Public funding of the works of the 7e art is bound to shrink and this situation has paved the way for private initiatives. The KlapCoin cryptocurrency is intended to be a complementary solution and intends to offer budding directors, beyond simple financing, the insights of film professionals and also the invaluable windfall constituted by the opinions of a community of film enthusiasts.
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The poster of a new feature film stands under our eyes one morning, the promise of laughter, a dive into the shallows or a journey into the unknown. Perhaps we will be tempted to go to a dark room to savor this adventure in unison with other souls, sharing this intense experience in an ephemeral way.
By the time the film is announced, years have often passed since the initial inspiration. Following this primal spark, there followed an obstacle course. The longest phase is often not what you think. It was necessary to convince accountants with braces, clean-shaven financial backers, sometimes seduced by the ardor of the creator and the artistic facets, but most often concerned with making an investment profitable, even if it means having their say on the choice of actors, the merits of a scene likely to separate the audience from the families, or even the end of the story. This stage, pre-production, is a very confusing obligatory passage.
The budding director’s first stop is to solicit thesilver public to an organization, the CNC. However, in 2018, Laurent Boutonnat, famous for the clips he made for the singer Mylène Farmer took over the management of this famous CNC. In the report he produced following his taking office, the director of Libertine specified that public money was going to run out. However, at the same time, creation is in turmoil and the number of works that should be financed on French soil is multiplied like the bucket-carrying brooms that come to solicit the unfortunate Mickey in Fantasia. It goes without saying that the pandemic of 2020 has not helped the situation.
Clearly, the CNC will be able to distribute less money to creators than in the past and Laurent Boutonnat has called for the relay of private initiatives.
Why a cryptocurrency rather than a classic fund?
When they considered setting up a private fund dedicated to film financing, Sabine Tellier and Joël Girod took the initial approach of involving traditional management companies and SOFICA (company financing the film industry and ‘audio-visual). Alas, these operating methods did not meet their aspiration to democratize the financing of cinema.
Echoes from the world of cryptocurrency, NFT and Web3 came to interfere in the project. Blockchain’s own abilities to identify and date an artistic act and to protect everyone’s creative rights have opened up another path. So the idea emerged: why not create the currency of French cinema? “. Gradually, this modus operandi became obvious: beyond the constitution of a fund, the possibility of creating a community around the 7e art emerged as an invaluable asset. Under the aegis of La DCF (Diversity of French Cinema), KlapCoin was born on July 8, 2021.
What works could KlapCoin finance?
KlapCoin intervenes on this specific part of the audiovisual sector mentioned above, that of development, and therefore upstream of the actual filming on a set. This phase includes in particular:
- writing a synopsis;
- the casting ;
- the definition of the decorations;
- sound wrapping with choice of a composer;
- how the work is going to be treated.
This pre-production phase, which usually takes the form of a detailed script, is traditionally the longest. It leads to a first idea of the costs of realization, of what will be feasible or not.
Three types of assets
A French initiative, KlapCoin would like to facilitate this hatching phase and to do this, three types of participation have been planned, each based on the Tezos blockchain, renowned for its ecological aspects and lower processing fees.
- A stablecoin, the KlapCoin, which is backed by the euro. It is used to constitute the financing fund.
- A trading token at emission limited called the Lux, exchangeable on classic platforms such as Coinbase, and therefore open to speculation for those who like this practice. The Lux gives rise to the right to vote and thus facilitates the development of a community of active cinephiles. Access to this community is a major asset, whether for fans of the 7e art or for producers who can capture the pulse of the public on theair time. And to better constitute a panel in the image of the public, it was decided that the least euro invested produces a right to vote equal to that of the other subscribers of the community. However, the possession of a large number of Lux gives access to bonuses: preview, possibility of going to a shoot…
- A fraction of NFT attesting to an investment in a portfolio of audiovisual works developed at a given time. An expression has naturally emerged in passing: the “blockchainisation of audiovisual works”. The blockchain is seen here as a tool for preserving the interests of the entire production chain in the broadest sense.
Fundraising (the ICO, for Initial Coin Offering, in English) relating to KlapCoin started on April 28, 2022 with an expected end on September 30. It is therefore from this date that the effective financing of audiovisual works will take off.
Meeting several worlds
Explaining the virtues of a currency dedicated to cinema is in itself a challenge, because such a project targets four types of communities, essentially disparate:
- movie buffs;
- fans of crypto-assets;
- audiovisual professionals;
- the financiers.
Building a discourse capable of convincing these four worlds is far from straightforward. How to choose a vocabulary that speaks to everyone? Such is the challenge encountered week after week by Sabine Tellier and Joël Girod, aware of wiping the plasters worldwide on this type of initiative.
An influx of projects
Long before the ICO was completed, as early as June, around a hundred projects spontaneously reached the DCF, which, it should be remembered, oversees these new funds. The big question: how is the selection of works that KlapCoin could come to support going?
A selection committee has taken shape and is chaired by actress Julie Gayet under the sponsorship of director Claude Lelouch. The committee includes other artists or speakers from the audiovisual production chain: Kev Adams, Jean David Blanc, Elsa Zilberstein, Patrick Braoudé…
The rule is simple: once a project has been selected, the DCF must finance it.
Finally, it should be noted that the CNC wanted that from 2023, each audiovisual production could report on the steps taken by the production company in terms of eco-responsibility. Each new project will have to pass under such caudine forks to qualify for a grant. Without waiting, the DCF decided to respect this formula from 2022, which aims to extend to the environment the type of rules already established in order to protect animal well-being.
Let the show begin !…
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