What is a Fan Engagement Token: The Emergence of Fan Engagement Tokens in the Entertainment Industry with Blockchain

‍

From digital identity to decentralized finance, nearly every industry has explored the many possibilities of blockchain. The entertainment industry is no exception. Filmmakers, video game designers, and augmented reality developers are always looking for the next big invention, especially to enhance the fan experience. The more satisfied the fan, the more the fan will engage with a platform and spend on a product.

How can fan engagement tokens on the blockchain drive engagement, and in turn, further drive distribution in the entertainment industry? That is the million-satoshi question.

Here is an introduction on fan engagement tokens, including:

• What are fan engagement tokens?
• Why is fan engagement so important?
• Which companies offer fan engagement tokens?

‍

What are Fan Engagement Tokens?

One of the most exciting innovations to have developed at the intersection between entertainment and technology is the emergence of fan engagement tokens. Fan tokens represent a new way for the entertainment industry to engage with fans and a new way for fans to take their entertainment experience to the next level.

A fan engagement token is a utility token that serves as a fan’s access pass to a new type of engagement with their favorite sports team or movie studio. A fan token gives fans access and influence on certain decisions made by the team or the studio, such as which players take the field, and what jerseys they wear, or which movies get made and what the character’s costumes look like.

Fan tokens also give fans the opportunity to compete for, and win, exciting exclusive rewards, and get special VIP access and treatment to a variety of events. This could include a meet-and-greet with a fan’s favourite player or actor, or even luxury box-seats at a game or VIP red-carpet access to a film’s premiere.

Another advantage to fan tokens is that it gives fans the opportunity to increase their rewards and influence by increasing the number of fan tokens they have. Many fan tokens offer a variety of exclusive tiered-rewards for fans holding a higher number of tokens. So the more fan tokens that a fan owns, the better the fan’s chances of getting more exclusive rewards and the greater the amount of clout the fan has regarding various fan-led decisions. Fans can continue to accumulate fan tokens until they attain the coveted level of access and influence that they are trying to achieve.

In addition to all of these functional benefits of ownership, there is another distinct advantage to owning fan tokens: the fan engagement tokens give access to exclusive memorabilia that may increase in value over time. As is the case with many collectible items in the real world, fan engagement tokens give fans exclusive access to rare and one-of-a-kind items that can be the envy of collectors and fans everywhere. Through fan engagement tokens, fans can exchange their tokens for memorabilia and experiences that would otherwise be very difficult to get.

‍

Why Fan Engagement is so important

Fans make the entertainment industry. From sports to movies and everything in between. Fans fill seats, fans create buzz, and fans build communities. They buy the limited edition items from the set. They buy the game-used jerseys. Fans spawn entire subcultures around the things that they love, which is why fan engagement is so critical to the success of any fan-driven industry. Fans are the lifeblood of any type of channel within the entertainment industry. They are the consumers of any entertainment product, and they play a vital role in the success of that product.

With the movie industry, like we’ve seen with Deadpool, fans can also make or break the success of a franchise!

Any sports team or movie studio can attest to the fact that fan engagement has evolved significantly over the past decade. Part of that is the correlation that has been found between fan engagement and fan consumption. Now, more and more entertainment organizations are taking note of this evolution and looking for more innovative ways to engage with their fans, driven by increased demand from fans for inclusion, influence and interaction.

‍

Fan Engagement Tokens in the Film Industry

A number of companies have seized the opportunity to create fan engagement tokens in order to capitalize on the unique type of fan engagement that this technology offers. In the world of movies, companies like Mogul are offering fan engagement tokens that give them creative influence on films and insider access to the film industry.

Mogul is a decentralized film financing platform that offers exclusive rewards that are unique to the film industry. Mogul’s fan engagement token is aptly called the STARS token. Throughout the entirety of Mogul’s community-building process, film fans are rewarded for their involvement in giving films the greenlight and supporting films from the script to the screen. The STARS token powers the Mogul platform, and gives both fans and screenwriters complete insider access to Hollywood and the world of filmmaking.

Mogul’s STARS tokens are redeemable for incredible bespoke rewards that most film fans would never have access to. These rewards include a number of things such as limited-edition or one-of-a-kind movie posters, rare NFTs, and actual props and set-used memorabilia from a film. With more STARS tokens come even more rewards, such as voting on which films get made, getting an “executive producer” credit on a film, and even dinner with a famous director.

‍

Fan Tokens for Sports

In the world of sports, companies like Chiliz and Socios have created fan tokens around European football clubs like FC Barcelona and Juventus, and MMA leagues like the UFC. Chiliz, the cryptocurrency and blockchain which powers the Socios platform, is looking to offer fan engagement tokens focused on sports and esports, such as soccer and video games. Socios can give fans the ability to vote on various aspects of a football club’s governance. This can include decisions such as who the football club plays during “friendlies” and which players the football club should look to sign.

By offering these unique fan-engagement experiences, rewards and discounts through fan engagement tokens, companies like Mogul and Chiliz are hoping to increase both fan engagement and revenues. On top of that, it will allow fans to feel as though they are an important part of the team or studio, even if they can’t physically attend games or go to movie theaters.

