‘Calladita’ Director: NFT Film Funding Model Outdated, ‘The Space Moves So Rapidly’

Director Miguel Faus made headlines with his new approach to financing the feature film “Calladita” by selling NFTs. But, he cautions, he “wouldn’t recommend” that other filmmakers duplicate his approach exactly because the Web3 film space has already moved on.

“Our mint collection worked quite well and we were able to finance the film – but it’s over now,” he shared Decrypt at the NFT Paris conference. “Space is moving so fast that the model is gone,” he explained, adding that it’s important for filmmakers to keep an open mind, innovate and repeat what’s gone before.

“This spirit of continuous innovation is very important” to the burgeoning Film3 movement, he said. “It’s important to try things out and learn from what works and what doesn’t.”

As an example, he pointed to the all-access NFT passes that were created for the film. “We tried to have a very low entry price so more people could join our community, but it didn’t catch on as much as we’d hoped.”

Nevertheless, with the film in the box, NFT’s fundraising campaign for “Calladita” is demonstrably a success. “We are now moving on to sound editing, color grading and the original score, and hope to have the film finished around mid-May,” ahead of its film festival launch, Faus said.

‘Calladita’ DAO

Future plans for the film include the launch of a DAO governed by “Calladita” NFT holders.

Faus described DAO as a “solution” on stage at NFT Paris, noting that “we cannot offer direct revenue shares to our NFT holders in the film, because that would turn our NFTs into securities.”

Instead, The DAO will own 50% of “Calladita” in perpetuity, with revenue from the film going into a treasury managed by NFT holders. “It’s very exciting to find a new body in the ecosystem that can help advance the future of decentralized cinema,” said Faus Decrypt.

Faus has already explored new avenues for Web3 funding; in January, “Calladita” picked up a $100,000 completion grant from “Ocean’s Eleven” director Steven Soderbergh, awarded through Web3 funding platform Decentralized Pictures.

“It’s a dream come true,” Faus said, adding that Soderbergh has seen the film and sent his notes on the edit — albeit “very sparse” ones. “He really liked the film and didn’t have much to say about how to improve it,” Faus added.