Ep. 536 Leading The Entertainment Industry in the Web3 World with Theta Network
Ep. 536 Leading The Entertainment Industry in the Web3 World with Theta NetworkPowered by RedCircle
In this episode of Crypto 101 we talk to Andrea Berry who is the Head of Business Development at Theta Network who believes that Web3 and blockchain technologies will bring unprecedented opportunities to storytellers, trendsetters and icons in the entertainment industry. When it comes to technology it is not a question of if it is always a question of when and the entertainment side of our space is one that is growing at a fast rate so make sure you tune in to learn about what is happening now and the vision of the future!
— TRANSCRIPT —
SPEAKERS
Aaron, Andrea Berry
Aaron 00:03
All right, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the crypto one on one podcast. I’m your host pizza mind. And I’m joined today by Andrew Berry, the head of business development over at theta labs. Andrea, welcome to the crypto 101 podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. It’s exciting to have you here. Theta is something that we often get asked about in our community over at crypt nation. And you guys have been around for quite a while. One of the probably best projects has actually attracted real users over the past several years going on half a decade. Now. That’s how long fade has been live. But it’s been a little while since we checked in, give us first the high level overview of what you’re building at theta network. For those who are new, who haven’t heard of it, and then let us know, you know, what are some of the newer updates over the past year, though? Maybe people should circle back and check it on? Yeah. So let’s see.
Andrea Berry 01:02
You know, for those who aren’t aware, I always like to start most of my meetings with explaining who we were, then when we started its inception and who we are now. So a lot of people don’t realize that theta.tv was, you know, our streaming platform and product was actually sliver TV. And that was the business that had started. I actually met Mitch, our CEO at sliver when he was sliver TV in 2018. And I was rooting for them. And I thought it was really cool. But I was like, wow, they they are very ambitious. And sure enough, when I started interviewing a couple years later, they had achieved everything changed from sliver to theta. And essentially, they were a gaming streaming platform. And it was incredibly difficult to stream 360 and 4k video from these condensed areas that they’re arenas at these turned gaming tournaments. And so we built our peer to peer CDN, that was our really our first step forward in decentralization. And so since then, you know, we built that to solve our own problems. And since then, we’ve built our own layer one native blockchain, it’s proof of steak, we’ve been told that it was one of the first proof of steak models out there, which is really exciting. But I like to always call out sliver TV and theta TV, the product, because it really is our origin story. And it shows very different from other layer ones we have focus on media and entertainment and serving those use cases, which are incredibly unique for blockchain. And so I would say, you know, in the last year or so I just hit my mark. So it’s a perfect question for me. Thank you, it’s, I love this job. And I love this space. It’s really exciting. My background is in video streaming infrastructure. So it was a really natural fit. In the last year, we have launched our metal chain, which is really exciting that launched in December of 22. And essentially, our main chain, the metal chain allows for businesses creators, whoever wants, you know, it’s permissionless can launch their own sub chain on theta. And what’s very cool about the sub chain is it positions you as a layer one. So for 10,000 token, you can launch your sub chain, and it powers you as a layer one. And so that’s something we’re very focused on is launching these sub chains and user adoption and advocacy for this space. Very kind of pause there, because there’s so many things I could get into. But I want you to ask some questions.
Aaron 03:37
I appreciate it. Well, let’s let’s run down that rabbit hole with the metal chain to start, what are some of the applications that this chain is really designed for developers to come and build? Is it just typical, like finance applications or games? Or is really optimized for like streaming services?
Andrea Berry 03:57
I would say all of the above, right? So it’s we’re you know, while data is very focused on media and entertainment, as a layer one, you know, naturally more industries are going to pop up and have use cases to build on the layer one we have. One of our partners is actually a healthcare company, Lavie to AI it’s an AI health data company, so different than media and entertainment, but you know, it’s really whatever like any other layer one there’s so many use cases it does feel like boiling the ocean. Now on the sub chain specifically, since the sub chain positions you as a layer one the same goes for those use cases as well. So lovey to actually just launched their sub chain yesterday, I believe, if not early this morning. That’s really exciting. But then kind of on the total. Other end of the spectrum, which is more of our focus is tuned star, one of our partners it’s a web three animation studio, they launched their sub chain yesterday and that is really exciting because there’s gaming use cases within not, there’s the video streaming use case. There’s, you know, the fact they’re minting on their own sub chain, the NF T’s. There’s lots of different use cases that we’re just really scratching the surface of. Yeah, it feels a little bit like boiling the ocean with that question. So is it possible for you maybe content creators, like myself to have our own channel on theta? That’s just rolling 24/7 content? That’s actually a great question. So theta TV, yes, theta TV is really like a similar to twitch, where streamers can go and launch and be live 24/7 Or go live whenever they see fit, and followers can follow them. But, you know, I think a big misconception is that that’s who we are, when in reality, data TV is really a proof of concept of what can be built on theta. So if that’s interesting for you, I think it’s a good distribution strategy, it really depends on the creator, the content and what’s available. But I would say, if you wanted to launch your own network, or bring other creators that are similar to you, in aggregate, to create, you know, your own solution or streaming platform, that would be something that you would use our tools and build yourself. So so the comparison I like to make, when I’m explaining the the breadth of what the you know, theta can do is we’re very similar and set up to be like an AWS of web three. So maybe companies are using components of of data and their tech stack to augment. And then there’s other companies that are completely building ground up on the blockchain.
Aaron 06:42
That’s really interesting. And on the back end, or users providing a lot of this compute and bandwidth, or is this still something that data Labs is doing themselves?
Andrea Berry 06:51
Yeah, it’s my answer a little slowly to make sure I don’t technically misspeak. It’s it’s both it’s, you know, the edge network is run by nodes. And anybody can set up a note on their computer, you know, part of my focus and business development is figuring out how we can get, you know, more enterprise nodes and adoption there. So yeah, it is powered by that. But like any good media strategy, we use, you know, a good blend of today’s technologies, because we do still live in a web two world. And there are places where the node needs extra strength. So we have, you know, multi CDN approach. But the leading effort is definitely the theta peer to peer CDN, not on the delivery side.
Aaron 07:41
And that’s the grand vision, once we’re fully in web three is everything is decentralized once it’s ready. Yeah, I think that’s important for listeners to understand there’s not centralized or decentralized decentralization is a gradient. And it often takes a long time to get from one side of that gradient spectrum to the other where you’re almost mostly decentralized. And that really has to do with adoption and conviction of the network, and how much resources people are really willing to donate. Because at the end of the day, you need a business, and a product that actually runs and runs well, by any means necessary, even if it’s using AWS nodes today.
