Indie Filmmakers Raise $2M in 72 Hours — How Crypto is Revolutionizing Hollywood
In 2023, the independent film industry made up 21.7% of the global box office, generating over $7.3 billion in revenue. Unfortunately, filmmakers have pointed out that the traditional movie industry relies heavily on a broken, centralized model.
For instance, Chris Temple — a film director and the founder of Los Angeles-based production studio Optimist — told Cryptonews that the documentary industry is filled with challenges.
“Filmmakers rely on gatekeepers for funding, distribution, and visibility, which limits creative freedom and keeps important stories from reaching audiences,” Temple said.
He added that budgets are tight and backend revenue is rare, resulting in filmmakers usually being the last to receive payments.
Crypto To Fund Independent Films
With these challenges in mind, Temple and Director Zach Ingrasci turned to cryptocurrency to fund and distribute their latest feature documentary, “Vitalik: An Ethereum Story.”
Released to the public on April 15, the story follows Vitalik Buterin’s incredible journey from a teenage programmer to becoming the co-founder of Ethereum. The documentary reveals how Vitalik’s creation of the Ethereum network sparked a global movement.
Although the film is about a cryptocurrency pioneer, Temple and Ingrasci used crypto to fund and distribute the documentary.
In July of 2021, the team launched a crowdfund on the Web3 publishing platform, Mirror. The project raised 1,035.96 ETH ($1,986,411.86) in under 72 hours.
“All supporters got access to a private Discord server where we posted behind-the-scenes updates and early access to the film,” Temple said. “Top backers received NFT artwork from the artist, pplpleasr, and various credits in the film itself.”
The thriller Cold Wallet was also partially funded using cryptocurrency. Cold Wallet is a film about a team of vigilante Redditors who try to kidnap a kingpin who ruined their lives through a cryptocurrency scam. The film premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2024 and was released in theatres in February.
Cold Wallet Director Cutter Hodierne told Cryptonews that while the film was mostly financed privately by Producer Derek McMurtry, the team received final funds from Decentralized Pictures (DCP).
“We shared parts of the film with the online community at DCP, a democratic film fund and opportunity pool that allows anyone with internet access to apply for financing or support films,” Hodierne said. “DCP was co-founded by American Zoetrope, the independent film company started by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas in 1969. It’s a really cool organization that has continued to be involved in the film, including releasing the movie on Web3 platforms.”
Hodierne added that the layer-2 (L2) network Base promoted the film by launching it on-chain during ETH Denver 2025.
Check out the new #ColdWalletMovie page powered by @base
— Decentralized Pictures (@DCP_Foundation) February 27, 2025We’re excited for the Web3VOD window of Cold Wallet dropping 2/28
Watch the trailer and learn more about the filmhttps://t.co/l3tRyHe1G3 pic.twitter.com/Qp0yzE92g3
Crypto for Community Building
While it makes sense to use cryptocurrency to fund films, Web3 concepts can also help filmmakers build community.
John Hibey, the writer of Cold Wallet, told Cryptonews that films — especially independent films — have traditionally found a way to grow their community in organic ways. Yet he noted that it has become harder for independent films to reach their audiences.
Hibey believes that the Web3 community has the capacity to transform the relationship between the artist and their audience.
“First and foremost, the Web3 community recognizes the importance of a decentralized approach to the creation of all things, giving the people the opportunity to hold the reins of power,” he said.
For example, Hodierne noted that tokenized crowdfunding can help fans become investors. “Filmmakers can issue a native token for the film that represents future revenue share, access, or perks.”
Using NFTs for community building is also proving to be helpful. Ingrasci told Cryptonews that NFTs were used to distribute Vitalik: An Ethereum Story.
“Using the platforms Zora and Base, we released the film’s trailer, the feature film, and 6 accompanying short films, directly to the audience,” Ingrasci said. “The trailer alone received 95,000 mints, generating revenue that would typically be impossible with a traditional release.”
Ingrasci further stated that this community validation allowed the film’s team to demonstrate that there was an audience for the documentary, which helped secure mainstream distribution through Gravitas Ventures.
“We screened the film across 24 countries in 30 cities simultaneously,” he said. “Our crypto-native approach also helped us connect with additional supporters, including 0x|Matcha, who came on to support the traditional marketing budget for the film’s mainstream release.”
Breckyn Hager, Director and Producer of Born in Denver – an indie film about cowboys attending ETH Denver — told Cryptonews that he believes film NFTs are a powerful use case.
“The blockchain production platform Cuneiform, which produced Born in Denver, took a Sundance winning short film and released NFTs to access the movie. We made the director tens of thousands of dollars, which is more money than Amazon Prime Video,” Hager stated.
Hager pointed out that this is a historic opportunity for filmmakers to market their work, while generating revenue. “Filmmakers no longer have to rely on anyone but themselves and the community surrounding the project. It’s just the beginning of crypto integrated filmmaking and the upside is huge.”
Challenges Filmmakers Face When Using Crypto
Although there are benefits associated with crypto, many filmmakers will likely struggle with these concepts. Temple mentioned that the biggest challenge is that the tools are still in their infancy.
“For filmmakers who aren’t already immersed in the crypto space, it can feel overwhelming and inaccessible,” he said.
Yet as streaming platforms continue to consolidate under a handful of tech giants, Temple believes filmmakers need to find their own grassroots audiences, something which Web3 enables.
Echoing this, Hibey commented that the algorithmic approach to film development and distribution has given filmmakers a decade of the same. “People want new voices, new ideas, developed by people who live in the culture, created for the culture,” he said.
Hibey shared that organizations like DCP and even major players like Coinbase L2 Base are paving the way for filmmakers.
