WEBVTT - How Fox's Blockchain Creative Labs is Unlocking Media's Web3 Future 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:11.160 M. Welcome to Strictly Business, the podcast where we talk 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:13.119 with some of the brightest minds working in the media 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:17.360 business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. What does the 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:22.120 Fox hit series, The Masked Singer, Pro Wrestling, and Dolly 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.160 Parton have in common. They've all made it to the 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.080 white hot world of n f T s courtesy of 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:32.199 Blockchain Creative Labs, a new unit of the Fox conglomerate, 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.279 pushing the entertainment business into the future as boldly as 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.800 anyone in the entertainment industry today. To help me sort 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.839 out what exactly that means, I'm joined by b c 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:47.720 L CEO Scott Greenberg and CEOO and president Melody Hildebrand. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.160 We'll be back to talk with them in just a moment. 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.400 We're back with Scott Greenberg and Melody Hildebrand of Blockchain 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.920 Creative Labs, a unit of Fox, the conglomerate that brings 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.559 you Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News Channel and much more. 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.920 Welcome guys, Thank you great to be here, so just 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.360 to be here, thank you, Scott. Before we delve into 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:15.880 what exactly you did with Dolly and the rest of them, 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.759 I want to hear more about the genesis of blockchain 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:21.680 creative labs. We we don't see a lot of this 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.880 stuff in media companies. Uh yeah, it's a it's a 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.600 great story. And that's actually how Melody and I first met. 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.840 We knew each other in the company, Uh you know Fox. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.760 Uh so my day job, my side hustle is I 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.240 have the CEO of Bento Box, the animation company which 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.160 Fox acquired a little bit too a half years ago. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.520 And you know, in Fox, at its core is entrepreneurial business, 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.800 you know, and it's in the disrupting business. And you know, 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.600 as we're looking for new things to grow, we're always 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.200 challenged as leaders of what is next? What can you 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.160 build a top and of the business. And we've been 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.600 tracking what was going on in the space, and you know, 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.440 we kind of had come to pitch the idea that 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:06.920 this was a organic thing to grow and it kind 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.000 of just the timing was right. And at the same time, 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.639 uh you know, pitches the Childie Collier, the CEO of 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.000 Fox Entertainment, is my boss. At the same time, Paul 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:17.280 Cheesebros CTO was working with Melody on it, and we 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.280 kind of came together and we put our heads and 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.280 pulled the best in the brightest to you go figure 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.960 it out. But why does this need to be a 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:27.840 formal division? When I hear the word labs and I 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.040 think of, like, you know, a skunk works operation. But 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.400 why so? So the name is actually very descriptive, you know. 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.920 So the name is blockchain because it's blockchain technology. Creative 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:41.640 out our core were creative company, and you know, and 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.600 we want to we believe it was a creative application 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.919 and labs as we have many hypotheses that we want 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.280 to prove, and ultimately we believe this is the future 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.440 of content distribution, This is the future of of really 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:58.080 the creative production process. And we think fox UM as 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.519 a place who taught America had a text thirty years 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:02.880 ago with American Idol, is the right place to teach 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.480 you know, Americans how what a digital asset is and 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:06.560 how to on it. So we thought it was a 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.120 really great place to really you know, again being an 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.960 entrepreneural place, and you know, from Lackland to the leadership 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.480 down Paul and Charlie, you know, really let's go trailblade 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.760 and find the future. And the Melody and I just 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:19.280 kind of head to head, and you know, Melody has 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.320 been a great partner in this and together we even 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.200 really jumping ahead and trying to forge and figure out 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.040 how to build this together and Melody, what part of 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:31.000 the business do you come from? My original hustle was 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.680 and where I still am this chief information Security officer 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.680 at Fox, so responsible for cybersecurity, but I also ran 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.040 product and engineering UM more broadly. And so I think 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.720 another reason that Fox I think felt like it was 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:45.720 really set up to go after this in a serious 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:47.800 way was kind of by some of the decisions we 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.040 chose not to go after like Fox does not trying 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.360 to go after the streaming wars for example. You know, 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.200 we're not launching a direct to consumer bundle to go 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.920 head to head against some of the other media company 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.400 and that really has freed up a lot of brain space, 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:03.960 I think for us to feel like we can actually 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.320 leap frog in a way and go to what we 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.760 really believe it's kind of going to be the future 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.960 UM in Web three and so I was running our 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.400 streaming infrastructure, and