‍

Conclusion

We are still in the early days of blockchain technology, and this is currently the dawn of fan tokens. The use case is strong, and the reception to fan engagement tokens has been greeted warmly by fans looking to take their interest and engagement to the next level. Fan tokens offer entertainment companies like sports teams and film studios a unique way to increase fan engagement in the off-season and between films and give these organizations the potential to increase both their fan base and their revenues.

Acosta joins Mogul as their film financing team grows

Mogul Productions, the decentralized film financing (DeFiFi) platform and movie-based NFT marketplace, today announces entertainment lawyer Tifanie J. Acosta as the project’s new Head of Business Affairs.

As the Founder and Managing Partner of Los Angeles-based Entertainment Law Partners, Acosta brings with her a plethora of experience representing actors, performers, writers, directors, musicians, executive producers, public relations companies, managers and producers.

“We’re delighted to welcome Tifanie to the Mogul Team,” said Mogul Productions Founder & President, Lisa Sun. “Her insider-level knowledge of the entertainment industry is unparalleled, and we can’t wait to tap into the deep well of experiences that she brings to Mogul’s film team.”

Added Acosta: “I’m inspired by the idea of turning film production into a more inclusive, equitable and accessible process for both fans and key stakeholders. I’m excited to join the team in deal making across Mogul’s film platform and advance the company’s key business priorities.” 

Acosta’s multifaceted career extends over 20 years handling production, legal  and business affairs on such projects as “Greenland” (starring Gerard Butler), “Breaking News in Yuba County” (starring Allison Janney and Mila Kunis), “Chappaquiddick” (starring Jason Clarke) and “The Stand-In” (starring Drew Barrymore). She started her career in the business affairs department at Nancy Cartwright’s company (voice of Bart Simpson) and was later the general counsel of TFN, The Football Network where Acosta was responsible for a range of issues pertaining to production, business and legal affairs, intellectual property, financing, standards and practices, and more.

Acosta has been recognized as a “Viv Magnificent Woman”by VIV Magazine, and has lectured on the business of film and television at Louisiana State University, Slamdance Film Festival, San Pedro Film Festival, Hollywood Black Film Festival, Film-Com and more. Jodeh is an Emmy voting member of the Television Academy.  She regularly blogs about the entertainment industry and posts noteworthy columns featured at http://entlawpartners.blogspot.com/ 

Acosta joins a leadership team led by Sun, along with Co-Chairs of Film Financing Paul Sparkes & Gorav Seth.

About Mogul Productions (Mogul)

Mogul Productions is a decentralized film financing (DeFiFi) platform that connects creators, movie fans, and film financiers in one space to ensure the best films get made by giving everyone a voice. By leveraging blockchain technology, NFTs and a tokenized system, Mogul incentivizes participation and rewards engagement. Using the Mogul in-app payment and utility token (STARS), users can vote on, greenlight, and participate in key decision-making aspects of production.

Website: https://www.mogulproductions.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mogulofficial_

EXCITING NEWS!

Due to the popularity of the early adopter program, we’ve decided to extend the program until April 8th.

We’re also going to DOUBLE the number of winners!

The new parameters of the program are now:

• 400k STARS tokens will be distributed to early adopters
• The tokens will be distributed to 20,000 lucky users through a raffle system
• Each user that wins the raffle will be given 20 STARS in their Mogul Smart Wallet

To qualify, user must:

• Sign up to the Mogul platform with a verified email address
• Like a minimum of 1 movie in the Showcase; each movie you like is one entry, so each user can get up to 9 entries

This campaign will now run until April 8th!

STARS tokens will be delivered to the user’s Smart Wallet by May 20th. Users who have signed up to Mogul before the start of this campaign are also eligible for this campaign. If fewer than 20,000 users are eligible, then each participant will win!

Please note that some users have reported issues with adding a profile picture. We have heard our community! Therefore, we have removed that requirement for the remainder of the contest!

Winners will be alerted by May 20th

Full roadmap and Access Pass Sale details can be found here.

‍

David Cormican (Northern Rescue, Tokyo Trial) laughed when he was asked about problems that film finance faces. It wasn’t that he found the problems funny. Rather, what he found comical was the short time constraint he had to discuss the problems.

“We wouldn’t have enough time on this panel for that,” Cormican said.

He wasn’t kidding. For the next hour, four industry experts candidly spoke about the issues the industry faced, and how Mogul’s technology could improve it.

Other panelists included Emmy-Winner and Oscar-Nominated Producer Cindy Cowan (Miracle on 42nd Street, Smiley), James Pratt (Malibu Crush, On Halloween), and Mogul CMO Tracy Leparulo.

Go to our website to learn more about how Mogul is disrupting film and blockchain.

Some of the topics discussed included:

• Investment dilution in film finance
• Lack of transparency in Hollywood accounting
• High-interest rates and transaction fees in current film equity models
• How long money is tied up in film investing
• What does a Hollywood investor want to see in a film before they invest?

Watch a full video of the panel right here.

For many, Hollywood is not easily understood so it takes insiders who can deliver the 10,000 ft-above-perspective to help us understand it. These Mogul team members made the opaque world of film finance that much clearer.

