Shibuya, a Web3 video platform co-founded by digital artist Emily “pplpleasr” Yang, has revealed a new collaboration that will let NFT holders shape a stop-motion animated short video created by musician Steve Aoki and actor Seth Green’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (SBS).
SBS, the studio behind the Adult Swim series “Robot Chicken,” is bringing their “Dominion X: Level 2” project to Shibuya. It will contain a six-week interactive production process that invites the community to collaborate by voting on how each scene plays out. Afterwards, the producers will film the segments according to fans’ wishes.
Ultimately, the single stop-motion animated short will be watchable by anyone via the Shibuya platform. However, only NFT holders can vote during production. Holders will also receive an NFT reward with a rarity level that depends on how much they participated in the creative process.
“Dominion X” is the second IP launch from Shibuya since being founded in March 2022, and Pplepleasr said it will contain a different flavor of interactive content than its first project “White Rabbit.”
In August 2021, “Dominion X” launched a series of animated scenes that sold as NFTs on Ethereum. Then in September 2022, they released a collection of 7,777 NFT profile pictures, each granting access to a virtual writer’s room and community to create the next series.
Now NFT holders can stake their assets on the Shibuya platform and as a result they are allowed to vote on story decisions for the new project. Pplpleasr said she expects thousands of voters to be involved in the upcoming production process.
In December, Shibuya raised $6.9 million in a funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Variant Fund, and angel investors Kevin Durant and Paris Hilton. The startup was founded with conceptual artist Maciej Kuciara to disrupt traditional funding models for creating video content.
Web3 is Infiltrating the Film Industry
Web3 and NFT technology is beginning to disrupt a number of industries, and film is no exception. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several Web3 projects happening in Web3. Here are some of the most interesting stories.
First, about eight months ago, American director Spike Lee announced the release of Ethereum-based NFTs from his iconic film “She’s Gotta Have It.” The NFTs were released in collaboration with a new decentralized platform that aims to help young directors fund films through NFTs and allow NFT holders to vote on which films are funded.
Next, Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate partnered with Internet Game and Autograph to bring the horror picture franchise Saw to Web3. The activation lets users play mini-games for the chance to win blue chip NFTs from Doodles and Mutant Apes.
Finally, about two weeks ago, the film “Calladita” won the Andrews/Bernard Award at the Film3 on the Mountain conference in Utah. The team behind the film — which was funded “thanks to 500 degens” who minted NFTs — will receive $100,000 in finishing funds as a prize.
Films can be expensive to produce and finding adequate funding has always been an issue for film creators. Many, including Pplepleasr, believe NFTs and Web3 technology can solve this issue. And now with the new project from Shibuya and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, NFT holders will be able to participate in the creative process themselves. We’ll be following up on any developments in the story.