I think through you know, the decisions 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.400 that we made really the formation of Fox kind of 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.320 post Disney transaction, that's when we decided or we kind 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:23.800 of had the space to then make this decision that 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:25.880 we actually want to forge into the future in a 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.039 very serious way, and we had kind of the top 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.200 line support and the kind of the war chest to 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.039 be able to go after it. UM and that's the 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.000 reason to really found a whole subsidiary to to take 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.279 it quite seriously, not to treat this as like a 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.719 small innovation project on a side, but rather actually revenue 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.640 generating business. And when you say top line, I mean 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.120 you know Scott, you mentioned Lachlin Murdoch, I mean just Rupert. 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.719 I'm just curious. Are the Murdochs. Do they get Web three? 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.520 Is this the passion of theirs? Absolutely, they are holders 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:59.200 of n f T s. I can personally attest UM. 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:01.719 And I think, you know, part of what you know 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.520 we're doing is really trying to bring this technology to 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.200 a broader set of people UM. And it's you know, historically, 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.440 I think been locked up in a you know, a 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.600 group that had a very high intersection with people who 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.839 had early interest in cryptocurrencies UM. And that's interesting, but 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.680 we think there's just so such a broader application. So 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.240 bringing web three technology to our executive team, bringing it 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.520 to you know, the fans of our shows, I think 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:28.040 it's all kind of in the spirit of democratization UM 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.640 and in accessibility UM and recognizing that there are some 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.880 kind of inherent frictions right now in some web free 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.720 tech and we feel like we're well positioned to help 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.159 kind of smooth some of that to on board everyone 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.920 from you know, our executive team, but obviously much more 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.200 broadly to the fans of you know, our sports entertainment 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.720 news programs. So let's dig into the applications. I believed 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:56.000 the masked Singer was the first thing you did. Uh 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:00.960 so what was that? And why the mask Singer? Why 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:05.400 did it lend itself to this? I'll say the Y 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.560 and Melody want to tell what it was. Um. So look, 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.480 the Messengers, the number one, the reality show on television. 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:14.880 We put this business together last we started talking about 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.280 this last margin. We Melody I got approval to build 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.000 this really last May, and so we're trying to figure 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.960 what asset was there. What was a moment? So frankly, 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.680 we said she was a better place than number one 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.799 to show in television on the Fox network to do it, so, 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.600 you know, you know, we put an ambitious goal. And 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.760 then Melody wanta talk about we built Yeah, I think 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.560 we also just looked at it creatively and thought, you know, 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:41.440 this is a show that just from the art, the visuals, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.120 the drama of the show, which has you know, a 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.200 weekly voting pattern, the concept that you know, there are 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.359 all these masks and characters behind the masks that fans 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:55.800 have just identified with overtime and have such passion around UM, 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.200 and just the natural reveals. We just thought it was 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.440 a creatively really well you did to what could be 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.680 a first for a you know around n F T 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.720 s UM. So creatively there's a good good match conceptually, 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:09.680 and I I think we and then we pressure tested that 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.280 with the producer of the show, who was just really 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.120 excited to dig in with us. And I think that's 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:17.320 one of our key learning through through that process that 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:19.960 obviously we apply to that moving forward, is that, you know, 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.800 integrating this into the core of the show as opposed 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:25.480 to kind of being this this thing that sits on 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.480 the side that is disconnected from the core of the 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.640 show UM is less successful than having a really tight partnership. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.320 So we've really partnered to kind of release this marketplace 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.400 UM that that draws on the drama of the show 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.280 that brings in the fan as opposed to just trying 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.360 to reach a crypto audience. We really wanted to reach 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.320 the massing or super fan and bring them on board UM, 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.960 and we've created a thriving discord that allows the massing 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.520 or fans to come in and communicate and connect with 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.080 each other like they've never before. The show can come 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.360 on and talk directly to their fans and listen to 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.800 them in ways have never been possible. So this to 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:01.920 us was really just kind of a first test that 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.000 that proved certain hypotheses. We've learned a lot from it. UM. 