Now operating in seven countries (and in six currencies) and with a dozen more territories on the way, Demand Film has been actively working on deploying Blockchain solutions for its business. This includes sales and reporting, creating a seamless and efficient solution for rights payments and the development of the soon to be released utility token: Popcoin. The former makes use of the power of cryptocurrency for intercurrency transfers of rights payments and the transparency and immutability of records on a Blockchain. The latter will create a virtuous circle between patrons, filmmakers and cinemas.
“We have spent a lot of time in use case development and working through the scalability issues of the platform,” says David Doepel, CEO and Managing Director of Demand Film. “And we took a very deep dive into the cryptocurrency pool before settling on our particular approach. One of the major areas of challenge is the conversion of so-called fiat currency (e.g., GBP, Euros and Dollars) into cryptocurrency and back again. By teaming up with a Blockchain currency exchange directly (NCX), we are developing a seamless user experience that will suit filmmakers and rights holders.”
Tommy Shin, CEO of NCX, says “We are excited about the vision of Demand Film for using cryptocurrency to solve real business challenges. We have been focusing as a company ourselves on building the NCX with non-technical users in mind. So the fit is a natural one. Many of the exchanges cater to cryptocurrency traders and speculators and are not designed for the average non-technical person. This has created a real barrier to entry for those who want to use Blockchain, one which we intend to lower considerably.”
With almost half a million dollars in box office (in multiple territories) so far, the documentary MAMIL (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) will be the first film to pilot this new way of doing business. Mark Bird (Producer) said, “We partnered with Demand Film because of their leadership position with regard to their innovative approach to releasing films and it only makes sense that they are innovating the back office as well.”
Andrew Hazelton, EVP Global Business Development commented on the launch that, “We believe the new offering will give us a competitive advantage, but we also architected the solution as a standalone suite that will have Demand Film as the first customer allowing the possibility of making the technology available to other filmmakers and rights holders for management of payments.”
With regard to the token offering, Doepel said “There are two key differences between our token offering and others. First, we are releasing the token to transform the relationship between customers and an actual operating business, not as a speculation of an imagined market yet to be created. Second, we are tying the token utilisation to our analytics engine and in real time will be able to adjust offers based on what we are seeing about customer interactions with our content and ticketing platform. Customers will be able to acquire coins for doing things that they do for free already elsewhere (watching trailers, commenting on films, sharing content) and can utilise them to get tickets, actual popcorn and “unobtainium” (e.g., VIP tickets, red carpet experiences, memorabilia).
About Demand Film - Demand Film was founded in 2013 and from the outset was committed to being a positive disruptive force in data-driven theatrical film distribution. As a pioneer in cinema on demand in Australia and New Zealand, now offering a global network approaching 2,500 cinemas in 7 countries, Demand Film is the only truly global solution for the rapidly growing (currently $1 billion dollar) market for event cinema.
About NCX – The NCX Group is establishing and operating a global network of locally operated crypto-currency exchanges with the goal of becoming the worlds “trusted partner” in cryptocurrency exchange services. NCX aims to promote a trusted, secure and robust digital asset exchange solution, adhering to strict regulatory compliance, whilst also providing exceptional customer service and user experience. NCX improves the user experience for cryptocurrency trading to engage users outside the general demographic including those without a technical background or knowledge.
18.05.2018 | Cannes's blog
Cat. : FILM