Illuminart, in association with Rooftop Production and Karlab studios, has launched the production of Plush, the first French animated film financed by NFTs.
If it materializes, a cinema release is planned for the end of 2023. This is the first time that a French film has used cryptocurrencies in its financing.
Entitled “Plush»(translate plush), this animated feature film follows a teddy bear fighting, with an environmental community, against environmental disruption. A militant film bringing together actors, web celebrities and singers in the credits. Kev Adams, Camille Lellouche, Ludovik, Maître Gims and Gérard Damon will lend their voices to these 3D characters.
Cryptocurrencies make their cinema
This feature film, of which only a few images have been unveiled, has the ambitions of a Hollywood blockbuster. Artists and graphic designers from Rooftop Production and Karlab studios collaborated with Universal to “like beasts», “All on stage», “Minions» or “Me, ugly and mean“, or with Netflix for the Arcane series.
But to finance the project, no major Hollywood studios or major French producers. Illuminart is counting on the phenomenon of NFTs (non-fungible tokens or non-fungible tokens) to obtain the more than 60 million dollars necessary for the development of the film.
To become a co-producer of “Plush», it will be necessary to pay the sum of 1,250 euros for an NFT of a bear. The characters were first imagined by the graphic designers of the studios, before an algorithm generated 50,000 variants of these teddy bears. In Indian costume, soldier, flashy or punk look, as many sassy versions that Internet users will acquire blindly, before discovering them one or two weeks later.
A Target of 700 million box office receipts
The guarantee of this purchase lies in the speculative nature of these digital works of art. Those who wish can sell or buy others on the opensia platform, a kind of online NFT market. For participants, it’s the opportunity to see their teddy bear gain in value if it appeals to as many people as possible.
With this purchase, the co-producers of “Plush» are guaranteed to share 80% of the profits made at the box office. Illuminart, the company behind the project, boasts huge commercial potential: “Since the average grossing of major anime films is $700 million, each buyer of an NFT PLUSH should, at a minimum, see their stake multiplied by three.»he explains in the columns of Parisian.
An estimate that could be considered very optimistic on the part of Illuminart. Indeed, only twenty-three of these films have managed to cross the 700 million mark at the worldwide box office (without taking inflation into account), with the biggest animated success of all time, The Queen of Neiges 2, which has accumulated nearly 1.5 billion greenbacks worldwide. It is also the last animated film (released in 2019) to have crossed the 700 million mark.
Bad buzz on social media
On the economic side, everything seems to have been planned, but the artistic side is still unclear. If a plot has already been written and the heroes imagined by the graphic designers, neither director nor scriptwriter has been announced by Illuminart. The latter also indicates that the co-producers will be able to direct the scenario via a voting system. It is therefore difficult to envisage a theatrical release for Christmas 2023, as announced.
On social networks, however, Plush is experiencing a significant bad buzz. Internet users criticize the speculative aspect of the financing, part of which would go directly to the production. Indeed, even if the feature film is not made for lack of funding, those who have bought the NFTs will remain simple owners with a value in Ether, a cryptocurrency.
An animated film for children, financed by a giant ponzi scheme #NFT.
Influencers are targeting kids to sell their scam.
This assembly should not be legal. The stars who participate in #Plush should be tried for organized fraud
— Marmalade #StandWithUkraine (@Marme_elade) April 28, 2022
The celebrities in the cast and in particular the personalities are also singled out for the promotion of this production system. Some criticize the discrepancy between a synopsis which is oriented towards ecology and the use of NFTs, which consume a lot of energy and therefore have a significant carbon impact.
In France, NFTs are gradually making a place for themselves in film financing. The feature film A wing and a prayer, directed by producer Martin Scorsese, announced the sale of 10,000 NFTs in order to raise the 8 to 10 million dollars needed for the film’s budget. In France, director Claude Lelouch supports the Klapcoin project, a cryptocurrency that would fund around twenty films and series.