After spending most of his adult life climbing the Hollywood ladder, Moisés Zamora had finally made it in 2020: he created and co-hosted his own Netflix show, “Selena: The Series.” The show, which chronicles the rise of the Mexican-American star singer, did well, reaching 25 million households in its first four weeks, he said, according to Netflix.
Zamora was excited; After all those years of hard work, making his own films, getting noticed, landing multiple almost unattainable writing jobs for television staff, and creating his own show, he had reached the other side of success. But even then, financial security never came.
“I thought, man, I made it! Where is my country house? Where are my paychecks?” Zamora told Declutter at the Film3 Summit in Los Angeles. “One of the things we see with the streaming model – and that’s why we have two labor strikes – is that this kind of success doesn’t translate into a residual system or a compensation system that allows us to continue to make a living, don’t fear for our future.”
Since creating ‘Selena’, Zamora has changed his perspective on what it means to be successful in the entertainment industry. He has also taken that success into his own hands. Zamora is currently in the process of launching Video martan on-chain platform that allows users to launch their own films, find dedicated fans for those projects – and capture a greater share of the revenue they generate through NFTs.
The key to Videomart’s potential success will be convincing indie filmmakers that it’s better to find a smaller audience of dedicated fans than to land whatever deal a major studio has to offer. According to Zamora, streamers like Netflix offer emerging filmmakers theoretical prestige, but little else.
“Netflix will give you $10,000, up to a $100,000 deal, for an incredible movie, for a 10 to 20 year licensing deal,” Zamora said. “So how much did you just ‘pay’ Netflix just to say, ‘My movie is on Netflix’?”
“As filmmakers, we need to have a realistic conversation,” the writer and director continued. “My movie, especially if it’s… something smaller, isn’t going to be seen by 300 million people. But you will have an audience… a community that will support your work. Five thousand people for $5 [each], which is $25,000. What short film, so small, has grossed $25,000?”
Videomart has just ended beta testing and will launch publicly in January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The platform currently features 35 films; Zamora says he plans to add another 400 titles in the coming months.
It joins a growing ecosystem of initiatives looking to use emerging technology like NFTs to lower the barriers to entry into the extremely isolated and costly world of film production.
Recently one number of blockchain-backed startups have emerged that seek to connect filmmakers directly to fan bases via NFTs, offering options for film financing and distribution that don’t require an incredibly selective Hollywood studio green light.
This week ‘The Quiet Maid’, one of the first feature films ever funded by NFTs bought by fans – will have its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Edited by Andrew Hayward