Cormican detailed how confusing film investing can be.

“Investing in the film industry is confusing for everyone. If you look at a waterfall, investors want to know where they fit, where they will recoup money, and what position they will be when they jockey for a profit amongst all of that. There’s just a general confusion there,” Cormican said. “The investors who are typically the first money in will get diluted when some other investor comes along with some mezzanine or debt financing. It’s always that last 10–30% that’s the hardest to solve,” he said.

“These are a lot of the problems I face on the independent side. We have 14, 15, 20 plus financiers. That’s part of the problem too. You have all these various sources of financing who have to then take it to another lender, they charge exorbitant interest rates. But you’re spending a lot of that money on bank charges rather than on the screen and putting it toward telling it a good story,” Cormican said.

Emmy-Winner Cindy Cowan agreed.

“Everything you’re saying is right. It’s unfortunate that Hollywood does not treat equity very well. We typically look at equity as the newcomers on the block. So many people look at films as one-offs instead of a real business. Unlike most traditional businesses, equity is sometimes forgotten. They can be the first money in but not the first money out,” Cowan said.

Then, the Emmy Winner made a brilliant pivot in her next point.

Blockchain and Film

Cowan tied the issues with transparency and film equity into blockchain.

“Going into blockchain, that can revolutionize the business as far as the transparency of where the money goes. It’s a very exciting time to see the changes that could potentially be made as far as financiers go,” Cowan said.

Blockchain Has Come A Long Way But Still Needs the Next Generation Products

Like film, the blockchain industry is not perfect either. According to Tracy Leparulo, the industry still needs education and products with better UI in order to advance the tech forward.

“We’ve come a long way in the blockchain space but of course there’s a lot more we have to do. A big part of what we think about is how do we get mainstream to understand this? We run events to get the community together, see it grow… How do we get blockchain and digital tokens to the masses?” Leparulo said.

Hollywood Could Bring Mass Appeal to DeFi

There’s where entertainment and the film industry come into the picture for Leparulo. She and the rest of the Mogul team are constantly thinking of ways to inform people about the industry.

“How do we educate people? When you say you’re in blockchain, everyone asks about it. If you say you’re in crypto, everyone asks about it,” Leparulo said. “People have a hard time understanding blockchain, and Hollywood does a good job at explaining things and educating people. [Hollywood] It has such a huge audience,” she said.

“That’s where Mogul comes in. With the wallet, you don’t have to send crypto to a long address anymore, you send it to a surname. Features like this will drive the adoption space. The biggest problems blockchain has is making it easy for people to use,” Leparulo said.

Read this article to learn more about the Mogul Smart Wallet.

Team member James Pratt continued on this point.

“The lay of the land is going to come back to Mogul solving a lot of these problems, both on the film side and on the blockchain side, which no one else is doing. That’s the really unique thing,” Pratt said.

Transparency

There are a lot of questions that investors have before they commit to a film. They want to know things like who the director is, if the producers can execute on budget, and what the script looks like. All these elements and more are what David Cormican described as major pillars before capital is given.

“[Investors] Look toward the track record of those people producing it, the director, screenwriter to a lesser extent because the proof is on the page,” Cormican said. “The cash behind it. What’s the history of all of those people and those elements combined. The mind and the opinion of the sales agents and the distributors, if they are onboard,” he said.

“It’s a complex gut-feeling equation based on fact and history, and the rest is sort of based on everyone’s own version of a crystal ball. Investors are looking at how do I get my money back, how do I get out, how do I make a profit on this, what does the return look like,” Cormican said.

Pratt and Cowan agreed.

In Conclusion

The film industry is changing more and more by the day. Film financing is still a closed-door process that not many people have access to. However, Mogul seamlessly uses blockchain technology to open the doors up to Hollywood and provide the transparency that the industry needs. Meanwhile, Hollywood, Mogul could give DeFi and blockchain technology the mainstream attention that it deserves.

Mogul Productions, established 2019, is a blockchain-based film finance and production company with a presence in Canada, the United States of America, and Europe. From financing through to distribution, Mogul’s platform connects contributors, film industry professionals, and fans through technology that allows all users to engage and participate with each project throughout its entire lifecycle.

‍

Mogul is excited to announce, to our early community members, a unique early-adopter distribution program of STARS tokens through the Mogul platform.

To reward our early users, 200k STARS tokens will be distributed through a 6-day campaign.

The tokens will be distributed to 10,000 lucky users through a raffle system.

Each user that wins the raffle will be given 20 STARS.

To qualify, user must:

• Sign up to the Mogul platform with a verified email address
• Upload a profile picture to their account
• Like a minimum of 1 movie in the Showcase; each movie you like is one entry, so each user can get up to 9 entries

This campaign runs from March 19th at 9am EST until March 24th at 9am EST. Winners will be announced March 28th at 11am EST

STARS tokens will be delivered to the user’s Smart Wallet by April 20th. Users who have signed up to Mogul before the start of this campaign are also eligible for this campaign. If fewer than 10,000 users are eligible, then each participant will win!

Full roadmap and Access Pass Sale details can be found here.

