmaking industry has evolved by leaps and bounds since its inception. Technology has been pivotal in this evolution, and filmmakers can do things that 100 years ago would have never thought to be possible.
Despite all the advancements in technology and various other fields, there are still thousands of talented creators and filmmakers who struggle to showcase their work to audiences and lack an avenue outside of the centralized gatekeepers to turn their projects into reality.
Alongside other technologies and tools, making ethical use of AI capabilities and smart algorithms as a tool to aid filmmakers and not replace them, Film.io gives creators and filmmakers the ultimate platform to help them in their journey.
Film.io’s governance allows continuous development of the DAO constitution to address issues concerning AI and fair pay through transparent and democratic evolution, ensuring that technology like AI is used as a supportive rather than a disruptive force, empowering filmmakers and actors to retain their essential roles in the creative process while enjoying the benefits of advancements in technology.
The Film.io platform liberates creators by allowing them to submit projects, build an audience, and receive market validation, opening access to funding and licensing opportunities. As a creator, you can share your film and TV projects, build a motivated and collaborative fanbase, connect with other industry professionals, and be discovered by partners that provide funding and acquire content.
The platform is governed by the Film.io DAO. DAO stands for decentralized autonomous organization, which is a term for a group of people who agree to abide by certain rules for a common purpose, with no central authority. Decisions get made from the bottom up, replacing the exclusive film industry hierarchy, with inclusive decision-making among fans and creator community.
Members of the Film.io DAO are able to participate in decision-making via FAN Tokens, and although have no monetary value, represent a unit of governance power in this new Hollywood. Creators (as DAO members) submit their projects as “proposals,” while asking fans to show their support for the projects they believe in by staking their tokens.
Staked FAN acts as a vote, awarding reputation to the fan while allowing a project to move through the Film.io ecosystem: first building an audience, leading to validation measured by the progress through our innovative Go Score™, unlocking funding opportunities and a progressive set of features and resources that help champion the creator and the fan who supports them to success. Joining the Film.io DAO is cost-free, valuing the communities’ participation and voice more than how big their bank account is.
The Film.io platform leverages blockchain technology to facilitate the creation of a new, decentralized Hollywood because it allows for peer-to-peer transactions without needing a centralized authority. With blockchain, we can create a decentralized Hollywood where anyone can participate in making films and television shows. This will lead to more diverse and high-quality content being created
How Does This Benefit Filmmakers?
So why is this important, and how does it benefit filmmakers? A decentralized Hollywood would simply give creators and fans a louder voice and more decision-making power over their projects.
It offers filmmakers another viable avenue to greenlight, produce, fund, and distribute their film or TV project in a more collaborative environment that includes fans in the process. This would create a more level playing field for all creators, regardless of their size or connections, leading to more creativity and diverse perspectives that fans actually want to see in a notoriously exclusionary industry.
A decentralized Hollywood would also allow for a more equitable distribution of profits because the idea is for everyone involved in a project to get paid according to their contributions. With Film.io, anyone can create a film or television show and pursue funding through different avenues such as reward crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, DeFi loans, and donation-based funding that will allow for crowdfunding and fundraising support by real fans. The ecosystem allows supporters to put their money into projects they believe in and want to see made, funding projects that would otherwise not be able to get funding from the major studios.
At Film.io we believe that no TV show or movie should die from a lack of fair opportunities and the resources to succeed. We are building a new Hollywood, one that celebrates collaboration, inclusion, creativity, diversity and equity.
While Film.io is just getting started, we’ve already seen a promising wave of participation and success within the ecosystem. Ingredient X, the film and software development studio specializing in blockchain, DeFi, and NFT technologies including the creation of Film.io, has produced Film.io original Film, TV, and NFT projects, including the critically acclaimed Star Wars autobiographical coming-of-age comedy, “5-25-77” and the film “Crypto” starring Alexis Bledel, Luke Hemsworth, and Kurt Russell.
Recently, we wrapped our first-ever Creator Contest. Film.io awarded a project that was democratically and autonomously selected by members of the Film.io DAO $10,000 in film funding to propel the project one step closer to being greenlit through fan validation.
The winning project, Chickenship, is an animated comedy series created by Emmy Award-winning comedian Craig Shoemaker and world-renowned animator David Feiss. It was an extremely close battle of projects that garnered the most fan engagement, and runner-up mentions go to Absolute Zero created by Bryce Hatch and Saurus City written and directed by Nate Smith starring Dennis Quaid, Ron Perlman, Emma Roberts, Julia Ormond, and Tim Meadows.
The creator contest is just the beginning of demonstrating how powerful Film.io is at garnering fan support and collaboration to greenlight diverse entertainment the fans are actually interested in viewing.
A viable alternative to the traditional studio model in Hollywood is possible, and we are continuing to push for a future where the voices of indie filmmakers and fans are heard and prioritized.
This post was written by Lauren Magura, VP of Entertainment, Ingredient X ; Co-Creator. Film.io
Author: Guest Author
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
