issue 231
Hello! Group-based ‘storytelling’ is on the rise, it’s still very niche, but no longer relegated to the kids in musty, candle-lit basements spellbound over a tabletop RPG with double dice.
We have the internet, the ultimate game. It’s global, accessible, and becoming more financially incentivized with tokens – for better or worse. How enchanting.
Inhabitable storyworlds necessitate primitive concepts... characters, creatures, traits, and items.
Idea imagined. That same group of kids can spin up a digital-first media company in an afternoon, and reach far more people (and earn far more income) than any film distributed by Sony Pictures Classics domestically in the last year or two. Sorry, but it’s true.
Revenge of the nerds, that fantasy is our constant reality.
I tweeted this last week… but I believe that “story as a service” is going to be a major opportunity in web3. Many popular projects are hiring full-time writers and paying them tech salaries, which tend to be a bit higher than WGA minimums. There’s a fundamental need to shape a satisfying story, to design a rock-solid foundation to be later built upon by the devoted community.
Layer cake, look at Loot.
Many of these web3 projects fall under CC0 licenses (which we covered last issue) and the general consensus is that any new derivative piece of IP created around the ecosystem will extend the project’s shelf-life and increase the value of the whole.
Audience-enabled. There are a few new inventive developments taking place in the tangled web, like incorporating the audience into the story itself (in name, avatar, or asset), and/or empowering them to write stories in tweets and discord servers. Fan fiction begins in the message boards, a platform with distribution. It’ll only get crazier from here; I’ve seen some wild pitches with interactive story mechanics that include tokenomics (i.e. burning, staking) to progress the story as gameplay.
Online society has grown pretty accustomed to team-based narratives, but those mostly those that encircle politics. Might as well contribute to story where you have some semblance of control and upside, rather than none at all.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. Open source stories. See ya next week.
Tech
Open AI Dall-e AI image generator (absolutely insane) Verge
Fractal, marketplace for gaming NFTs, raised $35m Med
Edo, tv ad measurement co, raised $80m Shamrock WSJ
Anzu, in-game programmatic ads, raised $20m (tipped a few of you to this) VB
Lego and Epic team up for kids metaverse (Epic also partnered w Sesame) EG
Epic releases RealityScan for 3D models Verge and raised another $2b CNBC
Songfinch, personalize music maker, raised $5m MBW
Novel, nft services co, raised $6m WSJ
Zygo, underwater audio streaming, raised $2.5m Fins
Kooply, mobile game devs platform, raised $18m TC
Engage, helps college athletes monetize NIL, raised $1m Sport
Apple, Meta, gave user data to hackers pretending to be gov worker Bberg
Battlebound, p2e game dev, raised $5m a16z CD
Collectors Holdings, sports cards and memorabilia, raised $100m Chernin, Cohen Sport
Bods, virtual dressing room tech, raised $5.5m Fash
Gaming Society, sports betting with a focus on women, raised $3.5m Sportico
Loaded, mgmt. firm for gamers, raised $20m Forbes
Quintar, AR platform for live sports and ent, raised $3m VB
Archie, freelance payment marketplace, raised $4.5m TC
Overtime plans amateur football league, backed by Cam Richards CNBC
Ampverse, esports in SEA, raised $12m TC
Flow Club, remote sessions to help workers stay in the flow, raised $5m Fastco
Celona, 5G LAN deployment for enterprise, raised $60m VB
Creative Juice, short term loans for creators, raised $15m Info
Sydecar, hope to make syndicates easier (AngelList does this), raised $8.3m Cis
Niantic acq AR studios NZXR TC
SamCart, helps creators start storefrontrs, raised $82m AIt
Community Gaming, crypto esports in Ems, raised $16m CD
Lucra, p2p sports betting, raised $10m Sportico
Endel, AI soundscapes, raised $15m TC
Games247, India mobile game operator, raised $75m TC
Dyte, helps devs make SDKs for video calls, raised $11.5m TC