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:06.920 I think there's we feel like there's, you know, so 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.160 much more to do, but it kind of was a 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.880 first experiment. And Andrew that was this is a follow 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.120 up something Melody had said, you know, we're doing this 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:16.960 during the summer, and she was on a family vacation 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.120 in Wisconsin, and we weren't sure that you know, you 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.040 have early adopters of crypto, and it's very important for 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.760 us that our product was cryptopure. That was that the 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.280 purest felt it was authentic. At the same time, we 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.960 hadn't make it accessible to our mainstream audience. And so 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.280 Melody was in Wisconsin with their family and she's a 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:33.880 great news I'm at a restaurant and his waitress she 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.120 loves the mess singer, but she has no idea an 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.959 n f T. So we so all of a sudden, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.280 the waitress in Wisconsin became our calling cards, like what 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.440 do we do to make the waitress in Wisconsin understand 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.920 what was owned n f T. And this discord was 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.679 unbelievable because we had we had a lot of our 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.800 moderators were crypto purists and doing the crypto conversations, and 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.680 all of a sudden, our fans showed up and they 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.440 started having creative conversations, they started hanging out together, and 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.120 it grew, I mean melody, what was what was the 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.600 percentage it grew. It was unbelievable what happened there. And 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.679 I think that showed really what the beauty Web three 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.240 is really connecting the community and the creator and the content, 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.199 and that's the beauty that once one relationship is really 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:11.080 a special thing that we're trying to figure out. What 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.040 were the growth rates and that was really unbelievable. And yeah, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.400 I think that we we drove about quarter million installs 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:19.640 um of wallets and for the first this was the 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.480 first time for any of these fans that that we 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.560 spoke to that they've ever owned owned any digital asset, right, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.000 And so this was the test, like if we actually 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.280 reduced the friction to onboarding, the fans will show up, 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:34.320 as Scott describes, because they feel like they're getting closer 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:36.880 to the creator, They're getting closer to Fox, are getting 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.439 close to the mass singer, they're getting closer to Nick Lache, 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:41.560 you know, to the people about in the show. And 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:45.080 so I think that was we were, I think really 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.760 pleasantly surprised about how much the fans showed up and 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.319 the growth rate, about people getting into both the n 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.320 f T marketplace as well as the discord where they 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.400 could talk about it. But I want to go back 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.959 to your Wisconsin waitress who you know, I'm just picture 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.880 ring I guess the average demo for mass singer and 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:06.960 telling them to go on discord, which they've probably never 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.760 even heard of. And I just think, and you know, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.400 a skeptic here, and you know rebut what my contention is, 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.920 if you will, But to me, as I look at 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.080 even the best applications out there for n f T s, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:28.520 it just feels fundamentally inaccessible, that there's too many things 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.280 that are so not you use the comparison of texting. 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:35.680 Texting is simple, it's one step. This is like a 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:40.640 whole thing. So to some degree, you know, do you 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:45.800 really feel in and this took place in that there 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.520 is a way to get at anyone but early adopters, 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.120 I do. I mean, I also think you know there 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.120 is friction, but in that friction is freedom, um and 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.320 we need to work through the friction to to enable 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.240 these up comes. It's early days, so there's so much 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.640 room for improvement and accessibility. It's the kind of thing 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.640 we're working on every single day to think about how 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:10.800 we can lower the barrier to entry. But there are 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.080 a few decisions we made early on. I think it 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.839 really helped. For example, we allowed social sign on. We 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.520 allowed a custodial non custodial wallet, so that meant that, 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.440 you know, fans didn't have to memorize their own sixteen 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:26.160 character private or sixteen word private key. You know, we 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.840 could actually manage that for them initially. And now we're 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.480 giving them the opportunity to self self because custody as 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.920 they get more comfortable, That to me is an on 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.720 ramp that can bring more users on initially as opposed 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.560 to just immediately turning off. So social sign on was big. