Today blockchain firm tZERO an Overstock subsidiary, announced it has partnered with blockchain-based entertainment financing company BLOQ FLIX. It will use tZERO’s platform to tokenize entertainment financing, with JumpStart Securities as the placement agent for these offerings.
This is the second such deal by tZERO. Two months ago it announced a partnership with Vision Tree, to help the latter finance “Atari: Fistful of Quarters” movie through tokenization. Previous announcements about blockchain financing have focused on big-budget films. But the deal with BLOQ FLIX focuses on small to medium budget productions.
BLOQ FLIX aims to fund the production of feature films, television programming and online content, which are in demand from streaming and OTT media service providers like Hulu and Netflix. BLOQ FLIX was founded by Brandon Hogan and Jonathan Helmuth, who have collectively managed $100 million of production funds in the past.
“Hollywood’s entertainment finance structures need to evolve, and we want to lead this charge to disrupt traditional media financing,” said BLOQ FLIX CEO Hogan. “By embracing blockchain technology, we are streamlining the film and TV funding process and offering funding access directly to mini-major studios, producers and experienced indie producers.”
tZERO has developed a security token trading platform, has a crypto trading app and its own security token. “Our continued goal is to tokenize and trade assets that can benefit from blockchain technology, and digitizing film financing fits this model nicely,” said tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi.
For BLOQ FLIX, tokenization will allow individual investors to chip-in small amounts of money and effectively become co-producers. Financing Independent films or Indie films is a tough job, and wealthier individuals generally back them.
BLOQ FLIX’s website lists films starring Keanu Reeves Liam Neeson, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Spacey among others. We believe these were co-produced by the founders while at other ventures. Studio associations include Warner Bros, Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate, FOX and Netflix among the notable ones.
Earlier this week, Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange (LCX) announced it is tokenizing a $25 million movie fund in partnership with American actor and director Wesley Snipes.
In May, Hollywood producer Ryan Kavanaugh’s Proxima Media received a $100 million investment from Step Ventures and the Central Wealth Investment Fund of Hong Kong. The aim was to issue a token to represent part ownership in Hollywood projects. Variety recently published a controversial article about Kavanaugh and a falling out with a banker over a movie funding exchange or market.
