Blockchain Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

A devastating natural disaster hit the USA this week, killing several and doing billions of dollars in damage. So many Floridians lost their homes…

EXCLUSIVE: The main cast of cult classic indie comedy Napoleon Dynamite are reuniting for an animated pilot released through blockchain technology.

Liza Foreman Launched in 2018 as part of a San Sebastián Festival initiative to become a hub for fast-tracking new tech film-TV initiatives, this year’s expanded edition of the Zinemaldia & Technology event, the Zinemaldia Start Up Challenge, awarded three prizes on Thursday for the best Spanish, best entrepreneurial and best European projects after a morning of pitching. Best Spanish project went to the innovative music app Motmo.pro from Bruno de Zabala and Janire Vázquez. Entrepreneurial Project prize was won by Mine S. from Riccardo Belingheri, and Massimiliano Moioli from Italy. Both projects receive $10,000 ($10,000). The Spanish brother and sister team, Teresa Benítez Martínez and Francisco Benítez Martínez, took home €3,000 for best European project for kino_greentoken.

Angus Finney “Computers are useless,” Pablo Picasso exclaimed more than 50 years ago. “They can only give you answers.” No doubt he would be turning in his grave at today’s alliance of computer programs, tech companies and digital artists clustering together to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It’s a quickly evolving and potentially very risky world for filmmakers, producers and others looking for new ways to raise funding but should be approached with caution, research and a good look at recent history.  NFTs — in case you need reminding — are digital artworks and images, often carved up into bite-sized tokens, that rely on blockchain technology to prove ownership. The explosion in interest and speculation around NFTs and the wider crypto currency craze that heated up during the previous decade has now spectacularly imploded over the past six months, with more than $2 trillion wiped out. The burst bubble in digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) has attracted acute attention, but also pain for millions of investors given that by mid-2021 more than 16% of the American population had bought into the crypto craze.  

Fyre Festival disaster – has opened up about his plans to pay off $26million (£22.7million) in restitution owed to those he defrauded.McFarland was profiled by The New York Times this week, having completed his stint on house arrest earlier this month. It comes after he was moved from prison to a halfway house in March, being released from his six-year federal prison sentence more than two years early (he was formally sentenced in October of 2018).

After a contentious lawsuit erupted between filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and his former studio Miramax over Tarantino’s decision to release a series of “Pulp Fiction” NFTs, with both sides firing off heated arguments in the media, an agreement has been reached.Miramax and Quentin Tarantino have released a joint statement regarding the settlement of the pending NFT lawsuit.“The parties have agreed to put this matter behind them and look forward to collaborating with each other on future projects, including possible NFTs,” the statement said.Late last year, Tarantino and blockchain company Secret Network announced that they’d be selling uncut and unreleased scenes from “Pulp Fiction” as NFTs. Those purchasing the NFTs would also receive exclusive access to extras, including commentary from Tarantino and images of the handwritten first draft of the screenplay.Miramax, who has plans to turn much of its library into NFTs, argued that Tarantino doesn’t have the right to release NFTs of his own screenplay and sent a cease-and-desist to the filmmaker (who, in the years since “Pulp Fiction’s” release, made movies like “Django Unchained,” “Kill Bill” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”).“This group chose to recklessly, greedily, and intentionally disregard the agreement that Quentin signed instead of following the clear legal and ethical approach of simply communicating with Miramax about his proposed ideas,” Miramax’s attorney Bart Williams said in a statement in November.

K.J. Yossman New York and London-based American-European entertainment fund APX Group has appointed Andy Capper as chief operating officer and head of North American operations.He will oversee strategic and financial coordination of APX’s North America activity as well as business activities across the European divisions.

cryptocurrency markets and a big year for Web3 thievery in general, from NFT kidnappings to hacks taking aim at the crypto exchanges and the “bridge” entities that facilitate sales and trades. Duke University lecturing fellow Lee Reiners has emerged as a vocal doubter of the viability of cryptocurrencies as a meaningful factor for nations and commerce, particularly for the kind of rights-laden contracts struck in the entertainment industry. Reiners, who also hosts “The FinReg Pod” podcast on money and regulatory issues, was blunt in assessing the crypto moment as little more than a tulip-like investment fad in a conversation with Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton.

Blockchains and metaverses. Crypto-currencies and non-fungible tokens.Over the past 12 months, as the world has eased out of pandemic crisis mode, the pop culture-verse and the Wall Street-verse have been rife with discourse and deal-making around a belief in the revolutionary potential of mind-bendingly complicated, internet-enabled new systems of communication, content creation, supply-chain management, legal documentation and banking.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBlockchain — A distributed, publicly accessible database that functions as a ledger to record digital transactions (such as records of a cryptocurrency transaction). The blockchain provides a way to conduct verifiable, trusted transactions — without the need for a centralized third-party entity.Metaverse — A virtual-reality space in which users can interact within a computer-generated environment with virtual objects, artificial- intelligence elements or other users through virtual avatars.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorFox Corp. operates the only one of the four major U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Blockchain tech company GoldenArk via its subsidiary GoldenArk Media, and independent film start-up Cherry Blossom Studios enter into $10M partnership deal.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAfter nearly 12 years at Meta and Facebook, Nick Grudin is leaving the social-media giant. Grudin next month will join NFT digital-collectibles company Dapper Labs as chief business officer.Most recently, Grudin was VP of content and community partnerships at Meta, where he oversaw global partnerships and content across the company’s creator ecosystem, media, entertainment, sports and community initiatives.

EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency pioneer Jeff Garzik has launched NextCypher Productions (NxC), a new independent entertainment company that will focus on using the emerging technology of Web3 (NFTs, crypto, blockchain applications) to empower the sci-fi community to turn fantasy into reality.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNot everyone is jumping on the NFT bandwagon.Minecraft, the open-world game platform owned by Microsoft, has notified players that “integrations of NFTs with Minecraft are generally not something we will support or allow.”In the July 20 notice, the game’s developer, Mojang, said it has rules in place to ensure that Minecraft “remains a community where everyone has access to the same content. NFTs, however, can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft.”Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) provide unique identifiers, which are part of a blockchain, that can authenticate the ownership of any form of digital asset (enabling markets for trading or selling those).

EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis has partnered with superhero creator Sharad Devarajan of Graphic India to launch Armored Kingdom Media Inc.—a new entertainment franchise spanning a Web3 trading card game, digital comics, animation and film, which will be built on the carbon-neutral, community-driven blockchain, NEAR. To commemorate the launch of the sci-fi/fantasy franchise, a limited-edition Issue #0 comic book NFT will be made available for free, for seven days only, at this link.

Jim Carrey debuted his first NFT artwork on Thursday, a digital painting titled “Sunshower” that features his contemplative voiceover. His foray into the world of blockchain joins a growing list of Hollywood celebrities to become enamored by the vanguard digital data system.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWWE is hoping to pin down some cash in its first sale of NFTs featuring the wrestling entertainment company’s top stars.WWE, together with Fox Entertainment’s Blockchain Creative Labs, on Friday, June 3, plans to launch its its first NFT (nonfungible token) sale on Moonsault, WWE’s official NFT marketplace. The limited-edition collection will comprise more than 10,000 “NFT Flips,” each featuring a WWE Superstar tied to the Hell in a Cell event, which in the U.S.

Ken Kragen, best known for his work in putting together the massive ‘We are the World’ and ‘Hands Across America’ projects, has a posthumous venture launching today. The goal is to fundraise with NFTs for charities focused on climate, world hunger, cancer and Ukraine.

David Beckham revealed his plans to “put his feet up” following eldest son Brooklyn Beckham’s £3 million wedding this past Saturday to Nicola Peltz.The 46 year old jokingly told followers on Thursday that he would be resting for the time being after watching his son get married as he had another busy weekend ahead of him. In a video posted to his Instagram, David could be seen sitting back in a chair smiling whilst looking down at his phone with his feet raised up as he captioned: “Putting my feet up for the long weekend @digitalbitsorg” – tagging a blockchain for brands at the end.

Founder of HYBE – the company behind BTS – Bang Si-Hyuk says that he recognises the concerns of music fans regarding NFTs. He adds that, as yet, the company “haven’t announced anything” super specific in that domain, although that doesn’t mean it won’t.In a new interview with Time Magazine, Bang reflects on the reaction to an announcement by HYBE last year that it planned to launch its own NFT exchange in the future.

Grimes has announced plans to release an “intergalactic children’s metaverse book”. It was only a matter of time.The musician revealed her plans while speaking at blockchain conference the Avalanche Summit in Barcelona, according to Bitcoin.com.

Kingship – the metaverse boyband created by Universal Music’s Web3 label 10:22PM – now have a manager. Who – like the four members of the group – is an NFT.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media AnalystFox Corp. isn’t exactly the first name that comes to mind when the inescapable subject of Web3 comes up, but Rupert Murdoch’s company is playing more aggressively in this innovative space than any other traditional media firm.The company’s year-old division Blockchain Creative Labs has been experimenting with the disruptive potential of digital ownership for properties as varied as “The Masked Singer,” WWE and, unexpectedly, SXSW.

Starter.xyz, the leading IDO launchpad, incubator and investor network, which has raised over $40 million (£30.5 million) in seed, private and public rounds for over 50 projects across multiple blockchains, is celebrating its first anniversary.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFox’s animation house Bento Box Entertainment has signed a development deal with former TruTV executives Chris Linn and Marissa Ronca, and their consulting firm Contrast Media.Under the pact, Linn and Ronca will work closely with Bento Box’s development department, advising on creative strategy, packaging and development of animated projects for Fox Entertainment and ad-supported streaming service Tubi, as well as third-party platforms.Additionally, the WarnerMedia alums — Linn the former president of TruTV and Ronca the cable network’s former executive vice president and head of original programming and development — “will offer support” regarding Bento Box’s NFT studio, Blockchain Creative Labs. “Chris and Marissa are fantastic executives whose work we’ve admired for quite some time,” Scott Greenberg, co-founder and CEO of Bento Box Entertainment, said.

Chris Linn, former President of truTV, and Marissa Ronca, who was Head of Original Programming & Development at the WarnerMedia cable network, have struck a development deal with Fox-owned Bento Box Entertainment.

New kids on the blockchain! Best known for playing vampire Alice Cullen in The Twilight Saga franchise, Ashley Greene is taking her talents from Hollywood to the Metaverse. The actress recently launched a new NFT project called Fridgits alongside husband Paul Khoury and a team of female entrepreneurs.

Jeremy Gilbertson Dean Wilson and Joel Zimmerman (better known as the artist deadmau5) are established innovators on the fringe of music and technology. Wilson is Zimmerman’s longtime manager and the pair have been pushing, in lock step, the envelope of music production, performance and the relationship between artist and fan. Zimmerman, a native of Canada, is a creative technologist long driven by his love of gaming to explore all facets of technology in search of groundbreaking new music and elevated fan experiences.