Andrea Berry 08:23
Yeah, and I, it’s a good time to even explain a little bit of our strategy with this web two world that we all live in is data. I think, in its simplest form, we help businesses. You know, a lot of my focus at least is we’re helping businesses lean into web three. So a lot of my job is demystifying this space, empowering these executives with solutions, problem solving, you know, a lot of the pain points that they have today and educating them how webserie can do that. And so all that to say, we still will integrate with whatever technology they’re using that makes sense still for their business, and, you know, help them lean in and become you know, I know that some people don’t like this phrase, but you know, web two and a half were, that’s a huge success to get a traditional company to lean into web three a little bit, no matter what the use cases, that’s doing a lot of good in the space to educate and demystify what’s available.
Aaron 09:25
Yeah. What are some of the misconceptions that you have to debunk are usually like that first introductory meeting, you know, what are CEOs thinking? Web three is? Yeah, well, actually,
Andrea Berry 09:38
yeah, it’s all over the place. I think mostly, the definitions are all you know, blended together and group together. So like, you know, Blockchain is NFT to some of these people, and I’m like no NF T’s are a product of blockchain right now. Um, but since NF T’s are most commonly known, I think that’s probably a lot of the time I spend demystifying NF t. So a lot of these executives assume that an NF t equals ownership, and like ownership of IP is a lot of their fear. And so, you know, I had a studio executive one time get really fired up with me, and he wasn’t yelling, he’s yelling at me, but he wasn’t yelling at Andrea, you know, he was just really frustrated saying, you know, studios are the ones who take the risk investing in creators developing IP, why would we just give it away? So that, you know, anyone can monetize on that? No, I, you know, I’ve learned some strategy to just kind of sit back and say, Well, what do you mean by that, right, and let him explain and then say, well, if you’d like to set up the digital contracts, that way you can, however, it can just be your movie ticket. Like it was a commemorative thing once upon a time where you would, you know, save the concert tickets, movie tickets, and just hang it on our bulletin board. By no means our purchase ticket implied that we own the film, it just represented as viewing and going. So I’ll like start to talk about these use cases and just say, hey, NF T’s are just digital contract. So however you want to set up the contract, it’s up to you. And it’s an opportunity for you to have a one to one relationship with that fan, without layers of you know, businesses, software, solutions, tools, everything in between, where you don’t really own that user relationship. It’s not one to one at all today. So that’s a lot of the conversation I think I have most frequently.
Aaron 11:41
We’ve seen a lot of web two and other legacy brands trying to enter the web three space and just collapse right on their face in the most miserable way possible. And I mean, enormous brands that people love and use and are very well dressed right and trusted, but they have no clue how to relate here. It’s like entering like a brand new country where they don’t speak the language. Yeah. What what is their intention? On even entering here in the first place? Is there like a common reason that he was okay, I want to get into web three, be quick to do this? Or because of this? Or is it just a big buzzword that you heard
Andrea Berry 12:20
about it? I think there’s always the FOMO, you know, of like, am I gonna, like lose value in my role, right? Or, like, am I going to fall behind in knowledge. So there’s always the curiosity, which I was, frankly, really pleasantly surprised by when I joined this space, I thought it would be much more difficult to just get the curiosity going. That’s not an issue. It’s more just like the message misinformation that exists that I have to correct. But, you know, I see the same things happening, I see the projects happening and falling flat. I think, you know, I can’t speak to those. But what I can say, of what data does differently when we work with these traditional brands, or IPs or businesses is that we offer managed services. So in theory, somebody could just come in and say, I need your help with art, I need your help with, you know, the whole laundry lesson, we’re willing to do it however, we find, you know, we matchmake with our partnerships, like they know their brand, and their audience and the history of their business and what works and doesn’t well, and then we know this space well. So we empower their team almost, you know, become an extension of their team to execute the nuances to land and culture of web three to make sure it doesn’t miss the mark. And all that to, you know, drive towards really they’re learning and NF T’s we have an NF T marketplace called data dropped.com. And it really is an entryway for these businesses to have a low risk way of testing with web three. And so through an NF T project, what I’ll do is usually figure out what are their KPIs as a business? Anyways, like web to web three aside, like, what are your KPIs for your businesses, and maybe what are some pain points of user relationships, and we’ll pitch campaigns around that, you know, NFT projects, but their marketing campaigns, and we add value there, we educate them, and we solve a problem. And that usually builds trust, where then it’s my job to expand the relationship and, you know, maybe then I’m meeting with the CTO instead of the marketing department. And because of this successful NFT project, it’s open the doors and, you know, everybody’s more empowered to try new things in that scenario. So that’s something we do very differently that I see brands will do it, you know, maybe they bring in consultants who aren’t really motivated for the right reasons to see the project through successfully relates, like, you know, almost like I want to say a horse blinders, but like a limited perspective, where we come in as an extension of that Our team and, you know, empower them to do what they do best, which is know their brand. And then we can help them execute on the web three site to make sure it doesn’t fall flat.
Aaron 15:10
Yeah, it seems like a lot of these companies and people that are working for them, they’ve got this idea of create product and sell it. And that just doesn’t work in web three, no one wants to be sold anything. They want to be invited to participate in something and to be part of something larger than themselves. And I think this concept, even when mentioned, to these legacy companies is just so far over their heads, it’s very difficult to understand, if they don’t have a native web three person that’s either working for them or with them and explaining this is not just an upgrade in technology, it’s an entire paradigm shift in the way of thinking and human relations. Yeah. Are there any, like blanket bullet points that you would give to a legacy coming in might be listening to this podcast of just how to look at web three in general?
Andrea Berry 16:05
Yeah. You know, at a really high level, assuming, you know, it’s a learning exercise. I really, you know, the blockchain, theoretically like in terms of like learning new technology, and being intimidated by new technology, it’s very similar to when the cloud started in the cloud. I remember the day I started to learn about it, one of my brain to explode. And I was like, well, I’ll never need to know about it. But eventually, I learned about it. And it demystified and it solved a lot of problems. So I think think of blockchain in the same way of cultural adoption and solving problems is that, you know, they’re looking at their business, like I would create the laundry list of issues and being brutally honest with yourself, or where you’re going to fall off, you know, an inevitable cliff that’s coming up in the next few years of your business or, you know, the biggest pain point, you’re every year at your board meetings, like what what is the what’s the, the whale you’re trying to chase or a problem you’re trying to solve? I think creating that list and then going to somebody in the web three space that you solve, it will blow your mind, how many? How much what three can solve problems for businesses? And I think back to your question on like, what I spend a lot of time demystifying, it’s that as well, where a lot of executives who may know something about blockchain and beef savvy, they still are fearful with this conception of like they’re losing control, when I’m educating them that actually you could have more control if you embrace this technology. But imagine having more control and your users being happier about that and your creators being happier. Like it really presents an opportunity where multiple parties can all win and get exactly what they want.