Zuck still into crypto creator coins for his verse FT
Glimpse, produce placement in short term rentals (hmm), raised $6.2m Forb
Pahdo Labs, blockchain games maker anime RPG, raised $15m PL
Allseated, virtual events co turned metaverse maker, raised $15m TC
StayTuned, suite of tools for Shopify merchants, acq AOVBoost Cis
Chief, private women’s leadership network, raised $100m at uni status TC
Tappp, sports live events and in-game betting, raised $10m Forbes
TikTok launches program to help creative agencies TC
Ubisoft anchors $150m crypto fund Block
TikTok partners w Giphy on video creation tool (FB deal must be blocked) TC
Latitud, biz and corp structure for LatAm, raised $12m TC
Hackers stole $620m from Axie VB
Starlight, DAO banking tools, raised $5m TC
Axie then raised $150m in venture to reimburse players Arst
Prizeout, ad-tech focused at wallets, raised $5m GN
Goals, multiplayer football (soccer) game w NFTs, raised $15m Sift
Ready Player DAO, digital ownership of gaming assets, raised $10m Chernin led Med
India’s Mobile Premiere League looking at massive round from FTX TC
Fabricant, digital fashion house for metaverse, raised $14m VB
Stylitics, retail tech and personalized styling, raised $60m WWD
Nreal, Chinese AR glasses maker, raised $200m TC
Playhouse, like a Zillow x Tiktok, raised $3m TC
Coinbase and BAYC partner on three animated films (lol) CD
Improbable, interoperable metaverse co, raised $150m Sift
High Post Cap acq Hemsworth’s Centr for $200m (well done Zsofi, Trent) FOS
Virtual outfits in Roblox Wired
Media
NFL considering its own streamer (anotha one) Athletic
Playstation rolls out its sub service to compete against Game Pass Insider
Chernin looking to scoop up prod cos (eyed Red Arrow) Axios Info
MLB and Capital One $125m 5 yr sponsor deal CNBC
Comcast backed fund Atairos acq Grand Ole Ospry in Nashville for $300m (deck in article) THR
Nielsen agrees to $16b offer Axios
UK might put Channel 4 on the block Bberg
Ligue 1 football league gets $1.6b investment SP
Verse, parent of Josh and Dailyhunt, raised $800m TC
Starry gets Spac’d (Chet is a beast) BW
Twitter explores co-authored tweets Verge
March madness sponsors generate $410m in value ESV
Netflix’s interactive efforts Dotla
Hypebeast to get Spac’d in $530m deal w/ celebs WSJ
Amzn buys dozens of rocket launches for sat biz Bberg
Spotify in a $1.5b lawsuit over music publishing Verge
Withdrawn media/ent Spacs Eldridge, Spinning Eagle, Advancit
OnlyFans looking to go public Axios
TorchTunes, juke boxes and such in-venues acquired BW
Nflx launches two thumbs up rating for users Var
FB hires GOP consultancy to malign TikTok Washpo
ESPN and Brady’s Autograph partner NFTs THR
iHeart looks to build podcast network focused on NFT collections Axios
China plans restrictions on its livestream industry WSJ
CAA acq CAA/GBG brand mgmt. group THR
Batiste gets 950% post Grammys Var
WWE and Fanatics sign long-term partnership, NFT plans w Candy Var
Elon bought a 9% stake in Twtr, joins board (then bails) SEC
French exhibitor CGR for sale Var
Deloitte survey on churn and burn, more likely coming THr
WarnerMedia Discovery deal closes ATT
Morning Brew 4m subs and $50m revs looks at M&A CNBC
Faze Clan and Twitch’s tv strat Var
Boyd Gaming (casino) acq Pala Interactive for tech and social gaming RJ
Spotify testing TikTok like feed TC
Roku extends deal w Amzn BW
Dave & Busters acq Main Event for $830m targeting young children GN
Fanatics raised more capital from NFL, MLB and more CNBC
NYT tells writers to get off Twtr (same goes for me) NL
Nielsen study says consumers overloaded with choice (no dur) THR
AMC c-suite plans more meme-stock fueled deals Reut
Entertainment
Bad Robot exploring its options BI
Bigelow, Koepp team on thriller Aurora for Nflx THR
John Carney to direct Bee Gees biopic for Paramount Dead
FilmNation, Range coproduction pact Var
Ethan Coen solo film for Focus, Working Title THR
The Crow rebooted w Bill Skarsgard and Rupert Sanders THR
Anonymous / Endeavor form scripted TV JV Dead
NFL Media minority stake on the block, Nflx sniffing Athletic
