The Tribeca Film Festival, founded in 2001, is trying its hand at new technology: selling VIP passes as non-fungible tokens. The VIP passes will serve as a gateway to various experiences at the festival, including a rooftop cocktail party and events that the festival’s founders — Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro — will attend.
Interested individuals can purchase the NFTs at two locations: the official Tribeca Film Festival website and the OKX marketplace. OKX, a cryptocurrency marketplace, has become the main sponsor of the event. While users will need a cryptocurrency wallet no matter where they purchase, they can pay with a credit card on the festival’s website for a flat price of $799. On the OKX marketplace, the price will be 0.5 ETH ($710 at the time of writing).
The festival’s use of NFTs as VIP passes shows the malleability of the technology. Other festivals have experimented with using NFTs as membership passes or to redeem physical rewards, while some sports leagues have used NFTs as a sort of memorabilia — an electronic “ticket stub” with which fans can remember the event.
Haider Rafique, OKX Chief Marketing Officer, said in a statement that the implementation of NFTs will allow festival goers to experience Web3 and hopefully imagine ways to build on top of the tech. In particular, he added, the company is looking for artists who wish to “create more on Web3.”
The art for the NFTs will highlight the landscape of Lower Manhattan, where the festival takes place. Rosenthal and De Niro initially started the festival, which runs this year from June 7th to the 18th, to revitalize the area after the September 11th attacks in 2001.
Festivals Dive into Web3 in 2022
While many associate NFTs with pictures of bored apes or anime figures, 2022 saw a growth in the number of use cases of this new technology. And festivals, whether for music, film, or art, paid attention. Here are three stories involving festivals and their use of NFTs or Web3 technology.
First, seven months ago, NFT-TiX released the first NFT festival tickets. The innovation came from EXIT, a two-time winner of the Best Major European Festival, which used blockchain technology to sell its tickets as NFTs.
Next, eight months ago, Pixelynx, a music metaverse platform, issued its own NFT collection called “Synth Heads.” The NFTs came with IRL prizes and experiences, including passes to the Junction 2 Festival and access to a backstage artist bar.
Lastly, also eight months ago, Miami Swim Week used a variety of Web3 tech at its event. The tech included NFTs as entry passes, social impact NFTs, and metaverse fashion projects with a virtual Swim Week fashion show.
Tribeca Film Festival’s use of NFTs as VIP passes will certainly spur along innovation within the sector and spark new ideas about how to use NFTs at events. Here at Rarity Sniper, we’ll be paying close attention for further developments in the story.