Film Development Needs an On-Chain Business Model

The film industry is at a moment of transition. The rise of streamers and the increased popularity of YouTube-type media have changed the game. Streamers flooded the market with capital based on unsustainable projections of growth. Now, as financial reality hits, they are scaling back and fewer films are being produced within the studios system than in decades past.

Independent producers have an opportunity to make films more efficiently, providing audiences with stories that challenge them to think at a time where it seems films are scared to push the envelope. We need a new model for financing and production, which introduces a new and special asset class for blockchain.

Pressman Films, the production company that brought you Wall Street, American Psycho, Conan the Barbarian, The Crow and one hundred more motion pictures over the last 50 years, is now trying to fix what’s broken in film financing by leveraging the advantages of blockchain to bring more transparency and community to independent films.

Our solution: crowd financing on-chain. Both accredited and unaccredited investors alike are able to buy a securitized token powered by Avalanche. That allows them to share financial revenues of a slate of multiple films through the platform Republic.com/pressman. If you’ve ever wanted to attend a premiere, walk the red carpet, or simply learn about how movies are made – this is your chance.

We have one week left to go in the raise and have, as of November 12 raised $1.69 million. Investors will learn about a film from its initial, most important stage and gain insight into the whole sales cycle from development to distribution. We’re breaking new ground by inviting a community of investors on chain to participate in this raise and believe this methodology can transform film financing and be adopted across the industry.

During the last bull market, there were a number of projects pushing towards a democratization of media that offered similar concepts but simply couldn’t fulfill their promise, in part because of restrictions from a securities standpoint. Through our partnerships with Republic and Avalanche, we have cleared these restrictions, opening up investment opportunities that would normally be available just to the 1%.

“Hollywood accounting” has long plagued the industry. Where is money going? Accountability is one of the primary problems we need to solve in both film and crypto.

Our offering is built on smart contracts, which live on an immutable ledger and treat all investors equally. This immediately solves transparency issues in accounting and paying investors. The thought of accounting to thousands of micro-investments would be a nightmare for any independent producer. But, with blockchain tech, the process is straightforward and dividends are paid out immediately.

We did a lot of research and legal analysis with our own counsel and the team at Republic to ensure this raise complies with SEC and FINRA regulations. We see this as the beginning of a new movement in film financing on-chain. The Pressman Film Development Fundraise consists of two simultaneous raises:

I have long believed that film would be a special asset class for blockchain. This is because films both create community and are created by a community. You’ve heard of “cult classics.” Those cults are made up of people who form a personal relationship with a film and form a community with others who love that story’s world. Here we are able to galvanize a community as the film is being produced, not only after it is released, helping the process in several ways.

If we can raise funds from large groups of investors while a film is in the greenlight process, we better determine that there is a market for that film before even greenlighting. It enables us to market more efficiently: we now have an army of thousands of built in super fans, our “cult.” This helps inform the demographic profile of our film audience, not to mention the legions of people ready to help us grassroots market.

Pressman Film, founded by my father Edward R. Pressman, has long stood for innovation on the financial side of the film industry and in terms of product the number of culturally meaningful films that stand the test of time produced by the company is simply awe inspiring. Characters like Patrick Bateman and Gordon Gekko have helped define Wall Street culture for almost 40 years. We were one of the first companies to adapt comic books to film with The Crow, Judge Dredd, and Conan the Barbarian (launching the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger), video games to movies with the Jean Claude Van Damme Street Fighter. We’ve helped launch the careers of filmmakers such as Oliver Stone, Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, Kathryn Bigelow and Jason Reitman.

Independent film has been the proving ground for so many of the great storytellers of the last 50+ years. Hollywood needs to form new pipelines to continue building the connection between emerging filmmakers and new audiences; from the conversations I’ve had throughout this endeavor it is clear that there is great excitement around this emerging structure.

This is the beginning of something radically new in the entertainment and blockchain spaces. We believe the future of media is one where creators and consumers are closer together, enabling audiences to have more say in the movies they want to see made. Let’s build the future of cinema together.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.