Shibuya, pplpleasr’s Web3 video platform, will host the stop-motion short that gives NFT owners creative control.
Just two months after raising $6.9 million, Shibuya has unveiled its next web video that NFT holders may help create scene-by-scene: a stop-motion animated short from the studios of electronic musician Steve Aoki and actor Seth Green.
Shibuya’s next web video, which NFT holders can help make scene by scene, is a stop-motion animated short from the studios of electronic musician Steve Aoki and actor Seth Green. It was released just two months after they raised $6.9 million.
All of this will come together to make a single stop-motion animated short that anyone can watch on the Shibuya platform, but only NFT holders will be able to vote while it is being made. These people will also get a reward NFT with a different level of rarity based on how much they helped with the process.
“Dominion X” is Shibuya’s second IP launch since the platform came out in March 2022, and it’s the first one that wasn’t made by the company itself. Pplpleasr said that users will be able to create interactive content that is different from “White Rabbit,” the first anime series that came out with Shibuya.
“This is really exciting because it’s going to show, as a very first step, where Shibuya is headed,” she said.
In August 2021, “Dominion X” released a series of animated scenes sold as Ethereum NFTs through Nifty Gateway, reportedly selling out the whole collection within seconds. Stoopid Buddy Stoodios made a three-minute stop-motion short titled “Dominion X: Level 1” that includes the fuzzy pink lead creature (Character X).
In September 2022, the partners released a collection of NFT profile pictures (PFPs) based on the project, each of which served as a pass to a virtual writers’ room and community that would help shape the next series. They first offered 7,777 NFTs for 0.10 ETH each (about $170 at the time), but later reduced the supply to 4,000 NFTs for 0.05 ETH each ($85).
Anyone with an NFT in the larger Replicant X project, which includes “Dominion X,” can stake (or lock up) the asset on the Shibuya platform to vote on story decisions. Also, any Shibuya White Rabbit NFT holder can do the same. Pplpleasr said that she believes there may be thousands of voters in the mix at each stage of the production process.
In December, Shibuya raised $6.9 million in a round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Variant Fund, with famous angel investors such as NBA star Kevin Durant and celebrity Paris Hilton also joining. The firm, co-founded by pplpleasr and concept designer Maciej Kuciara, aims to disrupt traditional funding patterns for video production by incorporating NFT buyers.
Since the beginning of 2021, the NFT market as a whole has seen about $50 billion worth of organic trading volume, according to data from DappRadar. However, sales momentum began to drop sharply in the middle of 2022.
Pplpleasr, a well-known digital artist, started in the NFT arena making and selling tokenized artwork based on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, then designed the cover of Fortune magazine, which was auctioned off as dynamic NFTs and raised over $650,000 for journalistic causes. She has also worked with Aoki to make NFT art and to collect it.
Aoki, a well-known DJ, has created or partnered on a lot of NFT-driven initiatives, such as his own A0k1verse membership club, a Solana-based NFT marketplace with legendary comic book creator Todd McFarlane, and an upcoming CryptoPunks-themed music project with fellow Web3 creator and DJ Justin “3LAU” Blau.
Collectively, they have created something close to a dream team of famous Web3 developers utilizing decentralized technologies. Shibuya’s north star, according to Pplpleasr, is the creation of high-quality content, reiterating her previous comment that “content on Web3 is now bad.”
“Dominion X: Level 2” will demonstrate if this mission can be continued across genres and styles, as well as with various collaborators steering the content. “We all believe in the ability for Web3 to transform the preexisting film industry,” she said.
