Online Film Production in China Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts

Poujol has given us an informed, incisive analysis of the political economy of the Chinese media industries and intriguing insights into the game-changing possibilities of blockchain technologies.

--Richard Allen, Dean and Chair Professor of Film and Media Art at School of Creative Media, City University Transparency and accountability are cornerstones for a vibrant creative industry, and Patrice explains in his book how we can build better platforms that serve artists and society.

--Leonhard Weese, President at the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong

An extensively enlightening read, Patrice Poujol's assessment is masterful and indispensable. --Amit Jumani, Director at Krisco Media FZC

Supported by in-depth research, the author's analysis of the innovative ways used in the online film and media industry in contemporary China is excellent and full of timely insights. --Jenny Kwok Wah Lau, Professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University

Poujol presents a candid and revealing analysis in this highly interdisciplinary work, expertly integrating cultural, economic, political, and technical perspectives on sound bases of critical review and first-hand research.

--George Whitfield (MIT), CEO of HodlPal

Filmmaking is hard to do and even more difficult to fund, and in China some of these problems have magnified greatly. There is a world of creative talent in China just waiting to be unleashed, and the author shows that blockchain technology has the potential to do just that, and usher in a new golden age of Chinese cinema. Patrice offers an informative explanation of how blockchain technology could change this, and an honest and hopeful message about the potential for this technology to unleash a new generation of Chinese filmmakers. A wonderful read.

--Ryan King, Director of Acceleration at Emurgo (Cardano)

Auteur

When he watched a re-screened version of 'Once Upon a Time in The West' at age 7 in his home town of Bordeaux, France - better known for its surf scene and its red wine - Dr. Patrice Poujol immediately fell in love with the cinema medium as an art and as a way to share ideas and emotions with others. After 8 years in the financial sector working on institutional and corporate projects including film finance with AIB in Ireland, Dr. Poujol continued his professional path in creative production. He completed the first PhD on blockchain and creative industries worldwide at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. He participated in a UCLA exchange and in the intensive MEFTI programme organised by MIT. He is now continuing his research in the areas of digital entertainment, blockchain and the creative industries as a research fellow of the centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media (ACIM) at the School of Creative Media, CityU's Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre.

Taking his research as a solid foundation for his future work, Dr. Poujol is currently integrating his experience, his knowledge and his network in technology, finance, and media to continue his public policy research in Asia and to develop the Lumière Project with a team of experts from the tech world and the film industry. This project should contribute to make the film industry more equitable, creative, and transparent.

Résumé
This book explores the use of Blockchain and smart contract technologies to develop new ways to finance independent films and digital media worldwide. Using case studies of Alibaba and in-depth, on-set observation of a Sino-US coproduction, as well as research collected from urban China, Hong Kong, Europe, and the USA, Online Film Production in China Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts explores new digital platforms and what this means for the international production of creative works.

This research assesses the change in media consciousness from young urban audiences, their emergence as a potential participative and creative community within dis-intermediated, decentralised and distributed crowdfunding and crowdsourcing models. This research proposes solutions on how these young emerging local creative talents can be identified and nurtured early on, particularly those who now produce creative and artistic audiovisual content whether these works are related to film, Virtual Reality (VR), video game, graphic novels, or music. Ultimately, a new media content finance and production platform implementing blockchain is proposed to bring transparency in the film sector and open doors to emerging artists in digital media.

Appropriate for both professionals and academics in the film industry as well as computer science.

Contenu

1 Literature Review.- 2 Political-Economic Transformations in China.- 3 Mapping Out The Chinese Media Landscape.- 4 Alibaba: Changing Business Cultures and Film Finance.- 5 Live Film Production Case Study *The Last Race.- 6 *The Case Study of Youku Tudou.- 7 Chinese Audiences: Evolution and Change of Media Consciousness.- 8 Participatory Involvement and Focus Groups with Emerging Creative Talents.- 9 Proposal for a New Participatory Creative Production Model.