The post Indie Filmmakers Raise $2M in 72 Hours — How Crypto is Revolutionizing Hollywood appeared first on Cryptonews.
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Indie Filmmakers Raise $2M in 72 Hours — How Crypto is Revolutionizing Hollywood
In 2023, the independent film industry made up 21.7% of the global box office, generating over $7.3 billion in revenue. Unfortunately, filmmakers have pointed out that the traditional movie industry relies heavily on a broken, centralized model.
For instance, Chris Temple — a film director and the founder of Los Angeles-based production studio Optimist — told Cryptonews that the documentary industry is filled with challenges.
“Filmmakers rely on gatekeepers for funding, distribution, and visibility, which limits creative freedom and keeps important stories from reaching audiences,” Temple said.
He added that budgets are tight and backend revenue is rare, resulting in filmmakers usually being the last to receive payments.
Crypto To Fund Independent Films
With these challenges in mind, Temple and Director Zach Ingrasci turned to cryptocurrency to fund and distribute their latest feature documentary, “Vitalik: An Ethereum Story.”
Released to the public on April 15, the story follows Vitalik Buterin’s incredible journey from a teenage programmer to becoming the co-founder of Ethereum. The documentary reveals how Vitalik’s creation of the Ethereum network sparked a global movement.
Although the film is about a cryptocurrency pioneer, Temple and Ingrasci used crypto to fund and distribute the documentary.
In July of 2021, the team launched a crowdfund on the Web3 publishing platform, Mirror. The project raised 1,035.96 ETH ($1,986,411.86) in under 72 hours.
“All supporters got access to a private Discord server where we posted behind-the-scenes updates and early access to the film,” Temple said. “Top backers received NFT artwork from the artist, pplpleasr, and various credits in the film itself.”
The thriller Cold Wallet was also partially funded using cryptocurrency. Cold Wallet is a film about a team of vigilante Redditors who try to kidnap a kingpin who ruined their lives through a cryptocurrency scam. The film premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2024 and was released in theatres in February.
Cold Wallet Director Cutter Hodierne told Cryptonews that while the film was mostly financed privately by Producer Derek McMurtry, the team received final funds from Decentralized Pictures (DCP).
“We shared parts of the film with the online community at DCP, a democratic film fund and opportunity pool that allows anyone with internet access to apply for financing or support films,” Hodierne said. “DCP was co-founded by American Zoetrope, the independent film company started by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas in 1969. It’s a really cool organization that has continued to be involved in the film, including releasing the movie on Web3 platforms.”
Hodierne added that the layer-2 (L2) network Base promoted the film by launching it on-chain during ETH Denver 2025.
Check out the new #ColdWalletMovie page powered by @base
— Decentralized Pictures (@DCP_Foundation) February 27, 2025
Watch the trailer and learn more about the film
Crypto for Community Building
While it makes sense to use cryptocurrency to fund films, Web3 concepts can also help filmmakers build community.
John Hibey, the writer of Cold Wallet, told Cryptonews that films — especially independent films — have traditionally found a way to grow their community in organic ways. Yet he noted that it has become harder for independent films to reach their audiences.
Hibey believes that the Web3 community has the capacity to transform the relationship between the artist and their audience.
“First and foremost, the Web3 community recognizes the importance of a decentralized approach to the creation of all things, giving the people the opportunity to hold the reins of power,” he said.
For example, Hodierne noted that tokenized crowdfunding can help fans become investors. “Filmmakers can issue a native token for the film that represents future revenue share, access, or perks.”
Using NFTs for community building is also proving to be helpful. Ingrasci told Cryptonews that NFTs were used to distribute Vitalik: An Ethereum Story.
“Using the platforms Zora and Base, we released the film’s trailer, the feature film, and 6 accompanying short films, directly to the audience,” Ingrasci said. “The trailer alone received 95,000 mints, generating revenue that would typically be impossible with a traditional release.”
Ingrasci further stated that this community validation allowed the film’s team to demonstrate that there was an audience for the documentary, which helped secure mainstream distribution through Gravitas Ventures.
“We screened the film across 24 countries in 30 cities simultaneously,” he said. “Our crypto-native approach also helped us connect with additional supporters, including 0x|Matcha, who came on to support the traditional marketing budget for the film’s mainstream release.”
Breckyn Hager, Director and Producer of Born in Denver – an indie film about cowboys attending ETH Denver — told Cryptonews that he believes film NFTs are a powerful use case.
“The blockchain production platform Cuneiform, which produced Born in Denver, took a Sundance winning short film and released NFTs to access the movie. We made the director tens of thousands of dollars, which is more money than Amazon Prime Video,” Hager stated.
Hager pointed out that this is a historic opportunity for filmmakers to market their work, while generating revenue. “Filmmakers no longer have to rely on anyone but themselves and the community surrounding the project. It’s just the beginning of crypto integrated filmmaking and the upside is huge.”
Challenges Filmmakers Face When Using Crypto
Although there are benefits associated with crypto, many filmmakers will likely struggle with these concepts. Temple mentioned that the biggest challenge is that the tools are still in their infancy.
“For filmmakers who aren’t already immersed in the crypto space, it can feel overwhelming and inaccessible,” he said.
Yet as streaming platforms continue to consolidate under a handful of tech giants, Temple believes filmmakers need to find their own grassroots audiences, something which Web3 enables.
Echoing this, Hibey commented that the algorithmic approach to film development and distribution has given filmmakers a decade of the same. “People want new voices, new ideas, developed by people who live in the culture, created for the culture,” he said.
Hibey shared that organizations like DCP and even major players like Coinbase L2 Base are paving the way for filmmakers.
The post Indie Filmmakers Raise $2M in 72 Hours — How Crypto is Revolutionizing Hollywood appeared first on Cryptonews.
Read More
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