Mogul reserves the right to evaluate profiles made on the platform. Multiple submissions made by the same user will be deemed ineligible for the contest.

‍

Want to Vote for Devilreaux in Mogul’s First-Ever Showcase? Here’s Why the Film Might Indeed Be the Best Choice

Mogul’s first-ever blockchain-based movie showcase is set to launch on August 5 and will run till August 19, 2021. The first voting slate features fellow action films Terminal Station and MR-9.

But this post is about the third movie on the showcase slate that we haven’t featured yet. Devilreaux.  The movie takes place in the present day, where a forbidden voodoo seeks to avenge the murders of Devilreaux and his family, all of which took place during the 1800s. An unwitting group of teenagers accidentally bring Devilreaux back to life to wreak vengeance again.   

 

Here’s why you should consider using your STARS tokens to vote and choose Devilreaux as the film worthy of receiving financing from the Mogul community.

 

Horror Movies Almost Always Perform Well in Theatres

Devileraux is a horror movie that draws comparisons to films like Haunting in Connecticut and the cult classic, Candyman. One key difference is that the film resides within the zombie subgenre.

Think about how prominently popular zombie TV shows and movies like The Walking Dead, World War Z, Zombieland, and Day of the Dead have been able to stick in the minds of their audiences. That’s what moving people to watch a zombie movie and forever haunting and entertaining them after the fact is all about.

That’s why audiences flock back to popular zombie television shows in droves season after season.

A Major Distribution Deal for the Movie Is Already in Place

While more and more films are being distributed through popular streaming services movie lovers use at home, Devilreaux actually has a deal in place with one of the most well-known studios in Hollywood. We can’t tell you which one. But when you find out, you’re going to see the true profit potential of a film backed by a distributor tied to some of the most popular movies both in the horror genre and beyond.

Well-Known Secret Music Talent Is Going to Be in the Film

Everyone knows zombie movies are no fun unless celebrities are killing or being killed by zombies. Devilreaux is planning to line up supersecret musical talent for a role in the film. Who will the talented musician (or musicians) be? Will they survive or will they be eaten alive?

Only time will tell.

A Movie True to Louisiana Folklore

Even hard-core fans of the horror genre probably aren’t so familiar with Louisiana folklore. Devilreaux is going to be one heck of a way to get familiar. Louisiana is home to a rich history in dark arts, Black Magic, the occult, and witchcraft. This movie is going to be absolutely terrifying!

Thomas Churchill Is the Director

Thomas Churchill has many notable credits under his name as both a director, writer, and producer of movies many moviegoers would recognize including Check Point, The Hard Way, and The Amityville Harvest.

He clearly has the experience to help bring movie fans to the edge of their seats and get their heart rates pumping, which is exactly what horror fans want.

Vote for Devilreaux with STARS Tokens

All you need to cast a vote during Mogul’s first-ever movie showcase running from August 5-19, 2021 is own STARS tokens. STARS are used to cast your vote in a democratic and fair way.

The easiest way to use your STARS to vote is to navigate to your Mogul profile at my.mogulproductions.com and click the Showcase option and the left-hand menu. Remember that spending STARS tokens within the Mogul platform can only be done using the Ethereum blockchain and a browser-based wallet like MetaMask!

Get ready to vote for Devilreaux, Terminal Station or MR-9 in this inaugural showcase hosted on the Mogul platform!

Mogul users will be able to leverage STARS tokens to redeem unique prizes and rewards associated with the social-impact drama Bonded, which stars Jason Patric, Alfredo Castro, Paulina Gaitan, Francisco Denis, Samm Levine and Ari Lopez

April 13th, 2021, Toronto, Canada

Mogul Productions, the decentralized film financing (DeFiFi) and movie-based non-fungible token (NFT) platform that gives everyone a voice in the creative process, announced the first film to be financed via Mogul’s proprietary platform, Bonded.

Harrowing human trafficking drama Bonded, directed and written by Mohit Ramchandani, is inspired by a true story that follows the journey of a teenager from Mexico whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s smuggled across the border and sold to a sweatshop making party dresses in downtown Los Angeles.

Bonded stars Jason Patric, Alfredo Castro, Paulina Gaitan, Francisco Denis, Samm Levine and Mexican newcomers Diego Calva (recently cast in Damien Chazelle’s upcoming Babylon with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie) and Ari Lopez in the lead role of ‘Jesus’.

Working with Mogul, Bonded’s filmmakers are able to offer the community an insider view of the production process, exclusive rewards and red-carpet experiences via the platform.

Bonded Director, Mohit Ramchandani, expressed, “Our goal is to build a strong social action campaign and bring awareness to the issue of modern day slavery through narrative storytelling and we welcome the opportunity to engage with the Mogul community on this important topic.”

Emmy-nominated producer, David Cormican, Production Advisory Officer at Mogul, shared, “This is obviously an incredibly exciting time to be announcing this milestone — Mogul’s first film financed via the Mogul model. Mogul initially invested in Bonded at the script level a little over two years ago. The filmmaking and producing team’s level of engagement served as an inspiration for Mogul’s model of interacting with investors and audiences during the script to screen journey for projects.”

