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If someone told me in the 80s or 90s that playing Top Trumps, trading baseball cards or collecting old comics in plastic wrap would be replaced by digital collectibles that you can trade for serious money anywhere in the world in an instant, I would have laughed at them. Some people still laugh at this today.
Sales of nonfungible tokens hit $17 billion in 2021, according to a report from Nonfungible.com, per CNBC.
Like it or lump it, digital assets are here to stay. Major tech corporations such as Meta and Microsoft have already invested billions into the space. Currently, estimates suggest that less than 5% of the global population transacts using digital currencies — and that number is much smaller for digital assets such as NFTs and Metaverse properties.
So how do you entice the remaining 98% of the population? How do digital assets, NFTs and the metaverse go viral? How does mass global adoption take its course? These were all issues I was grappling with, as no doubt many others who found enlightenment in the Web3 space were.
When I looked around to see what the world was saying about Web3, I found a lot of media chatter about financial pros and cons, elaborate crypto scams and unfriendly technology. Much of the coverage, in my humble (yet educated) opinion, totally missed the most important elements and benefits of this new market.
Opportunity, creativity, innovation, education, independence, unity, synergy, transparency, adaptability, interoperability, freedom, respect, privacy and so much more.
It took me two years down the rabbit hole to truly understand the Web3 arena, which no one can say they fully understand, as it’s continually evolving at the speed of light. But with enough time, effort and the ability to learn fast in a brand new and underdeveloped space, it is possible to get a good sense of what’s going on and find direction, opportunity and community and both give and receive immense enlightenment.
Most people don’t have the luxury to spend two years researching in uncharted waters just to see if it’s the right direction for them, nor would they instinctively walk into audio apps such as Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces to learn new things and ask questions.
The truth is that the barrier to entry appears high and confusing, so it’s naturally difficult for the mass market to organically step into this exciting and fast-evolving market. Although at first, it might appear daunting, operating in Web3 is quite easy once you know how. The real barrier to entry is the information gap, and that’s where I had my eureka moment.
In 2017 I co-founded Tech Talk Media (TTM) and for the past six years, I have been creating, producing and directing cutting-edge TV series and documentaries for television and streaming services, including Amazon, Discovery, Disney, Apple TV, Roku, Virgin Media and many others in more than 100 countries.
Our company’s productions bridge the information gap in markets such as AI, space travel, cannabis, sustainability and robotics and identify emerging and exceptional individuals, technologies and brands.
Based on the success of the TTM productions, I knew how powerful sharing new information via television can be. So instead of taking a well-earned sabbatical after delivering The Rise of A.I. and Inside NASA’s Innovations to Discovery and Amazon, I turned my attention to producing a much-needed user-friendly, informative yet highly engaging documentary series on NFTs, crypto and the metaverse to enlighten millions globally on the digital realm.
At the start of 2021, TTM registered its 14th production NFTme, and after completing filming across four continents in more than a dozen locations and interviewing 50 incredible guests, NFTme season one, compromising of six info-packed episodes on the digital revolution, premiered in the U.S. on Amazon Prime on December 24.
News of the launch of the show with Amazon broke in the days before release, with more than 50 international publications covering the series. NFTme’s official Twitter Spaces launch party had more than 5,000 attendees.
Needless to say, the market excitement was vast and viral, which had been anticipated somewhat. The reach of the series was limited to broadcast with Amazon in the U.S. and UK initially, with several new broadcast deals rolling to more regions and networks in 2023.
It still frustrated me considerably that the entire world didn’t have immediate access to this pertinent and elevating information about the Web3 space, which I have personally seen change lives for the better in some of the darkest corners of the planet.
Although it’s received a negative stigma in the media, largely due to incomprehensive reporting or huge corruption scandals such as the FTX saga, on the whole, the benefits of this technology and market can be hugely positive and uplifting.
It was therefore imperative to me to broadcast NFTme to a global audience as fast as possible and bridge the information gap, enabling the world to adopt Web3 faster. Towards the end of 2022, I met an old friend Alexander Newton, who is a co-founder of the new Web3 platform and technology MovieKey, which provides independent producers direct Digital Rights Managed (DRM) streaming worldwide, connected via a MovieKey NFT, which is effectively a digital Blu-Ray and is the MovieKey to watch, transfer or sell a movie or TV series to another person.
It’s a revolutionary technology for the entertainment business that outshines any former version of a Blu-Ray or DVD where the viewer owned a copy.
“Our aim is to help Hollywood evolve into Web3 in a synergistic, fast and efficient manner, providing like-for-like DRM streaming, along with worldwide access without any restriction and direct compensation in real time to producers, investors, cast and crew,” Newton says.
After hearing about MovieKey, I realized immediately this was the perfect solution for NFTme, providing lightning-fast broadcast to the entire planet without payment or regional restrictions, with many additional benefits from the ownership of the NFTs, and giving us direct connectivity to our viewers eternally.
By the end of January 2023, NFTme released on MovieKey’s platform with direct streaming and viewing access from the NFTme website, providing the viewership of the production to billions globally and reducing all barriers to entry. MovieKey enabled us to broadcast NFTme globally in record time, fulfilling streaming in 195 countries, loaded with superior payment options via credit card or USDC with a Solana Wallet, which is also a first of its kind in the entertainment space.
Due to the continued success and impact of TTM productions internationally and NFTme‘s popularity to date, and with broadcast having only been available in the U.S. and UK to begin with, we did not doubt the global effect and positive impact that has been sparked by opening worldwide streaming to the masses so fast.
Walking into the NFT and Web3 space two years ago, I never expected to adapt my way of thinking, meet so many amazing people, learn so much and find such an abundance of innovation and opportunity. But my experience has been mesmerizing and life-changing and is still producing fruits.
I hope that everyone on the planet can find the same opportunity that I found in this space, and now with the world’s eyes on NFTme season one, that dream is one step closer to reality.
To learn more about NFTs, crypto, the metaverse and all the excitement in the digital realm, watch NFTme season one now on Amazon Prime in the UK and U.S. or MovieKey globally.
