Decentralized Pictures (Foundation)
Decentralized Pictures is a nonprofit blockchain foundation designed to coordinate participation in independent film production, creating the opportunity for community members participate in film funding decisions.
Website: https://decentralized.pictures/
HQ: Los Angeles, California, United States
Active Markets: United States
Problem Addressed
Industry conditions and rising production costs have created significant challenges for independent and unknown talent in advancing their projects, with big studios prioritizing known talent and intellectual property. Self-financed films also struggle to compete with those receiving major studio financing.
Project Description
Decentralized films seeks to increase the financing capabilities of small production film projects through democratized access to crowdfunding and award-based funding initiatives. Decentralized Pictures (DCP) was co-founded by American Zoetrope, founded by Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola and run today by Roman, Sofia, and Gia Coppola. The project is a 501c(3) non-profit Web3 organization focused on supporting new talent and providing financing and production support through blockchain facilitated crowd-funding tools and community support.
DCP runs a fund that is tracked on a blockchain and democratically managed and allocated towards projects, funded by token sales, donations, and revenues from DCP financed films. Users can submit film proposals for review by community members, and can integrate offers of NFTs of their IP, a line in the credits, role opportunities, merchandise, or other rewards as well. Reviewers are awarded Film credit tokens for evaluating and rating proposals that increase their community reputation score, which can make them eligible to become community moderators. Projects deemed eligible for funding awards from the Foundation are referred to an 11-person board for review, which includes at least 6 independent directors at any given time. Finalists and winners of financing awards are matched with DCP’s industry partners and experts to develop and provide guidance on the project.
Business Data
Status: Active
Constituency Served: Creatives
Networks: T4L3NT net
Known Investors: N/a
Additional References: Culture3 Article Decentralized Pictures App Whitepaper
Progress to date
DCP launched their betanet testing in December 2021 and delivering their mainnet launch in April 2022.
Decentralized Pictures partnered with Kevin Smith and in March 2023 began awarding small film projects with awards to fund their projects. The foundation awarded the $40,000 Comedy Screenplay Award to a women-led Latina film project.
Decentralized Pictures partnered with Fujifilm to announce the 2024 / 2025 Aspiring Filmmakers Award Series, that will provide recipients with quarterly awards through the DCP platform, film equipment, resources, and mentorship to produce their projects. In March 2024, the project announced DCP+, Decentralized Pictures’ own in-app streaming service, billed as a public service platform for filmmakers to distribute content “100% free.”
Business Model
Decentralized Pictures relies on submission fees to incentivize the labor of reviewing scripts. Projects that are chosen receive donation funds from the foundation to produce their project.
Traction
As of April 2024, DCP’s blockchain network registered 2,164 accounts and 21,080 monthly transactions.