Aaron 18:05
Yeah, definitely. And I think there’s such a huge misconception about web three, just being NF Ts, when NF T’s or maybe like 5% of web three, maybe less. I think the real major use case for enterprise and web three, isn’t NF T’s at all, but rather meta versus imagine reforming your entire customer service experience into a Metaverse where instead of me as the user having to send an email, hope someone sees it or reads it in the next two weeks, or having to log into a website and fill out the stupid ticket form. And again, hope someone sees it. And eventually, they get back to me with some template that they just pasted from a macro, which doesn’t help me at all. And then another week later, you know, maybe you get a little bit more human reply, or, you know, God forbid, I have to actually call someone and listen to the world’s shittiest music coming through the world’s shittiest phone speaker for God knows how long versus a Metaverse where I can stand in line as an avatar and actually see when I’m gonna get to the front of the line and get to talk to someone. And in the meantime, there can be some other little AI creature wandering around giving me information and tips that may or may not solve my problem, maybe a couple other people are solving it and they jump out a line. But in the meantime, I can stream YouTube or Spotify through there or nothing. And I can simply just receive like an audible notification or a blinking in my tab when I’m actually like next in line or something
Andrea Berry 19:38
or engage in other products. And you know, yeah, I
Aaron 19:42
don’t think I can play a game. You know, I can play Super Mario World, in the browser. You know, whatever it is. There’s so many amazing experiences you can build in a Metaverse to solve the horrendous experience and that is anyone coming to customer service?
Andrea Berry 19:59
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of customer service solutions, but also value adds. So maybe if you know, like I think to another topic is people feel like they have to rip and replace. It’s like no, you can augment what you’re already doing that is working and make it better. On the metaverse side, I am really excited to see these use cases. I think by the end of the year, there’s going to be a ton more mainstream Metaverse use cases that we’ll see a little different than customer service and that enterprise perspective, but more on the entertainment side I, I really see meta versus as like CD ROM games. Once upon a time, like when I was younger, I’d go get the CD ROM game around my favorite movie, and then go to this destination and go to this part of the land to play this game, go to that part of the land to you know, talk to what today would be an AI bot of a character right and like go engage with the IP in more impactful ways. I think we’re gonna see a lot of Metaverse experiences like reflect that kind of CD ROM not to minimize it, but to like show how many different use cases there are. It’s really a virtual destination. You know, I think the meta verses that don’t require hardware are the ones that will start to drive adoption. I think hardware should be optional for like an added experience. But you know, it’s really interesting. We have a partner true verse. It’s a men’s editorial Metaverse, and it’s like, designed to be very calming, and not like a like a game, you know, or a children’s game or like a CD ROM perspective, but very, like a Four Seasons Hotel. And you can go and you can hang out, you can have velvet ropes, kind of like access areas that will use data, NF T’s to grant access to but that project is really thrilling to me, because there’s so many different ways brands companies can work with, does it destination, like traverse and learn about web three without really having to take much risk?
Aaron 22:12
Yeah, definitely. And I think of Porsches entrance into web three, and how much of a failure of it was, and I feel like that’s, like the biggest example of where like, we could crowdsource like, what could have worked? Yeah, it had a similar experience to that. And then at the other end of that velvet rope is, you know, some car guru, who’s just there to talk about the history of Porsche, the mechanics of it, and all these car enthusiast could gather under this Porsche banner, it would just have been such an amazing thing that they could have.
Andrea Berry 22:43
I totally agree. I think for every project that, you know, it’s always up for opinion on how something fails, because I do believe even some of the failed projects, as long as they were ethical, don’t necessarily have to be deemed a failure if it was a learning experience, like prove something, right. But yeah, I think every time there’s a quote, unquote, failure of a project in the industry, I’m really fascinated by it, because there’s so much you can learn from it. And that goes for these projects, but even to something as horrific as FTX. It is as painful as it was, and is a learning opportunity. And it’s usually when mostly like boomers, and my wife will come and be like, Oh, I read the headline. And, you know, it’s an opportunity to just teach them what it is and what it isn’t. Because of the news and what’s what people are buzzing about or criticizing.
Aaron 23:40
Yeah, that’s true. As I always said, in my life in a no publicity is bad publicity. It’s a talking point, whether a country is banning Bitcoin or Bitcoin mining is going to destroy the world, whatever it is, it opens up a conversation that you might not have had before. So I think that’s a great point. Yeah, definitely. What are some things that theta has planned over this next year that you guys are going to roll out? Can you speak to any of that?
Andrea Berry 24:07
Some Yes. We’re very cautious on sharing. We have a very active, awesome community. I’m sure you’ve seen a little bit of it, but they hold us very accountable. So we’re careful with commitments. But I can talk to you about some high level stuff. I mean, like the sub chains that I discussed, that’s a huge priority for us. So companies, creators, whoever it is that are, could be sub chain use cases. Like that’s a huge priority for us as we focus on scale and adoption. Let’s see in the upcoming year. Well, you know, very soon around the corner, we have this meta Cannes Film Festival that’s launching which is really exciting. So it’s a virtual film. Yeah, it’s a virtual Film Festival put on by this movement, called the film three movement and it’s represented by Jordan Bain, who leads the squad, it’s an Aetherium group of about 300 holders. But they are really paving the way for web three in Hollywood. And so they put together a curated library of films, feature films and shorts that are award winning, one of them won an Oscar this year. And they curated a very thoughtful lineup of these films, they, you know, they all have a touch point to web three in some way, whether they were funded, or the production company, you know, uses NF T’s for fan engagement, like there’s some dotted line to web three with all the films, which is cool. And then they did panels about 10, or 15 panels to match with these films, just like you would see at a film festival, you know, after the film, you chat with the director. So that’s put together and that’s all completely powered by data. And so we’re really excited about it. One, the disruption of Hollywood is happening, we see this with the writer strike. So that’s exciting. But as well as you know, NFT DRM, so the concept of token gating video experiences, which we have the patent for, and we’ve done some really cool use cases there. But what’s very interesting with this one is these are very sensitive, needing to be highly secure films, right? It is award winning film that doesn’t live anywhere else at the moment, it cannot be ripped. And so we get to prove out that security and that workflow. And it’s really fun that these NF T’s are tickets, they’re, you know, we’re not calling them NF, T’s, their streaming passes, it’s a ticket. So I love that this is a use case that then I can use moving forward with studios with anybody curious that, you know, this is a pop up solution that doesn’t cost you an arm and leg and a whole staff to support. You know, it’s that’s a nice story. So that’s happening, you know, the tickets are being sold right now. And the content will be unlocked on the 16th, which is cool of me. That is really
Aaron 26:59
amazing. I’ve never heard of film Three. But I love the concept. The concept was around way back in the day, even right before theta started. It was a project called Tata two. And they raised like $500 million in their ICO. And it was endorsed by all kinds of Hollywood celebrities and ended up being a total scam. And whenever it got off the ground never did anything. But it was a decentralized movie studio where users of could vote with their tokens on films would get produced, and like literally everything. And it was such an amazing use case, which is why it raised so much money, I’d love to see someone actually do it and do it the right way. So it sounds like this is kind of like the rebirth of that.