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.920 Allowing us, you know, a custodial wallet was big. Um 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.840 by allowing credit card purchases, that was big. So I 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.439 think we you know, we accepted crypto. We allowed people 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.920 to bring their own wallets, so we felt crypto purist, 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.760 Scott said. But we also provided these more kind of 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.400 web two on ramps that I think brought people in 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.960 if they began to see the value, and that allowed 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:06.800 them to stick around and they were willing to kind 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.360 of work with what's on, What's next? And Discords. I 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.719 think no exception, you know, Discord is was these were 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.640 first time Discord users for sure. I think what they 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:16.640 found though, was that once they got on, it was 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.520 a much safer space, you know, versus somewhere like Twitter, 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.520 where they're dealing with all this noise and hatred and 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.400 and just just noise. And in Discord they could just 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:27.600 be their true selves. They could talk about how awesome 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.280 the Mother Earth costume was and the nesting is kind 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.200 of a bananas show, um, and the true believers are 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.720 true believers, and it's like it's really cool just to 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:37.640 be able to see them being a place where no 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.560 one's a hater and everyone's into the show, and everyone 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.520 who's there like we did. We did token gating, so 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.120 everyone was there like we could like verify like they 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.280 showed up, like they were there for the right reasons. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.079 And I think the community really responded positively to that. 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:57.080 I'm sorry, well that in terms of you, we're what 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:01.600 we're talking about is essentially a digital collectible and the 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:06.800 collectible market in general, merchandise in general, that's only going 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.120 to appeal to a super fan. And so again I 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.200 go back to your comparison with texting, that's not a 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.520 super fan application. That's hey, take part in the voting 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.719 of American Idol. Tens of millions are going to do 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:26.000 that here. I just can't imagine, even if the technology 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:27.959 was more accessible, and it does sound like you did 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.480 everything you could to make it as accessible as it 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.920 could be, that at the end of the day, how 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.520 many people really want these digital goods? So and so 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.040 I think you're dead on and and the day. If 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.280 the end game here was to be a digital collectical business, No, 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:43.920 and I would not be doing this. It's not worth 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:47.120 our time. Um, it's at least for us what inspires 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.840 us to do something interesting. Um, first that we've been 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:51.839 doing is educating a lot of what we're doing right now. 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.560 In the mast take, it was educating people, but what 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.960 what you actually have digital property rights? It's a hard 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:59.480 constant to understand that actually, you know, in the virtual 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.560 world now every asset has property right and you have 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:04.680 a you know on the block shade of unique identifier 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.280 which is you know, which is a really amazing concept 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.920 of basically have republicated. So one that's educating and getting 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.520 a trust. So there's a lot of that. I think 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:16.559 for us, you know, like you know, you know, people 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.720 understand a collectible interest in the value that so I 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.000 think the market of art was accessible at the first time. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.040 People say, okay, I understand as I collected, and so 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.080 for us it was an easy accessible place. But if 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.320 you look at tokens that we the cards that we sold, 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.880 it wasn't just a collectible had utility, And we talked 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.280 about n f T s. We talked about that social 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.680 clout sort of reflects like I was there. I was 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.280 you know, I showed up and it it proved I 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.040 was there too, might have utility. So if you collected, 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.560 for us, if you collected all the animal ones, you 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.440 then got access to something else. So we look at 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.000 the future use of n s T s, the utilitarian 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.200 access of a that might act as a ticket to 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.320 open up somewhere or be it might be access to subscription. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.000 Like you know, you're you run the variety of the 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.440 I P process. That's someone that may be tokenized and 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.960 you might reward people for being there early and that subscription. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.160 And ultimately we see what we're excited about is because 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.040 ultimately these smart contracts in the code and these n 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.680 f t s can actually have huge applications in multiple 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.840 industries to reduce the friction to take money back and 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.520 as Mellie talked about the you know, the the freedom 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.680 you take your information back, you know. So one, as 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.000 a content creator, I control my control, my my my content, 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.760 and I can choose what I give it to. And 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.080 as a consumer more importantly, no longer are you're giving 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.040 all of your information to these other companies in a 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.000 change for free content. You choose what you do it. 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.960 So there's all these uses that are you know, smart 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:35.400 people out there we're gonna work with and things just 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.560 trying to figure out where that's the exciting part I 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.640 think collectibles today is just oh, this is the first 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.640 use that we can wrap our head around. I wonder, 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.920 and again, as as much as you've done to make 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:50.200 the product accessible, that if we have this conversation in 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.240 two years, three years, my guess is it's going to 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.160 be a very different products simply because it has to 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.840 get more mainstream. This you know, Cousto do your wallet 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:04.160 and all like what the It just has to get simpler. