How NFTs Are Pioneering Digital Arts For The Entertainment Industry

Perhaps one of the best things about NFTs is that they can move seamlessly between industries. Because, at their core, they act as digital custodians of assets, any industry that can leverage assets will find some use in NFTs.

These days, entertainment continues to be the top industry in that regard. This makes sense given that so much of the entertainment industry leverages assets. Think of the way your favourite movie superhero isn’t tangible per se, but a virtual representation that entertains you.

Now, consider all the intellectual property that the entertainment industry is sitting on and what can be done should they be translated into the digital space.

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Hollywood is turning to NFTs to deliver more digital experiences. Take the recent launch of the Batman cowl collection as an NFT. The collection saw the many cowls worn by the caped crusader turned into NFTs as a tie-in to the new Batman film.

NFTs in the spotlight

With NFTs making their emergence in Hollywood, we are already seeing companies and projects that are leveraging them. One of the ways in which this is being done is by enhancing the fan experience.

HUMBL, Inc. — a Web 3 blockchain platform — rolled out its NFT Gallery for the creation, listing, sale, and purchase of NFTs in September 2021. And since day one, HUMBL has had its sights set on transforming digital art in the entertainment industry.

Monty, a multi-platinum hip-hop artist and co-founder of the hip-hop group Remy Boyz, dropped his first NFT on HUMBL Gallery in April 2022. Rather than take the traditional album release route, Monty partnered with HUMBL to deliver an NFT that also provides access to unique experiences and chances to win merchandise and tickets to upcoming shows.

“HUMBL saw the opportunity to work with Monty as a groundbreaking initiative,” said HUMBL CEO, Brian Foote. “We believe that blockchain will converge multimedia NFTs, tickets and fan experiences into new forms of engagement between artists and audiences, with this collaboration a look into what the future holds.”

Because oftentimes, fans interact with content from their favorite creators through their social media profiles, NFT and Web3 platforms like Project Galaxy are now giving them a way to verify their virtual identities.

Furthermore, Project Galaxy also provides an avenue for them to be rewarded for both verifying their identities and for their participation in digital ecosystems. As this is used by public figures – like basketball player Jeremy Lin – to launch NFT projects, trackable communities can be cultivated and more benefits can be reaped by all.

“We’ve only scratched the surface of utility behind NFTs, at Project Galaxy we help brands and creators better engage and incentivize their audience with NFTs. How that translates to the entertainment industry is by being able to show that someone attended a concert or a movie premiere, or was the first to buy an album or actively interacts with their favourite artist on social media.”

“Through the use of our OAT NFTs (On-Chain Achievement Tokens) creators and brands can leverage each action made by their fans and reward them for it. These NFTs can simply be a badge of achievement or unlock so much more: VIP events, access to exclusive merchandise and drops, the possibilities are truly endless,” says Charles Wayn, co-founder of Project Galaxy.

As many of these companies enter the NFT space, there is a need to support them on a technical and administrative level.

An example of this is the partnership between NYC’s Counsel on Demand and blockchain platform 1Law – a virtual tokenized law firm with a fully functioning platform that uniquely identifies clients by generating QR codes and transforming them into NFTs.

Together, they have expanded to all 50 states to merge AI, mobile and blockchain technologies into the framework for legal services. Counsel on Demand’s CEO Roman Gambourg says they were the first law firm to accept BitcoinBTC
for payment of legal fees back in 2014. Now in partnership with 1Law the company is utilizing new-age technologies to engage both consumers receiving legal services and lawyers, incentivizing them through tokens and NFTs.

The NFT space is currently projected to grow even bigger in the next few years and with this will come the need for legal services that are experts in the area. This partnership is helping to make sure that both ends of the spectrum have their needs met and are encouraged to engage with the legal aspect.

For the entertainment industry, this means fewer bumps in the road when it comes to taking NFTs from the blockchain to the big screen (take the recent situation with Seth Green, for instance).

Then there is the technical aspect in itself. While many entertainment industry players might want to get into NFTs, they don’t want to deal with the technical part of creating them. After all, they’re show biz people, not blockchain developers.

This is where projects like ForkChain offer a potential solution. Describing itself as a no-code blockchain builder, the technology allows users to create anything, including NFTs, on a blockchain with no technical experience.

In the same way, anyone can create a free blog on a hosting site without ever writing a line of code, ForkChain lets users create their own NFTs instantly. They can also choose to fork the NFTs on a number of blockchains, including Polygon, the Binance Smart Chain, and so on.

This, in turn, means that more entertainment-focused NFTs can be pumped out without being slowed down by a lack of technical knowledge.