Imagine to make doc on Jim Henson, Muppets Dead
Momoa to star/write Chief of War, Hawaii history at Apple Var
Soderbergh contributes $300k to Coppola’s Decentralized IW
Judge rules against Kirkman, producers in TWD profits (yikes) THR
Nflx orders Kaluuya’s The Kitchen, dystopia film THR
Penelope Cruz prod co Moonlyon w Mediapro Var
Sky working on Mussolini limited series Var
It prequel HBO Max Var
Apple orders limited series Big Cigar about Black Panther leader, Cheadle, Andrew Holland Var
Nflx orders interactive rom-com Choose Love Var
HBO Max to develop Aqualad origin You Brought me the Ocean from Charlize Var
Amzn orders 6 Japanese originals THR
Joel Edgerton to star in Dark Matter at Apple Var
Lily Depp, Hoyeon and more join The Governesses, Talbot’s next for A24 Var
MGM, Akiva, Dan Brown team on animated feature Wild Symphony Dead
J Lo, Skydance developing Prime Vid series Backwards in Heels Dead
Hiddleston Apple series White Darkness from Soo Hugh Var
Gillian Anderson first look tv w Nflx Var
Nflx Spy Kids movie with Robert Rodriguez, Skydance, Spyglass THR
Mayer on Candle Media’s strat Dead
Tamir Muhammad re-ups first look deal w Warner Bros, HBO Dead
Mila Kunis NFT show Gimmicks lets users control the plot CD
Lionsgate dumps Shotgun Wedding to Amzn Var
Carlton Cuse first look Amzn Dead
Kevin Smith wants to distrib Kilroy was Here as NFT Dead
Orphan Black sequel AMC greenlight Var
Bad Wolf developing Warlord Chronicles w SPTV Var
DC plans Batman NFTs Var
Casper live action series Peacock Var
Brut bringing Cannes content to Fortnite (stop.) Var
Data on inclusion in the music biz PDF
Grammy winners THR
Will Smith resigns Academy (blahblah) IW
Collaborative
Future of Film launches incubator (yay Alex, I’m also on the board) FoF
Museums cashing in on NFTs NYT
Scientists decoded entire human genome AP
A note from the Daniels A24
Emily Short on narrative design systems ESblog
Brands getting into the metaverse for fashion week WSJ
Donald Glover Interview
Manifesto on web3 and musicOS Mirror
Noe’s Lux Aeterna trailer YT
Interview w David Sun Kon, synthetic biologist Neolife
The future of content report from Var
Computers and common sense with AI NewYorker
Eric Schmidt’s influence on Biden’s science office Polit
Countering North Korean cyber attacks Goog
CAA’s civic alliance playbook CA
Interview w/ Bill Browder on Russian sanctions NYT
Intercepted Russian radio chatter NYT
Adrien Brody and Jeremy Strong Interview
Belloni on Zaslav’s honeymoon being already over Puck
Satellites to monitor climate change SuperC
Guide to web3 and the creator economy platforms Antler
The race to rebuild our coral reefs Wired
Bitcoin bust that took down child abuse site, starts w IRS Wired
Marcel the Shell trailer YT
Chatrooms as resolution centers, courtrooms Markup
Deloitte on NFTs in sports memorabilia WSJ
Chris Rock ticket sales sky rocket (wonder why) Fortune
Inside the world of private concert gigs RS
Luma Q1’22 market map PDF
A Southport mechanic found millions worth of art in a dumpster CT
The Wknd Out of Time music vid YT
Research paper on broad AI PDF
The rise of inflation Hustle
Zaslav and Ari’s massive comp packages Puck
ClearviewAI goes to war NYT
Perseverance captures the sounds of Mars JPL
UK and video games data UKgov
Slime to help retrieve accidentally swallowed objects Mash
Lacey Leone, cancel culture consultant NYmag
Elon thought about a new social media platform (buy v build) WSJ
Interview w/ Thomas Piketty NYTMag
A look at Mackenzie Scott’s giving NYT
Michael Douglas profile and erotic thrillers (ha) Vulture
America needing more developing into capabilities, industry not markets Lux
Socializing at work with virtual golf (lol) WSJ
Galloway on the future of TV Med
People are lonely, decline s3x rates NewYorker
How web3 might reinvent photography Fastco
Teachers are earning less than 30years ago LW
The Station, short doc on the ISS YT
Dorsey and Musk trying to make sustainable BTC mine Input
Pod notes of Su Zhu of Three Arrows KH
Thiel mocks old money at crypto conf, rips Benjamin’s (this guy.) Gizm
Google plans non-fungible planet climate initiative Input