As Austin startups move to models of television that include non-fungible tokens (NFTs), viewers can one day fund their favorite television shows and guide their creative choices.
Founded in 2019, startup Virtual Arts has released an app called Dance Fight that allows users to compete in dance battles. Currently working on a new project called Wonderfuel with Bunim / Burray Productions, the joint venture will release a show slate with NFTs involved in the funding model and viewer experience.
It works by letting NFTs, a collection commonly stored on the Ethereum blockchain, perform a process called minting that allows them to be released with the show. From there, fans will have access to rewards such as prizes and involvement in the “creative decisions” of the show. In fact, think of it as helping TV determine who will be the next task, who will be the judge, and who will be the guest.
There are many more announcements about the types of shows that Wonderfuel will release, but for now, Virtual Arts co-founder Ryan Jordan says it will be an unscripted show.
With tokens expanding rapidly to almost every industry, including fashion, art and music, TV NFTing is expected to be the next step. Dolly Parton entered the cryptocurrency game with the launch of a Web3 platform called “Dolly Bath,” which received a free limited edition NFT from attendees of the SXSW Austin concert on Friday. At the end of last year, another country music star, Parker McCallum, made a similar move with the creation of his fan club NFT.
Jordan said that what is happening in music has been a great inspiration for the team.
“Watching artists sell album cover NFTs and fund their fans to take ownership of the album, and in some cases replace the labels that normally fund the album,” Jordan said. Said. “Fans are now turning into their favorite artists and becoming ambassadors and evangelists for those artists.”
Jordan was inspired by this idea at the Amara Foundation, which conducts programming for young people in the Austin region. Jordan realized that the participants came from all over the world and helped them learn how music and dance connect people.
“So we wanted to try to create something that was exciting, safe, inclusive and diverse, virtually,” Jordan said.
Screenshot of DanceFight app.
After starting the pool of fairness they gave to dancers in the community, they realized that ownership was a characteristic they wanted to delve into. Jordan said it could help the show’s contestants’ careers.
“When we started our research on NFTs and web3 in general, we realized that’this is a very powerful way to take ownership of what the author is creating,'” said Jordan. I am.
The show strives to be user-friendly. Jordan expects someone in a small town to participate, even if they don’t have much know-how about NFTs.
“They can participate in an easy, simple and frictionless way and don’t need a lot of knowledge about what an NFT is,” Jordan said. “That’s our goal and to make it very accessible. Expand the distribution of opportunities around getting more people involved in web3.”
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