Hollywood is a tired inefficient and bloated industry where sexism is an every day occurrence, where gender inequality is built into a system where men can get paid three times more than women for delivering the same number of lines. It cannot continue and it wont continue, and Blockchain will be part of the revolution that is heading Hollywood’s way. The efforts of Zac and Arie at SingularDTV are part of a movement that aims to protect the people that matter, the people that create the content we all enjoy.
Of course the ‘fat cat’ executives sit in their ivory tower, all-powerful with bank accounts full of money. As ‘king makers’ they think they are invincible, untouchable and in the past this was true. They rule by fear and intimidation.
A Hollywood system that ‘spits out’ those who play up, that speak out and go up against the establishment, who dared to voice opinions and stand up to the inequality that now plaques an entire $600billion industry which is dominated by Hollywood of the $1.2trillon market size.
The Creatives:
A bunch of talented people I call ‘creatives’ are the ones that continually miss out. Often squeezed by the studios to give away their value, their scripts and content at knock down prices; are further squeezed by distribution platforms that shrink their share further where the link between the creator (the owner) of the content is often broken, making it almost impossible to ensure they get the attribution they are due. They are forced to rely on others to protect their IP, the content as a song, a script, a story line, involving layers of middlemen and industry participants that rather than help, distance the creative from their piece of value. Something the SingularDTV platform offers a great solution where the creative can protect themselves, represent themselves and manage their content.
Hollywood star losing its lustre…
Hollywood has already lost much its lustre and for many people amidst a constant barrage of claims of opaque accounting, of making sure movies don’t make a profit, sexism and discrimination the Swamp is now full of skeletons. That once there is an alternate approach for artists to protect and realise their value, all of the stories will come out and those afraid to keep their jobs will be free to speak out. And then there was the Trump and Meryl Streep slanging match that brought home how messed up things have become. But then Meryl is too powerful an artist to be dumbed down, and rightly so.
Enter stage left – The Blockchain and 21Million
The 21Million Project is one of several Blockchain business models looking to reinvent the Film and Entertainment model. At 21Million our aim is to make sure fans can be rest assured the ‘movie’ they are watching was produced fairly, “Fair Trade Movie’ that comes with assurances the actors were treated properly, paid the same, and where all cast and crew were rewarded on the success of the movie, where all genders and ethnicities given a chance to make a contribution. BOOM the next evolution of filmmaking, of film finance is upon us.
So what is The 21Million Project ? 21Million is three things, (i) an approach to raising funds to make content through crypto currencies, (ii) the 21Million mini series where fans as investors can get involved and (iii) a film production business on the public Ethereum network.
Our strategy is to become the first of a new generation of Blockchain Media Studio that not only helps creative artists and filmmakers produce the film but also help raise the necessary capital. The mantra being – fair, open, transparent, gender equal and instantly auditable is the pre-requisites of a new model for making film and television. There will be no doggy accounting, special purpose vehicles and layers of middlemen attracting costs and fees that are completely unnecessary whose sole purpose is to avoid tax and dilute income for shareholders.
Fair Trade for Movie Making
Are we seeing the emergence of Fair Trade for movie making as a Certification of Equal Rights, Liberty and Fairness? Will fans expect to see a commitment and confirmation the film and TV content was made fairly as after all it is the fans as viewers that have the last word. 21Million delivers several film firsts. A gender equal, pay equal non sexist approach to film and TV making, where everyone can make a contribution and benefit from success. Where the content is the asset and everyone can benefit from sale of that asset, from a royalty for perpetuity.Where fans can invest in the things they want to watch and care about, and can get immersed in the experience of film making, making a contribution because it matters. Knowing equality is respected and the content hasn’t been tampered with. Where operations and costs are transparent and where Trust and Fairness is returned.
It is time to drain the swamp everyone knows needs draining…
21Million ICO is planned for 12 th June. For more details visit: www.21million.co.uk
Nick Ayton is a thought leader and a global expert in blockchain. A prolific man, Nick Ayton is not only a Blockchain Architect, Ethereum Believer and ICO Advisor, but also a filmmaker, who is creating a new film project project, that is revolutionising the way films are produced and financed. Besides aiming to design Blockchain propositions in film and entertainment, he is also interested in renewable energy, sharing economy, trading, insurance, capital markets.