Andrea Berry 27:46
Well in the group. The film Three movement, right, because it’s like movement more than it is a defined group. What I have found really rewarding is being closer to the Creator side of everything here, which is important. But there’s an ecosystem within this movement. So there’s not just creators and filmmakers and directors, looking to film projects and be innovative there. But there’s all these technology startups now like decentralized pictures, which is a Roman Coppola company that helps fund these projects, but actually provide some voting rights and strategies. They’re, you know, allowing financiers to better track their investments. But there’s all of these startups popping up from it that are building actually building solutions. So they’re more b2b. And that is really why we found so much value working with film Three is it’s, you know, bringing us closer to this creator use cases and like the meta Cannes Film Festival, but then also I’m able to work with these awesome CEOs who have a Hollywood background and are actually doing something about the problems Hollywood has today. So yeah, it is I’m gonna have to look up that that project, I wasn’t familiar with it. But I’m sure this is something that film Three is like, you know, actually doing and it’s really cool to see the ethos that drives this group.
Aaron 29:17
Yeah, that’s so cool. I mean, why would you be holding Pepe coins and a bunch of other garbage like that when you could be in super early on film Three, or decentralized science or any of these other really, really small niches that are starting to pop up these days?
Andrea Berry 29:33
It is I I’m obviously really focused on utility projects, like most people are, you know, it’s more tangible. But what’s interesting is with our utility, I shouldn’t say our utility when we work with clients in their launching empty project, you know, obviously, we’re pushing for utility and that usually means they’re using our infrastructure. Right? So that’s already like you’re more of a land and expand approach there. But yeah, I love it. The other project we have coming up as well is, I’m not sure if you’ve seen the headlines in last couple weeks, but it’s this new project by tune star the animation studio called Space junk. Have you heard about this at all? It’s really,
Aaron 30:13
I live with my head and under. Okay,
Andrea Berry 30:16
you will love this one. I, it’s so creative. And it’s tapping into traditional but more of the modern web three elements. So two stars, a web three animation studio, the founders have, you know, the studio traditional background. And they are launching space jump, which is about actual space junk, which is a real problem in the world, we send up trash to space, and it’s traveling 17,000 miles per hour and coming back to Earth. And one of them actually hit the moon last year, and it took out six football fields on the moon. And so yes, is like a huge problem. It’s, it’s really interesting. So this project is this really funny and crude, kind of South Park like animation show that is, you know, obviously focused on space junk. It’s from the creator of workaholics, Dominic Russo. Okay. Yeah, he so it’s like workaholics meets South Park, where it’s about the trash collectors in space. And it kind of touches on like billionaires of the world. And it’s just really funny, sharp humor. And so we’re powering the project, we’re partnered with them, and it’s going to be using our video player, it’s using our NF T’s. They’ve launched a sub chain. So it’s really cool to think that an IP has its own sub chain and is as powerful as a layer one. So it can create an entire, you know, economy there. Like it could have a space verse like a Metaverse, it can, it has a game already. But it’s really interesting because the NF T’s, you know, they have their first. It’s the first AI generated character, like her voice is character named, well, Becca, she’s a robot in the show. So that’s like this cool AI perspective. But the NF T’s allow for participatory storytelling, which we talk a lot about in web three, but I feel like it’s very little is actually doing it in real time. So tune star releases these episodes every two weeks, kind of like South Park where it’s very timely, right, they don’t have to produce it six months ahead of time, based off of the community and the characters that they’re developing in real time, they will incorporate those elements back into the story into the show. So you know, you can develop backstories for characters. It’s really interesting, but through the NF T’s, that’s where you can participate in the community and that stuff I just like totally nerd out on. It’s really fun saying
Aaron 32:50
that’s crowd sourced cannon. Yeah, or Yeah, anime or cartoon. It’s
Andrea Berry 32:54
really animation. Yeah, it’s really fun. And they had a previous project, that gimmicks which Mila Kunis was a producer on. And that was very successful. So when we saw that, and we got introduced to tune star was very clear. They’re a perfect partner for us there. Yes, an animation studio, but I really call them a technology group, like they have a staff of engineers and builders, and the way that they are able to have adoption in web three, it’s like kind of irrelevant to the user experience. Like it’s so easy to use, it’s very frictionless, and they’re actually building these products, that will then be productized, for the rest of Thedas creators to leverage in their own projects. So that’s, like, very important and exciting.
Aaron 33:41
That is really exciting. I’ve never heard anything else like that. So I’m gonna have to check that out. Do I need to buy an NF T to be able to watch the show or just to be able to get quality dissipate and like give, like script input,
Andrea Berry 33:54
more of the latter, so the episodes will be free. And so anybody can go watch that besides, and I think that’s a great strategy to you know, have a top of the marketing funnel and get people to join, the NF T’s will essentially grant access to the community. So it’s like a social destination for you to you know, build your friendships kind of instead of a discord, it will actually be the website destination. And so there’s a social layer there, and then the character wikis and kind of the, you know, producer credits, elements, that’s all done through the NF Ts. So you can go to theta drop, excuse me at space junk dot data drop.com. And by I think pre fund will be opening up later this week, but the drop is May 15. And so that will happen and it will be this AI generated kind of storytelling tool, and then these drops will just get more meta should I say as the drops go on into the story? It’s pretty cool.
Aaron 34:56
That’s amazing. I’m gonna have to make a note of that. Andrew, thank Thank you so much for spending the last few minutes with us. And for all you guys are building over at theta. So impressed. This is really really shaped that and where can people follow you for more updates and learn more about the space junk and any other things? Yeah, chains.
Andrea Berry 35:16
So I would say, data networks Twitter is our formal accounts data underscore network. My twitter account is W three Andrea. So I like to engage with the community and you know, talk about pop culture, media, sports plants, but most importantly, web three, and then space junk is at Space junkies. Or you can go to space junkies dot XYZ to participate and meta can for any film buffs, you know, it’s a chance to participate in the film three group. That’s Medicare dot data dropped.com, which you can go find on my twitter as well.
Aaron 35:58
Fantastic. Thank you so much. catching up with you again in the near future, for sure. Now, we’ll say goodbye. And we’ll be back later on this week with another great episode here at the crypto 101 podcast.