Mogul Productions is now accepting new project submissions for subsequent showcases and rounds of financing. Interested filmmakers can visit my.mogulproductions.com to create a Mogul account and submit a film project for showcase consideration.

For media inquiries, please contact Raneem Hamad at (310) 260–7901 or Raneem(at)MelrosePR(dot)com.

About Mogul Productions (Mogul)

Mogul Productions is a decentralized film financing (DeFiFi) platform that connects creators, movie fans, and film financiers in one space to ensure the best films get made by giving everyone a voice. By leveraging blockchain technology, NFTs and a tokenized system, Mogul incentivizes participation and rewards engagement. Using the Mogul in-app payment and utility token (STARS), users can vote on, greenlight and participate in key decision-making aspects of production.

‍

Mogul partners with AnySwap; giving STARS token holders a bridge to Binance Smart Chain.

Mogul Productions, a decentralized film financing and movie-based NFT platform bringing together movie fans, creators, and financiers, is partnering with AnySwap, crypto’s leading decentralized cross-chain swap protocol, to give STARS holders an easy way to move their tokens to and from Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Ethereum. 

AnySwap is a fully decentralized cross-chain swap protocol that has developed 385 bridges on 15 different blockchains since its launch on July 20, 2020.

For STARS holders, this means access to a trusted, secure, and audited decentralized bridge for their tokens – the top provider in the industry. 

The AnySwap protocol allows users to deposit any coins into the platform and mint wrapped tokens in a decentralized way. Users can also immediately swap one coin for another between blockchains, while liquidity providers can enjoy adding and withdrawing liquidity into different pairs based on a programmed pricing system built around the liquidity provided.

The platform currently supports 15 different blockchains, including Ethereum, BSC, Fusion, Fantom, Huobi, Polygon, xDAI, Avalanche, and Harmony.

AnySwap is now officially the preferred partner for building the bridge infrastructure required to help Mogul’s STARS token become one of the few tokens to ever launch on three different blockchains simultaneously.

The bridge from Ethereum to BSC is officially live here

Advancing Mogul’s Mission through Blockchain Interoperability

Blockchain interoperability refers to the ability of different blockchains to communicate with one another while continually registering transactions in an efficient, immutable, decentralized, and secure format.

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects in existence today and allowing users to enter and exit different blockchain ecosystems with ease helps facilitate the growth and exposure of Mogul and the STARS token, while helping Mogul meet its mission of having STARS be the de facto cryptocurrency used for film-based NFTs and in Hollywood.

AnySwap provides a safe, audited method with a proven user experience for users to bridge their STARS tokens from Ethereum to the Binance Smart Chain (and vice versa).

AnySwap Co-Founder Zhaojun says the partnership with Mogul fittingly serves the mission and vision of both projects.

“Mogul’s leadership team is doing a great job putting its community first. Given how exciting and revolutionary the project is, it makes perfect sense for us to partner up. We’re happy to give their users access to the STARS token across many different blockchains.”

Mogul Founder and President Lisa Sun echoes Qian’s sentiment.

“We love the fact that AnySwap’s platform is really easy to understand and use. Our mission is to decentralize the financing of movies. It’s a big goal and we need both movie lovers and crypto enthusiasts to get involved in the movement. AnySwap gives STARS more usability across different blockchain platforms”

About Mogul Productions (Mogul)

Mogul Productions is a decentralized film financing project connecting creators, film financiers, and movie fans together, giving everyone the opportunity to participate in giving big-budget movies a new path to the big screen.

Using blockchain technology, NFTs, and tokenomics, Mogul incentivizes participation and engagement. The STARS token allows users to complete in-app payments and vote on key decision-making surrounding green lighting and producing feature films.

Website | Twitter | Reddit | Telegram | Medium

About AnySwap

Anyswap is a fully decentralized cross-chain swap protocol, which enables any blockchain that uses ECDSA or EdDSA as a signature algorithm to have a bridge. Anyswap has developed 385 bridges on 15 chains since its launch on July 20, 2020. 

Anyswap has launched its Multichain Router V3 beta mainnet just one month ago, which has three significant features: non-custodial multi-party confirmation, native swap, and multichain router, allowing users to swap between two chains arbitrarily easier and inexpensively. 

Website | Twitter | Telegram | Medium

 

 

Emmy®-nominated producer David Cormican joined James Pratt on Mogul Live on June 18th to talk about his career, give advice to aspiring producers, and give his take on a post-COVID-19 television reality.

He is Partner and President of Don Carmody Television (DCTV) and a member of the prestigious Producers Guild of America (p.g.a.) and the Writers Guild of Canada.

DCTV projects include the International Emmy®-nominated mini-series Tokyo Trial for Netflix, the Rogers-Netflix original series Between, the Emmy®-nominated The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe for Lifetime, and ShadowHunters for Freeform.

David’s recent career evolution comes as Co-creator, Writer, series Showrunner, Producer and EP on the freshman family drama series Northern Rescue for CBC gem and Netflix.

Most recently, David has taken the role as a Guest Lecturer at OCAD University in Toronto to lecture on advanced cinematic production.

