NFTs And Films: 7 Mind-Blowing Ways They’re Intersecting

August 8, 2023 by Mimi Phan

Remember when the word “NFT” seemed to appear out of thin air, and suddenly everyone was talking about it? Even people who never really paid attention to crypto-related content had at least heard the term in passing. Although that era was driven by hype and the allure of a bull market, the core applications of NFTs are still in full swing today. One example is in film. When NFTs became popular, filmmakers quickly started asking questions like “What does NFT mean for movies?” Today we’ll take a deep dive into some exciting answers to that question.

First things first, though: what are NFTs? NFTs, short for non-fungible tokens, are virtual tokens that represent ownership of valuable digital assets. They can take on many forms like audio, video, or images. There are many creative ways in which NFTs have been integrated into the film industry – here are just a few.

1. Fundraising

We all know that trope about the starving artist. It suggests that entry into some artistic fields is so difficult that it requires the artist to give up almost everything or die trying. Sadly, filmmaking is one of those fields where creators often fall into this trope.

Film funding happens to be one of the biggest challenges faced by independent filmmakers. Even well-established filmmakers are not immune to this issue. Once upon a time, the only way for independent artists to fund their projects was through traditional crowdfunding websites like GoFundMe. Artists would start a crowdfund and cross their fingers, hoping they’d reach their goals.

But today, NFT film funding is becoming a popular approach to solving this problem. By using the proceeds of NFT sales to fund their projects, creators can own the process completely.

This could involve giving incentives in the form of exclusive content related to the film as opposed to trying to get people to donate when there’s nothing in it for them. For these buyers, these NFTs are something of an investment. The more successful the movie, the more its NFTs are worth, which opens up the option of trading for the token owner.

Calladita is one example of an NFT-funded film. What started as a simple idea generated $750,000 through NFT sales. To pull this off, Miguel Faus introduced perks such as a private link to watch the film once completed, fan names in the credits, and access to a private Discord. It’s safe to say that Calladita probably won’t be the last of its kind.

2. Community Building

People tend to join communities based on shared interests. And what better way is there to bring film fans together than communities with exclusive NFTs and events?

Fans can get NFTs that unlock perks during events, or even membership tiers in a community. These NFTs could also represent community milestones.

3. Movie Memorabilia

Memorabilia is a way to truly keep a memory alive, and it’s something that works rather well in the movie industry. People can be quite sentimental towards the media they love.

Take the Barbie movie, for example. Barbie was a big part of a lot of people’s childhoods, so it’s no surprise that after the movie announcement, it was all many people could talk about. Every time a trailer dropped, it would fuel a whole crop of TikTok reactions, memes, and trends.

As a part of the Barbie marketing rollout, several brands including Aldo, Zara, and Forever21 released Barbie collections, which fans could buy as a reminder of how the movie made them feel. The pitfalls of this type of memorabilia are the limited access and expensive budget. NFTs, on the other hand, only require a working device and an internet connection to share.

4. Revenue Generation

NFT collections can contain hundreds of NFTs. If you create a collection containing 200 unique video snippets from your movies and sell them for $500 per NFT, that’s $100,000 in revenue. 

In some cases, NFT sales may exceed their creator’s expectations and provide a big break. However, it’s important to remember that more often than not, these sales may not perform well enough if you don’t have a community of people ready to invest in them.

5. Immersive Cinematic Experiences

Some filmmakers are in the early stages of experimenting with new ways in which cinema can be improved, including how NFTs can create a more immersive cinematic experience.

This can be done in many ways. For example, the combination of augmented reality or virtual reality with NFTs can birth a new type of movie experience – one where viewers can experience films in a more immersive way than ever before.

These NFTs could also be behind-the-scenes footage or bloopers, which can give people the feeling that they’re truly part of the process. It also connects them to the film and even its actors and creators on a different level.

6. Profit Ownership

When movies are created, depending on the kind of agreements made, a large chunk of the money made goes to the studio. Filmmakers and scriptwriters may earn less depending on how much profit the film makes.

By releasing their movies as NFTs, however, creators can reserve rights to their work and have the money go directly to them, reducing the need for most third-party organizations.

Up until recently, the file size limitation when minting an NFT made it impossible to create a full-length movie as an NFT. But that has changed, and now movies like Zero Contact have jumped onto the trend.

7. Film Events

NFTs serve as an added incentive for film-related events. Imagine attending the Cannes Film Festival and getting NFTs that give you access to screen exclusive films. The funds made from the NFT sales could be used to fund smaller projects. 

What’s Next for NFTs and Film?

From memorabilia to profit generation, NFTs are being used in super creative ways in an industry that, at first appearance, may seem like a weird fit for blockchain technology. It’s only a matter of time before NFT takes center stage when it comes to things like funding.

Featured image by Andrey Metelev on Unsplash