Andrea Berry 36:10
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
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In this episode of Crypto 101 we talk to Andrea Berry who is the Head of Business Development at Theta Network who believes that Web3 and blockchain technologies will bring unprecedented opportunities to storytellers, trendsetters and icons in the entertainment industry. When it comes to technology it is not a question of if it is always a question of when and the entertainment side of our space is one that is growing at a fast rate so make sure you tune in to learn about what is happening now and the vision of the future!
— TRANSCRIPT —
SPEAKERS
Aaron, Andrea Berry
Aaron 00:03
All right, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the crypto one on one podcast. I’m your host pizza mind. And I’m joined today by Andrew Berry, the head of business development over at theta labs. Andrea, welcome to the crypto 101 podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. It’s exciting to have you here. Theta is something that we often get asked about in our community over at crypt nation. And you guys have been around for quite a while. One of the probably best projects has actually attracted real users over the past several years going on half a decade. Now. That’s how long fade has been live. But it’s been a little while since we checked in, give us first the high level overview of what you’re building at theta network. For those who are new, who haven’t heard of it, and then let us know, you know, what are some of the newer updates over the past year, though? Maybe people should circle back and check it on? Yeah. So let’s see.
Andrea Berry 01:02
You know, for those who aren’t aware, I always like to start most of my meetings with explaining who we were, then when we started its inception and who we are now. So a lot of people don’t realize that theta.tv was, you know, our streaming platform and product was actually sliver TV. And that was the business that had started. I actually met Mitch, our CEO at sliver when he was sliver TV in 2018. And I was rooting for them. And I thought it was really cool. But I was like, wow, they they are very ambitious. And sure enough, when I started interviewing a couple years later, they had achieved everything changed from sliver to theta. And essentially, they were a gaming streaming platform. And it was incredibly difficult to stream 360 and 4k video from these condensed areas that they’re arenas at these turned gaming tournaments. And so we built our peer to peer CDN, that was our really our first step forward in decentralization. And so since then, you know, we built that to solve our own problems. And since then, we’ve built our own layer one native blockchain, it’s proof of steak, we’ve been told that it was one of the first proof of steak models out there, which is really exciting. But I like to always call out sliver TV and theta TV, the product, because it really is our origin story. And it shows very different from other layer ones we have focus on media and entertainment and serving those use cases, which are incredibly unique for blockchain. And so I would say, you know, in the last year or so I just hit my mark. So it’s a perfect question for me. Thank you, it’s, I love this job. And I love this space. It’s really exciting. My background is in video streaming infrastructure. So it was a really natural fit. In the last year, we have launched our metal chain, which is really exciting that launched in December of 22. And essentially, our main chain, the metal chain allows for businesses creators, whoever wants, you know, it’s permissionless can launch their own sub chain on theta. And what’s very cool about the sub chain is it positions you as a layer one. So for 10,000 token, you can launch your sub chain, and it powers you as a layer one. And so that’s something we’re very focused on is launching these sub chains and user adoption and advocacy for this space. Very kind of pause there, because there’s so many things I could get into. But I want you to ask some questions.
Aaron 03:37
I appreciate it. Well, let’s let’s run down that rabbit hole with the metal chain to start, what are some of the applications that this chain is really designed for developers to come and build? Is it just typical, like finance applications or games? Or is really optimized for like streaming services?
Andrea Berry 03:57
I would say all of the above, right? So it’s we’re you know, while data is very focused on media and entertainment, as a layer one, you know, naturally more industries are going to pop up and have use cases to build on the layer one we have. One of our partners is actually a healthcare company, Lavie to AI it’s an AI health data company, so different than media and entertainment, but you know, it’s really whatever like any other layer one there’s so many use cases it does feel like boiling the ocean. Now on the sub chain specifically, since the sub chain positions you as a layer one the same goes for those use cases as well. So lovey to actually just launched their sub chain yesterday, I believe, if not early this morning. That’s really exciting. But then kind of on the total. Other end of the spectrum, which is more of our focus is tuned star, one of our partners it’s a web three animation studio, they launched their sub chain yesterday and that is really exciting because there’s gaming use cases within not, there’s the video streaming use case. There’s, you know, the fact they’re minting on their own sub chain, the NF T’s. There’s lots of different use cases that we’re just really scratching the surface of. Yeah, it feels a little bit like boiling the ocean with that question. So is it possible for you maybe content creators, like myself to have our own channel on theta? That’s just rolling 24/7 content? That’s actually a great question. So theta TV, yes, theta TV is really like a similar to twitch, where streamers can go and launch and be live 24/7 Or go live whenever they see fit, and followers can follow them. But, you know, I think a big misconception is that that’s who we are, when in reality, data TV is really a proof of concept of what can be built on theta. So if that’s interesting for you, I think it’s a good distribution strategy, it really depends on the creator, the content and what’s available. But I would say, if you wanted to launch your own network, or bring other creators that are similar to you, in aggregate, to create, you know, your own solution or streaming platform, that would be something that you would use our tools and build yourself. So so the comparison I like to make, when I’m explaining the the breadth of what the you know, theta can do is we’re very similar and set up to be like an AWS of web three. So maybe companies are using components of of data and their tech stack to augment. And then there’s other companies that are completely building ground up on the blockchain.
Aaron 06:42
That’s really interesting. And on the back end, or users providing a lot of this compute and bandwidth, or is this still something that data Labs is doing themselves?
Andrea Berry 06:51
Yeah, it’s my answer a little slowly to make sure I don’t technically misspeak. It’s it’s both it’s, you know, the edge network is run by nodes. And anybody can set up a note on their computer, you know, part of my focus and business development is figuring out how we can get, you know, more enterprise nodes and adoption there. So yeah, it is powered by that. But like any good media strategy, we use, you know, a good blend of today’s technologies, because we do still live in a web two world. And there are places where the node needs extra strength. So we have, you know, multi CDN approach. But the leading effort is definitely the theta peer to peer CDN, not on the delivery side.
Aaron 07:41
And that’s the grand vision, once we’re fully in web three is everything is decentralized once it’s ready. Yeah, I think that’s important for listeners to understand there’s not centralized or decentralized decentralization is a gradient. And it often takes a long time to get from one side of that gradient spectrum to the other where you’re almost mostly decentralized. And that really has to do with adoption and conviction of the network, and how much resources people are really willing to donate. Because at the end of the day, you need a business, and a product that actually runs and runs well, by any means necessary, even if it’s using AWS nodes today.