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:08.480 Do you expect it's gonna get there? I think so. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.920 I think there's a lot of companies, technology companies that 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:16.480 are working on innovations to make this space better. Wallets are, 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.480 in particular, I think are an area that if you 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.720 just look in the last six months, they've gotten so 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.600 much better. UM. And there is a lot more competition 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.320 right now, so all the wallet companies I think are 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.320 upping their games to make things more accessible. I think 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.440 there's you know a lot of um security and scam 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.760 risk right now, UM that I think companies are taking 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.440 quite seriously that maybe they hit under invest in historically. 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.240 So we're seeing just like a as there's real money, 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.160 as we're bringing onboardy more fans who might be slightly 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.360 less sophisticated about the risks they're entering, but that our 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:50.800 responsibility is higher, you know, to then be able to 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:52.800 make sure these people have a good experience. So I 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.200 think there's just a ton of innovation um, that that's 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.240 happening right now. And I mean, truth flick, the smartest 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.160 people I know in tech are all we're in the 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:02.360 Web three. I mean I came from like a big 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.200 data startup before Fox. Um. I've run into my ex 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.480 colleagues all the time now at every Web three company 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.320 we talked to. So I think the talent concentration is there, 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.400 the belief is there, the innovations they're still early Indians. 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.000 I mean there's a long road to go. Um, it's still, 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.320 without a doubt, high friction UM and I think quite 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:24.320 difficult for an average consumer. We'll have more with Scott 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:28.000 Greenberg and Melody Hildebrand of Blockchain Creative Labs in just 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:35.080 a moment, and we're back with the principles at Fox's 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.480 Blockchain Creative Labs, where we're talking about all sorts of 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.959 interesting applications, including as we had this conversation just ahead 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.440 of the south By Southwest Festival, which I should note 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:51.040 is a Penskey Media property just like Variety. Uh, and 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:52.920 I'm very curious to see what you guys are gonna 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.920 do in terms of your official sponsorship capacity there and 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.919 especially what you're doing with Dolly Parton of all people. 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:02.840 So what tell me what the Dolly verse is going 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:08.960 to look like. So look, we we chose as we 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.720 the timing, timing is everything right, We're coming out of 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.800 COVID and south Buy hasn't been live in two years. 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.360 And when we started looking at the landscape of timing 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.440 and we have some team members in Austin and somebody said, 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.360 what about south By? And for us, south By represents 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.000 everything that excites us of the opportunity web three one. 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:31.240 It really forged the way of independent filmmakers right and 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.399 really in the independent filmmaking and music. And then every 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.960 you know, the tech the tech run you know, every 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.400 major tech brand showed up there from Twitter and Square, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.040 so we felt what a great place to go and 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.240 do something. So, you know, for us, we were exactly 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:45.560 sure what we're gonna do, but we wanted to be there, 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:47.280 so we wanted to be the sponsor. You know, we 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.199 took the title sponsor and so for us, our our 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:51.960 hope was, we know some of the smartest lines and 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.119 entertainment and tech. So our hope was, let's try to 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.040 take these two weeks, ten days, however long it is, 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.480 and try to make it like an EPCO. What is 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.160 how can we actually activate creators and the Big ten 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.159 have a conversation Web three of how can this technology 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.520 apply for tech, for media in the future, and for 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.080 us It's not about this is about Fox and blockchain 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:12.720 creative labs. I'm just gonna talk about our stuff, but 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:14.920 we have some of other partners and petters really have 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.520 the conversation. So that was our macro hypothesis and no, 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.920 do you want to talk about you know what we're 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.919 doing there? Yeah, I think we're really trying to create 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.960 the platform that enables the musicians and filmmakers to connect 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:30.480 directly with their audiences via n f t s and 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.280 via Web three. So we've gone to all the artists 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:35.560 we're working with UM quite a few of them now 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.240 who will be UM releasing n f t s on 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.520 a south By marketplace UM. And they're also going to 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.280 be able to have what are known as co apps 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.119 or kind of proof of attendance tokens UM, so that 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.399 anyone who shows up to their show can kind of 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:51.720 scan a QR code and get a cryptographic you know, 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.080 token that proves that they were there. And that to 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.439 us was it's a very Web three zeitgeist thing, but 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:58.720 it felt so perfect for South buy you know, where 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:00.639