Mogul is lucky to have David as a production advisor. When we are producing independent films, David, alongside other producers such as Emmy-winner Cindy Cowan, will be overseeing production to share their knowledge, best practices, and contacts, and David might even be producing some of the films himself!

“When I was first approached by the team at Mogul I was really enamored by the whole commitment to transparency and the evolution of what is truly an archaic system.”

David also mentioned in his interview that the film industry can sometimes be “dinosaur-like” when it comes to the processes and procedures that happen on-set and when it comes to the financing of films.

He noted that if you’re an independent producer there isn’t necessarily an easy path to financing and he appreciates the intent behind the Mogul model, which allows speed to market, transparency, and efficiency that doesn’t quite exist today in Hollywood.

“It’s about empowering your decisions through data and audience feedback. Those are your end-users.”

To watch the full interview with David, head to www.mogulproductions.com, sign up, and visit our community page.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –

David started the interview with a “glass-half-full” outlook on the current pandemic we’re seeing — noting that despite the hand we’ve been dealt, he’s been finding more time than ever to write and co-create more content.

David’s career started as an actor and he started to get frustrated when he wasn’t getting gigs. He used that frustration to start writing the scripts that he wanted to act in, but then realized that he needed to find someone to produce what he was writing… The logical next step for him was to dive into becoming a producer to produce his own work.

He travelled to every festival and conference he could get to (and afford) and started introducing himself as a producer. He networked with everyone that he could. His efforts finally paid off and he landed a job as the head of development for a company in Saskatchewan, Canada.

He moved from Toronto (seen as a hub of film in Canada) to Regina, Saskatchewan (a smaller town in Canada) and his friends thought he was crazy — but he knew this was a big opportunity for his career. That was in 2008 and now the esteemed producer looks back at that decision as a major stepping stone and learning experience for him to show his expertise. David said in his interview that early into that opportunity he learned:

“No one really knows anything in this industry! We’re all making it up. There’s no right and wrong in this industry there is only creativity.”

It was in Regina that he met Don Carmody, whose credits include some 100 films thus far, including the Academy Award® nominated Good Will Hunting, the cult hit The Boondock Saints films, and the Resident Evil films.

Don and David worked on a film together in Regina called 13 Eerie and were both on the board for the Canadian Media Producers Association. Many breakfasts, lunches, and business meetings led to a partnership where David became the President and Co-Founder of DCTV.

Perhaps leaning on his own experience, David’s advice for those looking to get their foot in the door in the industry was to actually avoid making a big move to LA or Vancouver right now! He predict there is going to be a big push in the next few years for domestic production, and that people are going to want to work with local talent that they’re familiar with rather than having to increase budgets to fly in talent that may be subject to quarantine periods.

Segwaying into his more recent projects, David spoke about his experience working on Northern Rescue. One of the most interesting pieces of behind-the-scenes information that David shared was that the key cast on the show started to become so close to one another that they actually requested to live in the same house while shooting!

He also went into great detail about his experience working with Tux the penguin on the set of Northern Rescue, which added a gripping twist to the interview. It’s not every day you get to hear about how productions work with animals (and David was also able to tell us about working with a tiger!), and the fans listening to the interview were certainly entertained hearing about the adventures of wrangling Tux on set!

On the future of distribution in film, David mentioned that the world has really grown up in the last 3 months to be more comfortable with change. He said that there have traditionally been a lot of gatekeepers in distribution but that’s breaking down with streaming services, and he’s predicting a rise in advertising-video-on-demand (AVOD).

“I feel we will see a massive rise on the AVOD side as consumers are seeing shrinking wallets and watching their pennies and they will turn to watch content for free.”

On “how to succeed” in this new predicted landscape, David offered:

“Curating a brand for your shows, your movies and your content will be key moving forward to have your identity and uniqueness to your projects.”

He gave the example of HBO and how most consumers know exactly what an HBO show looks like as opposed to Netflix who has a variety of styles and content.

“From a distribution side, there is the power to be able to bring the same audience to your content consistently.”

Transitioning to advice for aspiring producers, David said that being a producer is a game for those who persevere and there is no such thing as an overnight success. He noted it’s a long game and about nurturing relationships because it’s 10 years or more in the making to have success.

“If this is something you want to do you have to have such thick skin. There is so much rejection on a daily basis. We get told no probably more times than actors do!”

He urged to be prepared to start at the bottom and get as much experience as you can on set because it will benefit you once you actually become a producer.

“Be creative and always find solutions, because problems will happen but it’s all how you deal with them.”

Towards the end of the interview, David offered that it’s important for everyone to stop and celebrate their successes. Every little win matters in the film industry and it’s about the cumulative snowball effect to slowly pick up steam for your career.

Follow Mogul on Instagram to tune into the next Mogul Live, where all fans can engage with moguls.

Instagram handle: @we.are.mogul

Link: https://www.instagram.com/we.are.mogul/

ABOUT MOGUL PRODUCTIONS (MOGUL)
Mogul Productions, established 2019, is a blockchain-based film financier and production company with a presence in Canada, the United States of America and Europe.

