NightRose: The Steppingstone For The Democratization Of Movie Production

We often read about movies that could have been, discarded works, and unused concepts that ended up gathering dust in some producer’s drawers. Places like Hollywood are haunted by the ghosts of such ideas, and for every movie that has made it onto the screen, there are tenfold that couldn’t take a form beyond that of a script.

In order for such ideas to see the light of day, producers usually finance their projects by attracting wealthy investors who are willing to put in millions, and in some cases tens or even hundreds of millions collectively, to fund works that they believe have the potential to break charts and rake in profits.

This model — being the go-to in Hollywood and many other sectors — presents a host of problems that has riddled the industry for decades, reaching a point where the imperfections in the system are becoming difficult to avoid. A vast and continuously growing gap exists between audiences and movie makers, which widens due to the pursuit for profit and the unhealthy prioritization of money over other factors.

But unbeknownst to many, an alternative is brewing that can revolutionize the way movies are funded; and it was only possible thanks to recently-developed blockchain technology like NFTs, and the creative vision of the Smashchain team.

The Current State Of Movie Funding

Hollywood and the movies industry in general is slowly becoming a shadow of its former self as the gap between movie makers and audiences widen predominantly due to monetary factors. In this day and age of franchises and their respective communities and fanbases, more and more consumers of such media are feeling left out of the equation as movies from all genres consistently become more and more generic. While viewers pay to consume these works, the unfortunate reality is that since they didn’t fund them (i.e. took the risks involved with movie production), they don’t get to have a say in how they’re made.

And risks are one of the driving factors that direct movies towards becoming safe, cookie-cutter products barren and void of creativity and passion. They stand as a barrier in front of innovative and risky ideas, and as a consequence, force a narrow list of proven formulae upon the creative process — formulae that have grown stale after many years of continuous usage.

Neither the predominant model nor centralization are problems themselves however, as they’re merely a means to an end. It is the lack of an effective and accessible alternative that creates an atmosphere lacking sufficient competition, which in turn produces an air of stagnation.

And So It Begs Some Questions

If external factors radiating from investors carry significantly more weight in movie production than the opinions of the audiences said movies are intended for, then who are movies primarily made for? This isn’t to imply of course, that movies should strictly prioritize quality and public opinion over revenue, far from it in fact; for any legal economic activity to be sustainable it has to turn over profits and adhere to the principles of supply and demand, and movies aren’t an exception. At the end of the day producers and investors have the right to formulate their product just as consumers have the right to not buy them.

But if uncoordinated purchase power doesn’t guarantee an influence in the production process, and if there is a major imbalance in prioritizing profits over other factors, then does that mean audiences who want their opinions to influence movies and other media have to participate in the funding process?

Perhaps; the idea itself is interesting, sensible, and the proposition is an alternative to a model where consumer opinion can easily be disregarded — if even considered at all in the first place.

Crowdfunding movies is not by any means a new concept, and has been done for decades, but it doesn’t address all the problems that are present in the industry today. In a nutshell, what traditional means of crowdfunding does is replace big investors unconfident in the profitability of the project with a large number of people who care enough to see and be a part of something new.

But in most cases, that is where their involvement ends. Crowdfunders often don’t get access to the core details of the movie such as the script and screenwriting, aren’t necessarily given any memorabilia in return, and most importantly rarely have any influence in the creative process.

A Catalyst For Change

More than just an NFT event, NightRose — the first of its kind — is a catalyst for something far greater: the democratization of the movie making process. Now would be a great time to note that while NightRose utilizes this methodology to achieve its funding goals, it doesn’t (at least yet) offer any voting mechanisms that give participants a steering wheel to navigate with on this journey. Additionally, owning NFTs of the movie do not represent shares of this particular project and the revenue it generates.

It does however demonstrate that the technology is there to do so, which has implications that can echo across the entire industry. This isn’t to say that a democratic movie production process is in and of itself the solution to all of the industry’s problems or the correct path to take, but as an alternative to other models, it can create a competing environment with its centralized counterparts from which innovation and progress can emerge.

NightRose also allows participants to own parts of the movie itself; from pieces of the synopsis to future drops that include quotes from the script, original storyboards, character designs, and much more! Some of the rarer variants of these NFTs also come with AR features, all made possible thanks to Smashchain’s partnership with Artivive. These aren’t just pieces of the movie, however, but also those of history — pages of a new chapter.

What’s more is that the director of the movie is none other than the iconic Jack Sholder! While he’s best known for the cult classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge”, he has also directed a number of other classics including “Alone in the Dark”, “The Hidden” and “Renegades”.

The first drop of the NightRose collection is now available on OpenSea and you can check it out here!

What Happens Now?

NFTs, with their seemingly countless use-cases, have set in motion a chain of events that are ushering in a new cultural and technological era. From ticketing to collectibles, to enabling decentralization and democratization; it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the opportunities and functionalities now available to everyone are of historical significance.

What is Smashchain?

SmashChain is an NFT-exclusive curation, creation, and consulting platform. We aim to become the first of its kind project dedicated to the advancement of all kinds of NFT technologies, use-cases, and creators — whose publications and IPs are perfectly expressed with the use of NFTs.

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