Moneyball Moviemaking is Killing Creativity, Crypto is the Cure
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After another incredible display of vibrant and distinctive voices at this year’s SXSW, all eyes are on the studios as they open their wallets to swoop in and hitch their wagon to the next Moonlight. Cashing in on creative success without rolling the dice on that upfront financial risk. Of course, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to make money. That’s the way this industry works. As we go deeper into the streaming era, financing options no longer have to follow the traditional binary: cobbling together independent financing to follow your vision and hope someone picks it up on the back end, or submitting to the “platformization” of film and television production that has fallen victim to a continued reliance on opaque algorithms, metrics and aversion to risk. New options are emerging underpinned by blockchain technology that allow for entirely new models of ownership and development in the film industry.
I spent years at a talent agency focusing on finding ways to capture new revenue streams for artists from big brands and corporations to afford them the ability to create things on their own. This unfortunately always came with strings attached, hitting and reporting on brand KPIs, product placement, branded content tie-ins, all distractions from the art. Whether it’s Google or Netflix, these are businesses at the end of the day. They’re not looking through a lens of how this project might shift culture and introduce inclusive, diverse narratives that help us see the world; they’re looking out for their bottom line.
On the flip side, filmmakers have been selling their comic book collections or launching Indiegogo campaigns to raise money, propose fixed or flexible budgets, and/or use reward-based fundraising for years. There have always been viable, although challenging, ways around the traditional studio system. Crowdfunding – or raising money from the project’s most loyal fans and friends – was a key part of financing movies such as Veronica Mars and The Babadook. Equity crowdfunding, introduced in title III of the JOBS Act in 2016, took this concept to the next level and gave non-accredited investors the opportunity to invest in early stage startups and companies. Platforms like WeFunder and StartEngine are giving fans the opportunity to become producers and earn returns on their investments in new creative work. This industry hasn’t generated major traction yet, but it has been an inspiration for another movement that has the potential to take the industry by storm.
By: Alexandra Hooven
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