The Mogul platform connects contributors, film industry professionals and fans through technology that allows all users to engage and participate with each project throughout theirs entire lifecycle, from financing through to production and distribution.

‍

This post will recap the AMA with Gorav Seth, Mogul’s Co-Chair of Film Financing, that took place on the Crypto Titans Telegram Channel on Thursday, August 5th.

Question 1. Can you please introduce yourself as well as Mogul?

Answer: I’m an investment banker and venture capitalist by profession. Spent over 12 years in Canadian capital markets working on Bay Street (Cdn version of Wall Street) and have raised over $4b in financings. Spent several years at a leading independent investment bank working on financings, mergers & acquisitions, and advisory for mid-size public companies. I currently run the capital markets division for the largest wealth manager in Canada.

Before my life in finance, I spent nearly 20 years in the film and entertainment industry as a manager for actors where I did things like oversaw and managed their careers or raise money for film independent films

So I have a pretty good view of both sides of the film industry and the finance side. I’ve seen a lot of problems in the entertainment industry and that’s actually what attracted me to Mogul

Question 2. What are the advantages of your project?

Answer: Mogul is a DeFi film funding and NFT platform for the entertainment industry. We are the first globally to democratize the independent film industry by giving token holders the ability to vote for the films they want to see get made and have them financed. Users can not only help finance and get involved with the Hollywood films themselves but also earn really interesting rewards and experiences for each film in our showcase such as attending premieres, meeting the stars, going behind the scenes, etc.

On the NFT side, we have a fully functional and robust NFT platform where you can mint, trade, buy/sell NFTs. This works really well with the film side because it gives us the ability to make NFTs for the entertainers, filmmakers, etc., and offer those to our $STARS community. We can do limited edition runs of video clips, images, signed posters, etc. The talent and entertainers love it because it helps them create additional revenue streams for their projects without having to rely on conventional forms of distribution

We actually did an NFT drop for a famous marvel artist named Rob Prior that sold for nearly US$200k a few months ago. Rob works with the big studios on all these big comic book films, etc. and his art would typically only garner $15–30k apiece. We are able to host a live stream event where he painted a Wolf of Wall Street painting in real time, turned it into an NFT, and then burn it so it only lives on as an NFT. The first time an artist has destroyed their own physical work of art. We got 500k users worldwide watching the event and beat some big celeb’s NFTs such as Floyd Mayweather, Snoop Dogg, etc

Question 3. please tell us about the goals you want to achieve this year

Answer: Mogul wants to be the de facto token for the entertainment and film industry. We want to continue to drive adoption and help democratize the film space so the fans can have a voice in the content they want to see made. Specifically, we want to build on our existing partnerships and fund some Hollywood films that land big stars with support from our community. We want to get some big celebrity names to support us, media & production companies, agencies, etc. These are some of the things we are working on and expecting to see come to light over the coming months

Question 4. Every project has a story behind their name, Can you tell us more about the story

Answer: Mogul Production was really inspired by the story behind the blockbuster film, Deadpool. If you don’t know the story, the gist of it is that Ryan Reynolds was trying to make that movie for years and all the big studios kept rejecting the film because they didn’t think an R-rated comic book film would do well. What Ryan Reynolds did was he made a teaser trailer and put it on the net. The fans went absolutely crazy and loved the concept. So much so, that they forced the studio to make the film. The rest is history.

The point is the power of the crowd and making films or content based on what the viewers and fans want to see.

We wanted to do that with Mogul and give power back to the fans (our $STARS token holders).

The film industry, especially for independent films, is archaic and dying. We think DeFi and NFT could help revolutionize how films are financed, how intellectual property can be protected and monetized.

Mogul can help streamline and provide transparency for the filmmakers and people that fund their films

Question 5 from Twitter @UmmeHab53626731: What do you view as the potential barriers to the success of the project? In the next three to five years where do you position your company among other strong competitors?

Answer: I think some of the barriers in entering the movie biz is in the acceptance of crypto/blockchain with the film industry.

We believe that through our success in our first NFT auction with Rob Prior and the future success of our first ever movie slate that we have shown Hollywood that we are ready to be a major and legitimate player in the space.

We keep adding team members that can entrench Mogul and STARS tokens as the defacto player where movies meet blockchain. We’ve shown that we can do it, and now it’s time to scale our efforts.

In 5 years, which is a very long time in crypto, we hope to have a global community of film fans and crypto enthusiasts who are part of Mogul because of the consistent partnerships and announcements of new movies and NFTs. We created a circular ecosystem for the future success of the project where everyone who is part of Mogul is being rewarded and can earn profit participation in the films they select themselves. We wish to transform the market for NFTs in entertainment where it is simple to understand and a part of every film or piece of art or music that gets made.

Question 6 from Twitter @DonieJk: What is your strategy for building a strong community? Do you agree that the power of the community will lead your project to develop globally? What services do you provide to the community?

Answer: Building community is essential to the success of any crypto project. We have a dedicated Head of Community on staff who regularly engages across all of the social channels and with all of our marketing efforts we try to bring all of our partners to engage with our community members through Telegram AMAs, Mogul Lives on our Instagram page, and more. It’s all part of bringing Hollywood to crypto. We also have our ambassador program and we have monthly calls with our leadership and the community and make an honest effort to make sure our staff is consistently engaging our users.

