Hollywood has hit a breaking point. Audiences are tired of franchise sequels and reboots. YouTube has overtaken Disney as the world’s largest distributor. And Gen AI tools like Sora 2 can soon turn anyone into a filmmaker. Still, one thing hasn’t changed: how movies are financed. And that’s why we keep getting fewer original movies.
Decline in Original Screenplays at the US Box Office (1984-2023)
Source: The Numbers and Box Office Mojo
For decades, filmmakers have had only two ways to raise capital: woo wealthy “patrons of the arts” or write off IP in restrictive studio deals. These little circles still control who the next David Lynch will be or what movie will be next Napoleon Dynamite, while everyday fans – the people who live and breathe these films – have never had a seat at the table. (Fewer than 1% of Americans meet SEC “accreditation standards” to invest in most private ventures, including movies.)
That is finally changing, thanks to tokenization. The promise of “decentralization in films” has come quietly and legally this time. A few years ago, “Web3 Film” had the right dream, but the wrong tools: People were cutting films in NFT frameworks, touting complex tokenomics and violating securities laws. None of it worked. Projects like Stoner catsAshton Kutcher’s NFT cartoon became cautionary tales after the SEC cracked down on selling unregistered securities to unaccredited investors.
Today, the difference is compliance. Through licensed platforms operating under SEC exemptions such as Reg CF, production companies can take on thousands of non-accredited investors (even in the US) to back real film projects and share in the upside. Security tokens issued on blockchain rails make it possible to distribute dividends transparently and cost-effectively – and ultimately trade investors’ stakes on secondary markets.
And it already works. Tens of thousands of investors have contributed more than 30 million dollars to premium productions from some of Hollywood’s most respected names. this year, Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids) raised $2 million from 2,000 fans to invest in new action movies — and each investor had to pitch him a movie as part of the slate. Pressman movie — the company behind it American Psycho, Wall Street and The crow — raised $2 million for a series of bold, original films and is already starting to return capital within six months. And Eli Roth (Hostel, Inglorious Basterds) launched a fan-owned horror studio that maxed out its $5 million Reg CF campaign in July. He was tired of studios deeming his ideas too gory, even though the most profitable film of 2024 was the unrated slasher, Terrify 3.
Tokenized fan investment opens up new avenues for capital and creativity. Filmmakers can now use their audience for capital instead of taking the studio deal, allowing them to retain more ownership of their IP and take creative risks without interference from the suit or the algorithm. For fans, tokenization opens up access to a previously inaccessible opportunity: investing in movies as an alternative asset class. Ultimately, these projects tend to perform better — not just creatively, but financially — as audiences with skin in the game buzz and ticket sales return.
The timing couldn’t be better. With a slower IPO and rising private markets, tokenization is unlocking billions in household capital and opening doors to previously open opportunities across private credit, venture capital and now film. The GENIUS Act has brought long-awaited regulatory clarity to digital assets, while institutions from BlackRock to Visa are integrating blockchain infrastructure into the mainstream economy. Tokenization has quietly moved from cryptocasino to financial plumbing, and entertainment has proven to be one of its most relatable (and necessary) uses.
There is perhaps no better Trojan horse for mainstream adoption of tokenization than cultural real-world assets (RWAs). Few industries are as ripe for disruption as film, and none are as universally relatable when you consider that almost all of us end our day watching Netflix (and then complaining about the content). But when audiences can invest in the projects they want to see, whether from established filmmakers or up-and-coming creators, we don’t just get new funding models. We get better movies.
