The movie industry is known for its constant innovation and development. Although the industry is barely a century old, film production and distribution methods have constantly changed. However, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed much, and that’s the financing of most movies, especially independent films.
It’s become increasingly challenging to bring indie movies into the market. This is evident in the current box office crisis rocking Italy. Raising the necessary financing is a big challenge unaffected by technological advancement in the entire industry. This is where crypto enters the picture. For those with little information about cryptocurrencies, it is a digital currency maintained and verified by a decentralized system.
If you know about cryptocurrencies, you’re aware that there are various platforms where you can buy and trade cryptos. But even despite the popularity of these types ofassets, they are not available on all known platforms (for example, the Fineco Trading platform does not provide an opportunity to trade crypto). At the same time, the choice of platforms where you can trade crypto is huge! One such brokers is XM Broker (https://brokerschart.it/migliori-brokers/xm). In any case, before investing, check out the offers of the most popular brokers on the market: you may find a companion in the world of trading that does not offer trading in cryptocurrencies but at the same time, offers very favorable conditions for other types of assets (for example, Libertex – https://brokerschart.it/migliori-brokers/libertex).
Limited Financing Options for Italian Movies
Although many Italian movies are being made, it is clear that people aren’t coming out to watch them. The Italian movie industry hasn’t bounced back from the COVID slump. There’s no audience for Italian indie films, making it difficult to find financing. On the other hand, studio titles have been making waves. This is evident in the release of Minions: The Rise of Gru. This Universal animated hit grossed over $10 million in Italy after two weeks of release.
There are only a handful of financing options for filmmakers in Italy. Competition is fierce for grants, and although debt financing is available, it is a high risk for filmmakers if their movie doesn’t perform as anticipated. With the poor performance of local films at the box office, private investors consider filmmaking too high a risk.
Another option available for Italian filmmakers is crowdfunding. However, this is limited in its success because filmmakers can offer meaningful incentives to fans as investors. However, crowdfunding for movies takes a different dimension when blockchain and cryptos enter the equation.
NFTs – Creating New Revenue Streams for Italian Filmmakers
NFTs took the whole world by storm in 2021, with digital artists like Beeple selling their NFT collection for $69 million in March. Therefore, it has provided a new way for Italian filmmakers to generate value from their movies.
In 2021, EY announced its collaboration with CinTech, an Italian startup in the blockchain industry, to create NFTs for the 22 main scenes of an award-winning Italian film, La Leggenda Di Kaspar Hauser. This innovative project was the first to utilize NFTs in driving value for the Italian film industry. It showed the potential to leverage blockchain and its ability to benefit the film industry. In addition, this project helped to create new revenue streams and financing sources for filmmakers.
For Italian filmmakers, this was a game-changer. Although filmmakers offer digital rewards like access to never-before-seen footage, artworks, or posters, this isn’t as valuable as making them into NFTs. Issuing these rewards as NFT and ensuring a reliable market for such assets will provide filmmakers with a lucrative source of revenue.
This way, fans can own a liquid piece of intellectual property related to their favorite movies. This strategy will also create a deep and symbolic relationship between filmmakers and fans.
Token-Based Voting Systems to Give Fans a Voice
Before fundraising, Italian filmmakers can gauge their audience sentiments by utilizing a token-based voting system. This is similar to the strategy used by Deadpool and Sonic the Hedgehog producers. These movies only made it into production because of fan pressure. A token-based voting system helps fans influence certain decisions in the film while providing a source of funding for filmmakers.
A token-based voting system will allow fans to control the direction of their favorite movies. Fans can buy tokens and have a chance to vote on which movie will be made, serving as a form of investment by movie fans.
Broad Opportunities in the Crypto Space
Cryptocurrencies provide Italian filmmakers with new opportunities to finance movies. Allowing fans to determine which films get made and funded will help solve the ‘quality over quantity’ crisis in the Italian movie industry. Beyond fan approval, there are many innovations blockchain technology brings into the movie industry. Each of the use cases here can provide more financing for Italian filmmakers.