Andrea Berry 08:23
Yeah, and I, it’s a good time to even explain a little bit of our strategy with this web two world that we all live in is data. I think, in its simplest form, we help businesses. You know, a lot of my focus at least is we’re helping businesses lean into web three. So a lot of my job is demystifying this space, empowering these executives with solutions, problem solving, you know, a lot of the pain points that they have today and educating them how webserie can do that. And so all that to say, we still will integrate with whatever technology they’re using that makes sense still for their business, and, you know, help them lean in and become you know, I know that some people don’t like this phrase, but you know, web two and a half were, that’s a huge success to get a traditional company to lean into web three a little bit, no matter what the use cases, that’s doing a lot of good in the space to educate and demystify what’s available.
Aaron 09:25
Yeah. What are some of the misconceptions that you have to debunk are usually like that first introductory meeting, you know, what are CEOs thinking? Web three is? Yeah, well, actually,
Andrea Berry 09:38
yeah, it’s all over the place. I think mostly, the definitions are all you know, blended together and group together. So like, you know, Blockchain is NFT to some of these people, and I’m like no NF T’s are a product of blockchain right now. Um, but since NF T’s are most commonly known, I think that’s probably a lot of the time I spend demystifying NF t. So a lot of these executives assume that an NF t equals ownership, and like ownership of IP is a lot of their fear. And so, you know, I had a studio executive one time get really fired up with me, and he wasn’t yelling, he’s yelling at me, but he wasn’t yelling at Andrea, you know, he was just really frustrated saying, you know, studios are the ones who take the risk investing in creators developing IP, why would we just give it away? So that, you know, anyone can monetize on that? No, I, you know, I’ve learned some strategy to just kind of sit back and say, Well, what do you mean by that, right, and let him explain and then say, well, if you’d like to set up the digital contracts, that way you can, however, it can just be your movie ticket. Like it was a commemorative thing once upon a time where you would, you know, save the concert tickets, movie tickets, and just hang it on our bulletin board. By no means our purchase ticket implied that we own the film, it just represented as viewing and going. So I’ll like start to talk about these use cases and just say, hey, NF T’s are just digital contract. So however you want to set up the contract, it’s up to you. And it’s an opportunity for you to have a one to one relationship with that fan, without layers of you know, businesses, software, solutions, tools, everything in between, where you don’t really own that user relationship. It’s not one to one at all today. So that’s a lot of the conversation I think I have most frequently.
Aaron 11:41
We’ve seen a lot of web two and other legacy brands trying to enter the web three space and just collapse right on their face in the most miserable way possible. And I mean, enormous brands that people love and use and are very well dressed right and trusted, but they have no clue how to relate here. It’s like entering like a brand new country where they don’t speak the language. Yeah. What what is their intention? On even entering here in the first place? Is there like a common reason that he was okay, I want to get into web three, be quick to do this? Or because of this? Or is it just a big buzzword that you heard
Andrea Berry 12:20
about it? I think there’s always the FOMO, you know, of like, am I gonna, like lose value in my role, right? Or, like, am I going to fall behind in knowledge. So there’s always the curiosity, which I was, frankly, really pleasantly surprised by when I joined this space, I thought it would be much more difficult to just get the curiosity going. That’s not an issue. It’s more just like the message misinformation that exists that I have to correct. But, you know, I see the same things happening, I see the projects happening and falling flat. I think, you know, I can’t speak to those. But what I can say, of what data does differently when we work with these traditional brands, or IPs or businesses is that we offer managed services. So in theory, somebody could just come in and say, I need your help with art, I need your help with, you know, the whole laundry lesson, we’re willing to do it however, we find, you know, we matchmake with our partnerships, like they know their brand, and their audience and the history of their business and what works and doesn’t well, and then we know this space well. So we empower their team almost, you know, become an extension of their team to execute the nuances to land and culture of web three to make sure it doesn’t miss the mark. And all that to, you know, drive towards really they’re learning and NF T’s we have an NF T marketplace called data dropped.com. And it really is an entryway for these businesses to have a low risk way of testing with web three. And so through an NF T project, what I’ll do is usually figure out what are their KPIs as a business? Anyways, like web to web three aside, like, what are your KPIs for your businesses, and maybe what are some pain points of user relationships, and we’ll pitch campaigns around that, you know, NFT projects, but their marketing campaigns, and we add value there, we educate them, and we solve a problem. And that usually builds trust, where then it’s my job to expand the relationship and, you know, maybe then I’m meeting with the CTO instead of the marketing department. And because of this successful NFT project, it’s open the doors and, you know, everybody’s more empowered to try new things in that scenario. So that’s something we do very differently that I see brands will do it, you know, maybe they bring in consultants who aren’t really motivated for the right reasons to see the project through successfully relates, like, you know, almost like I want to say a horse blinders, but like a limited perspective, where we come in as an extension of that Our team and, you know, empower them to do what they do best, which is know their brand. And then we can help them execute on the web three site to make sure it doesn’t fall flat.
Aaron 15:10
Yeah, it seems like a lot of these companies and people that are working for them, they’ve got this idea of create product and sell it. And that just doesn’t work in web three, no one wants to be sold anything. They want to be invited to participate in something and to be part of something larger than themselves. And I think this concept, even when mentioned, to these legacy companies is just so far over their heads, it’s very difficult to understand, if they don’t have a native web three person that’s either working for them or with them and explaining this is not just an upgrade in technology, it’s an entire paradigm shift in the way of thinking and human relations. Yeah. Are there any, like blanket bullet points that you would give to a legacy coming in might be listening to this podcast of just how to look at web three in general?
Andrea Berry 16:05
Yeah. You know, at a really high level, assuming, you know, it’s a learning exercise. I really, you know, the blockchain, theoretically like in terms of like learning new technology, and being intimidated by new technology, it’s very similar to when the cloud started in the cloud. I remember the day I started to learn about it, one of my brain to explode. And I was like, well, I’ll never need to know about it. But eventually, I learned about it. And it demystified and it solved a lot of problems. So I think think of blockchain in the same way of cultural adoption and solving problems is that, you know, they’re looking at their business, like I would create the laundry list of issues and being brutally honest with yourself, or where you’re going to fall off, you know, an inevitable cliff that’s coming up in the next few years of your business or, you know, the biggest pain point, you’re every year at your board meetings, like what what is the what’s the, the whale you’re trying to chase or a problem you’re trying to solve? I think creating that list and then going to somebody in the web three space that you solve, it will blow your mind, how many? How much what three can solve problems for businesses? And I think back to your question on like, what I spend a lot of time demystifying, it’s that as well, where a lot of executives who may know something about blockchain and beef savvy, they still are fearful with this conception of like they’re losing control, when I’m educating them that actually you could have more control if you embrace this technology. But imagine having more control and your users being happier about that and your creators being happier. Like it really presents an opportunity where multiple parties can all win and get exactly what they want.