We believe people form a community around a collective vision around a project and what it can do to change its industry and we believe that we’re setting that vision that crypto is bringing movies and Hollywood to the blockchain through DeFi products and NFTs.

We believe people form a community around a collective vision around a project and what it can do to change its industry and we believe that we’re setting that vision that crypto is bringing movies and Hollywood to the blockchain through DeFi products and NFTs.

Question 7 from Twitter @g76974594: Do you have any plan for burning tokens in the future to reduce the supply of the token and increase its investment attractiveness?

Answer: We actually have a strategy already in place. The $STARS token is used as an in-app currency within our Mogul platform (www.mogulproductions.com). Every time the tokens are used to purchase anything on the platform, we burn 50% of the tokens we receive. For instance, the Rob Prior art piece was auctioned off on our platform. The tokens we received, we burned 50% of so you can see it in our circulating supply if you check out Etherscan.

Question 8 from Twitter @SyminuL: Regulation is very essential. Many projects were closed in many countries due to failure to get the proper licenses and permit to operate. In order to go mainstream how does Mogul team deal with these issues? Are you a regulatory-compliant project?

Answer: Yes, we work with our team of lawyers to remain compliant with our business and with our token. The team is extremely conscious of the regulatory framework and wants to stay above board for everything we do. We’re a fully doxxed team with an incorporated company working in one of the most regulated industries in the world (film finance) so we are calculated and careful with our moves to make sure that our project lives for a long time without any scrutiny.

Question 9 from Twitter @Ductrung753951: What kind of partnerships with different projects/platforms/protocols can we expect from Mogul in the future? Could you give us some examples of how other projects can leverage Mogul?

Answer: We are planning on making our token accessible across the world and across all major blockchains. You can expect to see many new partnerships with regard to making STARS more accessible and building out our community on the crypto front. In the entertainment space, we’re targeting groups that can help us a) find more content for our movie showcase and b) provide tier 1 level talent to collaborate with on NFT drops. This will come in the form of partnering with individuals, agencies, and production companies in Hollywood.

Question 10 from Telegram @NilPori0909: COVID 19 has slowed many economies around the world but as a crypto business has it affected you negatively or positively? Secondly, are you still on track to achieve your targets as the road map says?

Answer: COVID has certainly impacted every industry across the world in different ways. I think for the film industry, it’s been particularly difficult. Lots of productions got delayed or shut down and the conventional theatrical releases for the film have all transitioned to streaming platforms where people can watch everything they want from home. For us, I think it’s been positive because the film industry does need to find a better way to access capital and connect with the fans. The old system is broken and I think COVID’s lockdown of the industry and challenges it has created is actually a huge opportunity for Mogul. Although there are still challenges we face on small things i.e. trying to provide experiences such as a day on a movie set as a reward is difficult because of all the covid restrictions and testing…otherwise, I think it’s been good for us. People in the industry are struggling and are forced to look at new ways to do things and we provide a great solution.

Question 11 from Telegram @ecgsp: How can I buy this token? Is it available on any exchange?

Answer: We are listed on a number of exchanges and that is only going to continue to grow. You can buy $STARS on places like uniswap, 1inch, bitmart, LAtoken, etc. Check out https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/mogul-productions/markets/ for all the listed exchanges right now.

Question 12 from Telegram @aANIS: How do you plan to spread awareness about your project in different countries/regions where English is not spoken well?? Do you have local communities for them to let them better understand your project???

Answer: We have multiple language groups on Telegram and we have a WeChat community in China. We also have a PR team that specifically focuses on translating our news to the Asian community to make sure that we’re engaging across the world. We also have a team in Vietnam that engages the local crypto communities there. Many of our VC partners have made excellent introductions to localized crypto marketing groups across the world that we will start to continually engage with.

Question 12 from Telegram @Khairyali1: There are many scandalous projects out there. What guarantees that your project is different from theirs?

Answer: I’d look at the amazing team we have assembled. We have an academy award-winning and Emmy winning producer, Cindy Coward produced the award-winning film Traffic and has worked with the biggest stars in the world. We have Paul Sparkes, who co-founded Difference Capital (which got bought by the crypto company Mogo — it’s listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange) and is valued at $400m! We have well-known and seasoned actors such as Lyriq Bent who has appeared in 60+ diff films and tv shows such as the franchise horror series, SAW, or Four Brothers, Showtime’s The Affair, etc.

Question 13 from Telegram @haspul123: Mogul-funded films are shown on the platform so that all members are involved with the script-to-screen process. Where can I get information about Mogul-financed films? Do you have a list available? Also, do you have plans to finance more movies soon?

Answer: We just launched the vote for our latest showcase. Here are the 3 films — all which are backed by big producers i.e. Phillip Goldfine and Kevin Weisberg. Each of these films will start shooting soon and announce some major stars coming on board together with distribution partnerships with companies (Netflix, Amazon, etc.). Take a look and see. There’s info on our website, www.mogulproductions.com

‍