OUT OF THIS WORLD
‘Back to Earth’ blazes path with block-chain funding and its platforms
The series “Back to Earth” filmed in Albuquerque. Take a look at the innovative ideas it uses.
New Mexico is chock-full of innovators.
That extends to those in the film industry.
In fact, New Mexican Clay Space’s project “Back to Earth” was one innovation that gained international attention in the past year.
Sure, films get made every day, but Space’s journey is blazing a new trail.
“Back to Earth” is a web series that is using revolutionary concepts to fund the production and even to guide the direction the story takes.
The story line itself follows a new technology that has turned the human race into aggressive and brain-dead animals. A few survivors must brave this new world to rediscover humanity and save themselves.
While watching the web series, viewers are led by the story to apps, virtual reality and other websites, social media pages, graphic novels, phone numbers and physical locations that blur the lines between fact and fiction, and may cause the viewer to question reality.
“Back to Earth” is an experience aimed at a mass audience, but even that goal tests new ground by focusing, at least in the beginning, on attracting an unusual crowd: the cryptocurrency community.
Viewers of the web series can essentially become players of the story by using a proprietary form of digital token called a StarCredit that is purchased online.
Besides using StarCredits to affect story outcomes, players can also unlock special features, discover hidden puzzles and purchase specific story lines.
Space was able to raise $1.2 million for the project in 48 hours. One StarCredit will cost about 25 cents.
The game portion of “Back to Earth” has 20 million tokens available, and tokens will be destroyed upon use.
The project is directed by Buenos Aires, Argentina-based filmmaker Federico Heller.
It is being produced by locals Shad Adair, Kevin Schulmeister, Keagan Karnes and Tiffany Sherie Neeley.
And the series stars Bruno Gunn, Eimanne Zein, and Delyn and Keziah Wall. Production for the pilot took place in Albuquerque in August.
Adair says the first episode is in post production in Buenos Aires, where Heller is based.
The buzz hasn’t stopped, either. Adair and Space have both moved to California to move the project forward.
“We’ve been having some preliminary meetings with distributors and studios,” Adair says. “We’re expecting round two of the meetings in late January.”
Adair says the concept is captivating to investors and distributors.
“Depending on who we meet with, it’s been interesting,” he says. “The story is exciting and some instantaneously understand what we’re doing. In other conversations, the people want to know about how Clay developed the business model. Especially a world set around cryptocurrency. They want to understand more and that’s where Clay has the best grasp of it.”