Aaron 18:05
Yeah, definitely. And I think there’s such a huge misconception about web three, just being NF Ts, when NF T’s or maybe like 5% of web three, maybe less. I think the real major use case for enterprise and web three, isn’t NF T’s at all, but rather meta versus imagine reforming your entire customer service experience into a Metaverse where instead of me as the user having to send an email, hope someone sees it or reads it in the next two weeks, or having to log into a website and fill out the stupid ticket form. And again, hope someone sees it. And eventually, they get back to me with some template that they just pasted from a macro, which doesn’t help me at all. And then another week later, you know, maybe you get a little bit more human reply, or, you know, God forbid, I have to actually call someone and listen to the world’s shittiest music coming through the world’s shittiest phone speaker for God knows how long versus a Metaverse where I can stand in line as an avatar and actually see when I’m gonna get to the front of the line and get to talk to someone. And in the meantime, there can be some other little AI creature wandering around giving me information and tips that may or may not solve my problem, maybe a couple other people are solving it and they jump out a line. But in the meantime, I can stream YouTube or Spotify through there or nothing. And I can simply just receive like an audible notification or a blinking in my tab when I’m actually like next in line or something
Andrea Berry 19:38
or engage in other products. And you know, yeah, I
Aaron 19:42
don’t think I can play a game. You know, I can play Super Mario World, in the browser. You know, whatever it is. There’s so many amazing experiences you can build in a Metaverse to solve the horrendous experience and that is anyone coming to customer service?
Andrea Berry 19:59
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of customer service solutions, but also value adds. So maybe if you know, like I think to another topic is people feel like they have to rip and replace. It’s like no, you can augment what you’re already doing that is working and make it better. On the metaverse side, I am really excited to see these use cases. I think by the end of the year, there’s going to be a ton more mainstream Metaverse use cases that we’ll see a little different than customer service and that enterprise perspective, but more on the entertainment side I, I really see meta versus as like CD ROM games. Once upon a time, like when I was younger, I’d go get the CD ROM game around my favorite movie, and then go to this destination and go to this part of the land to play this game, go to that part of the land to you know, talk to what today would be an AI bot of a character right and like go engage with the IP in more impactful ways. I think we’re gonna see a lot of Metaverse experiences like reflect that kind of CD ROM not to minimize it, but to like show how many different use cases there are. It’s really a virtual destination. You know, I think the meta verses that don’t require hardware are the ones that will start to drive adoption. I think hardware should be optional for like an added experience. But you know, it’s really interesting. We have a partner true verse. It’s a men’s editorial Metaverse, and it’s like, designed to be very calming, and not like a like a game, you know, or a children’s game or like a CD ROM perspective, but very, like a Four Seasons Hotel. And you can go and you can hang out, you can have velvet ropes, kind of like access areas that will use data, NF T’s to grant access to but that project is really thrilling to me, because there’s so many different ways brands companies can work with, does it destination, like traverse and learn about web three without really having to take much risk?
Aaron 22:12
Yeah, definitely. And I think of Porsches entrance into web three, and how much of a failure of it was, and I feel like that’s, like the biggest example of where like, we could crowdsource like, what could have worked? Yeah, it had a similar experience to that. And then at the other end of that velvet rope is, you know, some car guru, who’s just there to talk about the history of Porsche, the mechanics of it, and all these car enthusiast could gather under this Porsche banner, it would just have been such an amazing thing that they could have.
Andrea Berry 22:43
I totally agree. I think for every project that, you know, it’s always up for opinion on how something fails, because I do believe even some of the failed projects, as long as they were ethical, don’t necessarily have to be deemed a failure if it was a learning experience, like prove something, right. But yeah, I think every time there’s a quote, unquote, failure of a project in the industry, I’m really fascinated by it, because there’s so much you can learn from it. And that goes for these projects, but even to something as horrific as FTX. It is as painful as it was, and is a learning opportunity. And it’s usually when mostly like boomers, and my wife will come and be like, Oh, I read the headline. And, you know, it’s an opportunity to just teach them what it is and what it isn’t. Because of the news and what’s what people are buzzing about or criticizing.
Aaron 23:40
Yeah, that’s true. As I always said, in my life in a no publicity is bad publicity. It’s a talking point, whether a country is banning Bitcoin or Bitcoin mining is going to destroy the world, whatever it is, it opens up a conversation that you might not have had before. So I think that’s a great point. Yeah, definitely. What are some things that theta has planned over this next year that you guys are going to roll out? Can you speak to any of that?
Andrea Berry 24:07
Some Yes. We’re very cautious on sharing. We have a very active, awesome community. I’m sure you’ve seen a little bit of it, but they hold us very accountable. So we’re careful with commitments. But I can talk to you about some high level stuff. I mean, like the sub chains that I discussed, that’s a huge priority for us. So companies, creators, whoever it is that are, could be sub chain use cases. Like that’s a huge priority for us as we focus on scale and adoption. Let’s see in the upcoming year. Well, you know, very soon around the corner, we have this meta Cannes Film Festival that’s launching which is really exciting. So it’s a virtual film. Yeah, it’s a virtual Film Festival put on by this movement, called the film three movement and it’s represented by Jordan Bain, who leads the squad, it’s an Aetherium group of about 300 holders. But they are really paving the way for web three in Hollywood. And so they put together a curated library of films, feature films and shorts that are award winning, one of them won an Oscar this year. And they curated a very thoughtful lineup of these films, they, you know, they all have a touch point to web three in some way, whether they were funded, or the production company, you know, uses NF T’s for fan engagement, like there’s some dotted line to web three with all the films, which is cool. And then they did panels about 10, or 15 panels to match with these films, just like you would see at a film festival, you know, after the film, you chat with the director. So that’s put together and that’s all completely powered by data. And so we’re really excited about it. One, the disruption of Hollywood is happening, we see this with the writer strike. So that’s exciting. But as well as you know, NFT DRM, so the concept of token gating video experiences, which we have the patent for, and we’ve done some really cool use cases there. But what’s very interesting with this one is these are very sensitive, needing to be highly secure films, right? It is award winning film that doesn’t live anywhere else at the moment, it cannot be ripped. And so we get to prove out that security and that workflow. And it’s really fun that these NF T’s are tickets, they’re, you know, we’re not calling them NF, T’s, their streaming passes, it’s a ticket. So I love that this is a use case that then I can use moving forward with studios with anybody curious that, you know, this is a pop up solution that doesn’t cost you an arm and leg and a whole staff to support. You know, it’s that’s a nice story. So that’s happening, you know, the tickets are being sold right now. And the content will be unlocked on the 16th, which is cool of me. That is really
Aaron 26:59
amazing. I’ve never heard of film Three. But I love the concept. The concept was around way back in the day, even right before theta started. It was a project called Tata two. And they raised like $500 million in their ICO. And it was endorsed by all kinds of Hollywood celebrities and ended up being a total scam. And whenever it got off the ground never did anything. But it was a decentralized movie studio where users of could vote with their tokens on films would get produced, and like literally everything. And it was such an amazing use case, which is why it raised so much money, I’d love to see someone actually do it and do it the right way. So it sounds like this is kind of like the rebirth of that.
