Kevin Smith just took a huge plunge into the world of non-fungible tokens. In an unorthodox move that he compares to the surprise breakout sale of his indie debut, Clerks, Smith is selling his latest horror anthology film, Killroy Was Here, as a NFT. And it’s not a gimmick — whoever purchases the film owns it outright, and it will be entirely up to the owner what they want to do with the film, including putting it in a digital locker and never touching it again. Via Deadline:
“Back in 1994, we took Clerks up to Sundance and sold it. Selling Killroy as an NFT feels very similar: whoever buys it could choose to monetize it traditionally, or simply own a film that nobody ever sees but them. We’re not trying to raise financing by selling NFT’s for a Killroy movie; the completed Killroy movie IS the NFT. And If this works, we suddenly have a new stage on which I and other, better artists than me can tell our stories.”
As a long-time comic book junkie, Smith is no stranger to the collectibles scene, and for the past two decades, he’s sat atop a mini-merchandising empire based on his View Askewniverse. So, of course, he’s not about to pass up the latest craze in digital collecting. On top of selling Killroy Was Here as a NTF, Smith is also launching Jay and Silent Bob’s Crypto Studio, which will include his own “Smokin’ Tokens.”
“This allows us to shine a spotlight on artists we love and introduce the community to their style by way of our characters,” Smith told Deadline. “We provide the Jay and Silent Bob, you provide the art, our partner Semkhor mints the NFT, and we split the profits. I’ve earned money off of Jay and Silent Bob for years now, so it’s nice to provide a licensed place where others can do the same.”
(Via Deadline)