The Easy Way To Use NFTs For Your Film And Get The Best Results

November 29, 2022 by Mimi Phan

If you’re a filmmaker, you’ve probably heard about NFTs from people in your community over the past few years. Everyone’s been talking about how NFTs are the next wave for the creative industry, as well as ways to secure the bag and control your creative process with these tokens.

So, you’re probably wondering, how do I get in on the action as well? What do I have to do to make sure that this new wave doesn’t leave me behind – or worse, swallow me up? Well, get your surfboard ready – we’re about to show you just how easy it is to ride the NFT wave.

NFTs & Hollywood: A Match Made In Heaven

An NFT (non-fungible token) is a digital asset with a unique ID stored on a data structure known as a blockchain. It’s a revolutionary technology that makes it easy for creatives to get better control of pretty much every aspect of their work.

NFTs store meta information about their creation so it’s easy for anyone to verify the authenticity of the physical asset it represents. These tokens are very similar to cryptocurrencies; the only difference is that NFTs can’t be traded for each other without a value change. So, unlike cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.), you can’t exchange two NFTs and get the same value.

The interesting thing about these tokens is the scope of items they can represent, including artwork, sound compositions, and movies.

So, to the big question – what are NFTs in movies?

While most popular NFTs are used to represent art, there has been a notable rise in how Hollywood is using NFTs recently. Filmmakers have been able to benefit immensely from these tokens, enjoying benefits such as…

• Convenience: Filmmakers no longer have to deal with tedious distribution processes for their movies when they release them as NFTs.
• Creative control: With an NFT, you have complete control over your work and how it’s transferred.
• Royalties: You can easily set royalties for your NFT, so you automatically get a cut when a buyer decides to sell it to someone else.
• Fan engagement: NFTs and filmmakers have combined to bring back the era of fan engagement with extras and additional content.

There are several other benefits that underscore what NFTs mean for film. Considering that NFTs are still a new technology, there will most likely be even more interesting perks for filmmakers in the near future. For now, it’s important to understand just how powerful NFTs can be and how to use them properly.

How Do You Use NFTs For Your Film?

One of the many reasons why NFTs and filmmakers are such a great match is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. As a filmmaker, you have different ways to take advantage of this new technology. Some of them include:

1. Creating An Entire Film As An NFT

The first, and perhaps most obvious option for most filmmakers is to simply release their entire movies as NFTs. By doing this, you get to enjoy several benefits.

• Funding for your movie: With NFT film financing, you can use NFTs to raise funds for your movie. Basically, you can sell NFTs to your fans and use the funds raised to complete the project or work on other ones.
• Giving more to your fans: Some projects have also launched NFTs as a way of granting their fans an ownership share of the movies. Emmy award-winning filmmaker Trevor Hawkins did this in 2021 when he released NFTs for his movie, Lotawana. Hawkins offered a thousand NFTs, each selling for about $1,000. As an extra incentive, buyers also got an ownership share of the movie and its profit.

The benefit of NFT film financing is easy to see. By releasing your work as an NFT, you don’t have to rely on a movie studio or investors. Instead, your work is yours – you control its distribution, supply, consumption, and pretty much everything else about it.

2. Selling NFT Movie Memorabilia

Another easy way to use NFTs for your film is to release accessories as NFTs. Just like the movie itself, other assets have value – artwork, music, etc. You can release these as NFTs too, opening up yet another possible revenue stream. You could even go one step further and get things like signed copies of your script, limited-edition posters, and more. Turn them into NFTs, put them up for sale, and make money!

This is actually one of the most popular examples of how Hollywood is using NFTs. Last year, Wong Kar-wai, a Hong Kong-based movie director, sold unseen footage from his 2021 movie In The Mood For Love as NFTs. The collection, titled “In The Mood For Love – Day One,” was auctioned at Sotheby’s and was the first Asian film NFT offered by the platform.

Quentin Tarantino did the same thing by selling an NFT collection for Pulp Fiction last year. Each NFT included uncut first handwritten scripts for the movie, as well as commentary from Tarantino himself.

You can take advantage of this approach by selling NFTs that represent extras from your movie and connecting better with your fans, while also making a pretty penny in the process.

3. Offering Movie Tickets As NFTs

If you’d like to have a screening of your movie, why sell tickets using the boring old ways when you can mint tickets to the premiere as NFTs and sell them to buyers? This method is pretty cool because your fans get to keep a digital copy of the movie ticket for life – the tickets act as collectibles that have intrinsic value, with memories attached to them. 

Last year, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher released an animated web series titled Stoner Cats. They sold NFTs for the movie, which represented tickets that allowed only holders to access it. The power couple raked in over $8 million from the sale. 

4. Selling NFT Movie Components

If you’re not sold on releasing your entire movie as an NFT, you could take baby steps by selling just scenes and clips instead.

These NFTs most likely won’t cost as much as NFTs of an entire movie project. Considering that a lot of movie fans actually love snippets and short scenes, you could make some big sales with this.

It’s A Free, New World

NFTs are breathing new life into Hollywood – and the best part is that there’s hardly any gatekeeping. Any filmmaker can release NFTs of their work, sell them, and keep their earnings. It’s a free-for-all, as long as you work towards building a great community around your film.

As for what NFTs mean for film in future, there are boundless opportunities. NFTs allow filmmakers to enjoy complete creative freedom while cutting off their reliance on traditional investors or studios. It’s Hollywood the way Hollywood was meant to be. And you can join the revolution as well!

Featured image by Jakob Owens on Unsplash