Andrea Berry 27:46
Well in the group. The film Three movement, right, because it’s like movement more than it is a defined group. What I have found really rewarding is being closer to the Creator side of everything here, which is important. But there’s an ecosystem within this movement. So there’s not just creators and filmmakers and directors, looking to film projects and be innovative there. But there’s all these technology startups now like decentralized pictures, which is a Roman Coppola company that helps fund these projects, but actually provide some voting rights and strategies. They’re, you know, allowing financiers to better track their investments. But there’s all of these startups popping up from it that are building actually building solutions. So they’re more b2b. And that is really why we found so much value working with film Three is it’s, you know, bringing us closer to this creator use cases and like the meta Cannes Film Festival, but then also I’m able to work with these awesome CEOs who have a Hollywood background and are actually doing something about the problems Hollywood has today. So yeah, it is I’m gonna have to look up that that project, I wasn’t familiar with it. But I’m sure this is something that film Three is like, you know, actually doing and it’s really cool to see the ethos that drives this group.
Aaron 29:17
Yeah, that’s so cool. I mean, why would you be holding Pepe coins and a bunch of other garbage like that when you could be in super early on film Three, or decentralized science or any of these other really, really small niches that are starting to pop up these days?
Andrea Berry 29:33
It is I I’m obviously really focused on utility projects, like most people are, you know, it’s more tangible. But what’s interesting is with our utility, I shouldn’t say our utility when we work with clients in their launching empty project, you know, obviously, we’re pushing for utility and that usually means they’re using our infrastructure. Right? So that’s already like you’re more of a land and expand approach there. But yeah, I love it. The other project we have coming up as well is, I’m not sure if you’ve seen the headlines in last couple weeks, but it’s this new project by tune star the animation studio called Space junk. Have you heard about this at all? It’s really,
Aaron 30:13
I live with my head and under. Okay,
Andrea Berry 30:16
you will love this one. I, it’s so creative. And it’s tapping into traditional but more of the modern web three elements. So two stars, a web three animation studio, the founders have, you know, the studio traditional background. And they are launching space jump, which is about actual space junk, which is a real problem in the world, we send up trash to space, and it’s traveling 17,000 miles per hour and coming back to Earth. And one of them actually hit the moon last year, and it took out six football fields on the moon. And so yes, is like a huge problem. It’s, it’s really interesting. So this project is this really funny and crude, kind of South Park like animation show that is, you know, obviously focused on space junk. It’s from the creator of workaholics, Dominic Russo. Okay. Yeah, he so it’s like workaholics meets South Park, where it’s about the trash collectors in space. And it kind of touches on like billionaires of the world. And it’s just really funny, sharp humor. And so we’re powering the project, we’re partnered with them, and it’s going to be using our video player, it’s using our NF T’s. They’ve launched a sub chain. So it’s really cool to think that an IP has its own sub chain and is as powerful as a layer one. So it can create an entire, you know, economy there. Like it could have a space verse like a Metaverse, it can, it has a game already. But it’s really interesting because the NF T’s, you know, they have their first. It’s the first AI generated character, like her voice is character named, well, Becca, she’s a robot in the show. So that’s like this cool AI perspective. But the NF T’s allow for participatory storytelling, which we talk a lot about in web three, but I feel like it’s very little is actually doing it in real time. So tune star releases these episodes every two weeks, kind of like South Park where it’s very timely, right, they don’t have to produce it six months ahead of time, based off of the community and the characters that they’re developing in real time, they will incorporate those elements back into the story into the show. So you know, you can develop backstories for characters. It’s really interesting, but through the NF T’s, that’s where you can participate in the community and that stuff I just like totally nerd out on. It’s really fun saying
Aaron 32:50
that’s crowd sourced cannon. Yeah, or Yeah, anime or cartoon. It’s
Andrea Berry 32:54
really animation. Yeah, it’s really fun. And they had a previous project, that gimmicks which Mila Kunis was a producer on. And that was very successful. So when we saw that, and we got introduced to tune star was very clear. They’re a perfect partner for us there. Yes, an animation studio, but I really call them a technology group, like they have a staff of engineers and builders, and the way that they are able to have adoption in web three, it’s like kind of irrelevant to the user experience. Like it’s so easy to use, it’s very frictionless, and they’re actually building these products, that will then be productized, for the rest of Thedas creators to leverage in their own projects. So that’s, like, very important and exciting.
Aaron 33:41
That is really exciting. I’ve never heard anything else like that. So I’m gonna have to check that out. Do I need to buy an NF T to be able to watch the show or just to be able to get quality dissipate and like give, like script input,
Andrea Berry 33:54
more of the latter, so the episodes will be free. And so anybody can go watch that besides, and I think that’s a great strategy to you know, have a top of the marketing funnel and get people to join, the NF T’s will essentially grant access to the community. So it’s like a social destination for you to you know, build your friendships kind of instead of a discord, it will actually be the website destination. And so there’s a social layer there, and then the character wikis and kind of the, you know, producer credits, elements, that’s all done through the NF Ts. So you can go to theta drop, excuse me at space junk dot data drop.com. And by I think pre fund will be opening up later this week, but the drop is May 15. And so that will happen and it will be this AI generated kind of storytelling tool, and then these drops will just get more meta should I say as the drops go on into the story? It’s pretty cool.
Aaron 34:56
That’s amazing. I’m gonna have to make a note of that. Andrew, thank Thank you so much for spending the last few minutes with us. And for all you guys are building over at theta. So impressed. This is really really shaped that and where can people follow you for more updates and learn more about the space junk and any other things? Yeah, chains.
Andrea Berry 35:16
So I would say, data networks Twitter is our formal accounts data underscore network. My twitter account is W three Andrea. So I like to engage with the community and you know, talk about pop culture, media, sports plants, but most importantly, web three, and then space junk is at Space junkies. Or you can go to space junkies dot XYZ to participate and meta can for any film buffs, you know, it’s a chance to participate in the film three group. That’s Medicare dot data dropped.com, which you can go find on my twitter as well.
Aaron 35:58
Fantastic. Thank you so much. catching up with you again in the near future, for sure. Now, we’ll say goodbye. And we’ll be back later on this week with another great episode here at the crypto 101 podcast.
Andrea Berry 36:10
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
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