The Future of Impact Entertainment is NFT
NFT 2461 from the EVERYONE Collection at House of First NFT
If you think NFT’s is hype over digital art, then you’re missing the big picture - welcome to the age of cause utility.
I’m going to do something novel and not start with the obligatory explanation of what an NFT is. The picture heading this article is my first NFT. He’s a cute dude. Nice traits. My NFT comes from Ian Murray’s The Everyones collection at House of First. It was founded by my friend Zeev Klien, and that matters. If not for the inherent trust and confidence of knowning someone behind the project, I probably wouldn’t have taken the leap.
I didn’t actually take that leap until I spent many hours educating myself well beyond the mechanics of investing in NFT and finding alpha. I in fact found something much greater than a wild chase of economy - I discovered what this is really all about - community. Not just any community, but a community of futurists packing up virtual wagontrains on Discord heading to the promised land of Web3.
If none of this makes any sense to you, particularly as it relates to Social Impact Entertainment, hang in there with me, I’m getting there. I’ve heard a lot of analogies about what NFT communities represent, and I’m going to add my own to the list. Think of it this way: The value of a country club membership requires little explanation to most. The “utility” of being a member is the use of private facilities, access to a golf course, networking with other members and having a vote in club affairs. The value of your membership is in the scarcity of memberships and the prestige that brings. It often results in many sporting their club swag to the grocery store and local winebars. When you see someone wearing their club logo’ed polo, would you dream of asking them why’d they pay so much for a shirt? Of course not, because the value beyond the logo is understood. Its utility.
This same club “utility” is embedded in (quality) NFT projects via their roadmap which operates much like a club charter. As for my Everyones community, I have the utility of a vote in marketing matters, the use of virtual facilities, a new common network and I also enjoy the transparency of leadership assuring the value of my membership asset (the cute dude above). Because it’s a well contructed program with known and trusted (doxxed) leadership, I felt really good about my purchase and am very satisfied. I also learned that NFT communities are a form of social entertainment.
Being the subject of my own case study helped grasp the full potential of what a truly free marketplace could bring to the cause entertainment industry. It’s well known that conscious consumerism rose out of the fact that buyers who felt good about a product or brand became loyal to it. Through their purchase, the consumer had “voted” for the ethical marketplace they demanded. The counterpart in the NFT world is currently One Chain Monkey (who aside from groundbreaking NFT on blockchain) associated their community with social impact through MetaGood. The most well known action was the community’s decision to fund the evacuation of one of the most recognized Afghan women of all time. This was seminal, but a mere swipe at the full potential NFT poses as a marketplace of transparent social impact - and the promise of Web3 to solve major social challenges through open source technology and social equity.
It didn’t take long for high profile producers to leverage their communities of fandom to raise capital to produce sequels using the sale of rare memorabilia and collectible NFTs. This is major. Anyone who has ever tried (or succeeded) to raise funds for the production, promotion and distribution of an independent film - particularly one about a social issue - can attest that it’s the most frustrating, elusive and frankly scarce commodity in the entire industry. The truth is the current “utility” of funding films is locked away in clubs, the result of which is really important films not getting made or seen. However, the use of NFT art-for-cause will drive the crowdfunding of entire budgets - with funders who are not mere donors, but actual stakeholders with utility - who can carry with them a artisitc badge of honor that conveys conspicuous prestige of being part of something they believe in. Like the country club polo, when seen in the wine bar in the metaverse, no explanation will be required.
If you are a social impact filmmaker or creative producer not currently up to speed on the utility of NFT’s as a funding bus for media, my advice is you get acquainted. Our upcoming book Cause Marketing and CSR Storytelling has a section with recent case studies, so stay tuned for that!
