In their most common current form, NFTs function much like digital trading cards or works of art – unique collectibles that can be acquired and then sold. But there are many other applications for the tech, some of which Hollywood is just beginning to explore, including “utility NFTs” that can act as a subscription or a ticket to an event.

While some see the ascendance of the tech as a fad, others are loath to miss out on a potential new revenue stream, and the entertainment industry’s heaviest hitters are minting and buying NFTs of their own.

Let’s take a deeper look …

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The Hollywood players laying claim to NFTs

Entertainment companies are also capitalising on the NFT trend in various ways. Fox Entertainment released 10,000 Miss Masky NFTs tied to its hit reality show The Masked Singer in hopes that fans would collect, buy and trade other Masked Singer NFTs on the Eluvio platform (which Fox has invested in).

Rupert Murdoch’s broadcaster was one of the quicker legacy media companies to move into the space with its Blockchain Creative Labs NFT studio. The studio’s CEO, Scott Greenberg, who also heads Fox animation studio Bento Box, said he believes NFTs will become a revenue-driving business for Hollywood and not just a market for speculative assets. Fox also has a US$100 million creators’ fund for NFTs.

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But just about every media conglomerate and start-up is getting in on the action now.

Warner Bros. sold 100,000 Matrix Resurrections-inspired NFTs, while NFT platform OneOf, backed by legendary music producer Quincy Jones, auctioned off an NFT of the previously never-heard demo of a Whitney Houston song for almost US$1 million. Paramount Global (parent company of MTV Nickelodeon and CBS) is working with NFT start-up Recur to create its own NFT marketplace.

What the future of Hollywood’s NFT marketplace holds isn’t crystal clear, but early adopters are bullish.

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Blockchain Creative Labs’ CEO Scott Greenberg sees the NFT market expanding beyond digital collectibles, while former Fox executive Rich Battista, one of the aforementioned Curio’s investors, predicts that Hollywood will soon begin to create IP that is “native to the NFT world”.

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The allure of allowing industry outsiders to participate in Hollywood’s creative process is one factor driving this new business model.

For instance, former co-CEO of MGM and Spyglass Entertainment co-founder Roger Birnbaum partnered with AOL scion Mark Kimsey to debut a studio that also allows NFT holders “a deep level of access to various stages of film and television production – from the creative process to development, writing, casting, marketing and distribution”, according to their new company Electromagnetic Productions.

The next big opportunity

Expect more players to jump on the NFT bandwagon in the coming months and years.

“Even the most traditional Hollywood company is not going to ignore the massive winds of change that are going to start blowing through,” former UTA chief innovation officer Brent Weinstein said. Weinstein, who’s now chief development officer at Candle Media – founded by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs – is positioned to capitalise on that intersection of legacy media and new modes of storytelling and distribution.

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“Do I expect the most traditional companies to be leading in this space?” said Weinstein. “Probably not, but I think the smartest of them will take advantage.”