The Hollywood film industry is always seeking innovation but slow to adapt to changes until it is compelled to. Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative innovation that will revolutionize the entertainment industry, and Hollywood must reorganize and reengineer their business processes around it. In this article, we will explore how blockchain will affect the media and entertainment value chain across the development, production, and distribution phases.
The development phase is the process of originating an idea for a film and turning it into a script that is ready to shoot. However, traditional development processes face four significant challenges: cost, time, uncertainty, and appeal.
Cost: Studios can invest several million dollars in an idea during the development phase. Multiple rounds of rewrites and edits, expenses for writers, producers, and researchers, and internal costs such as staffing, legal, and admin can all add up and are attached to the project. These costs may never be recouped if the final film underperforms or is canceled.
Time: The time it takes to see a project from an idea to a ready-to-shoot script is the second significant barrier. Development hell is a common phenomenon in Hollywood, where projects can be stuck in the development phase for years.
Uncertainty: Despite spending millions of dollars on the best writers and filmmakers, studios must deal with tremendous uncertainty and risk on their investment.
Appeal: Hollywood needs differentiated stories and characters to draw from to minimize risk, time, and cost. One way is to acquire proven titles from other media such as publishing or Broadway. However, their libraries have been picked over many times, and acquiring IP from outside sources is highly competitive.
Blockchain can help Hollywood breathe fresh life into its IP development process. The following two actions can be taken:
Bring Web3 IP To You: Hire a development executive knowledgeable in Web3 storytelling and community building. Empower that executive to close deals that bring Web3 story projects into the studio development pipeline. Strike first-look deals with Web3 studios and collaborate with them on the development of new IP.
Bring Your IP to Web3: Utilize Web3 as a testing ground for new IP that is advancing or stuck in the development pipeline. Divert it into a Web3 storytelling project. Build a community around it. Collect data and audience feedback in real-time to help inform the ongoing development efforts.
Blockchain represents an opportunity for Hollywood to escape the traditional development process. Although there is no Web3 IP as de-risked as Harry Potter, Web3 provides a cheaper and quicker solution. Studios can adopt blockchain in small steps now and take larger steps later as confidence builds. By doing so, Hollywood can transform its IP development process and revitalize its industry.
