The author of The Death of Don Quixote, the short produced by the London Film School in 2016 and awarded Best European Short at the Sitges International Festival, is financing Calladita, his first feature film, through a Non Fungible Tokens and Web3 campaign. Systems.
Calladita, based on the short film of the same name by Miguel Faus that seeks to caricature the current Catalan bourgeoisie by adopting a different vision thanks to its protagonist, a domestic worker from the Costa Brava, is the first European film financed with this method, an avant-garde alternative to crowdfunding and other traditional financing sources.
El feature film Calladita Its cast includes Antonio de la Torre (La Trinchera Infinita), Emily Mortimer (Match Point), Susana Abaitua (Patria) and Paula Grimaldo, the protagonist of the short film of the same name. In addition, Julie Pacino, Al Pacino's daughter, has also joined this project, who has managed to raise the first film through NFT's and the actor Jim Cummings as producers. As for photography, Goya winner Daniela Cajías (The Girls) will be the director.
Below we delve a little deeper into these topics with Miguel Faus and review the most relevant points to take into account about how Web3, blockchain technology and NFT's are representing a paradigm shift for all types of creators and authors in general, and for the film industry in particular.
Before starting to talk about NFT's and Web3, we spoke with Miguel about the feature film “Calladita”, the adaptation of his short film of the same name, asking him what inspired him to write this story, what he wanted to convey with it and why he decided to go beyond the short and consider directing this feature film.
Miguel explains to us that with this story he sought to portray the Catalan upper bourgeoisie today (since filming took place on the Costa Brava), but also the current bourgeoisie at a general level, with a mix of satire and also a lot of realism. In this way, seeking to achieve a different vision, he interviewed different domestic workers to obtain the necessary documentation to be able to create this critique in the form of a short film with Ana as the protagonist, moving away from hackneyed clichés and simplistic caricatures. Faus explained to us that, while writing the short film, he already realized that he was having to leave out many anecdotes, stories and interesting data, and therefore by the time he finished completing it he was already clear that he wanted to make a feature film.
The short Calladita premiered at the Malaga Festival and participated in the London Short Film Festival and the Melilla Film Week, where it won the Third Prize.
We continue the interview by chatting with Miguel about his first contact with the crypto world, blockchain, Web3 and NFTs.
At this point, the director of Calladita explained to us that, although years ago he had approached the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies at an “amateur” level, he had not decided to delve into the famous “burrow”, especially because of that feeling that many individuals currently have with blockchain technology of being “arriving late.”
Faus explained to us that everything changed when he began to learn more about NFTs in 2021, when he realized the incredible potential that this technology represented for society in general, and for content creators in particular. In this way, he began to delve deeper and deeper into this universe, highlighting above technology at the level of technical knowledge the underlying philosophical idea of the paradigm shift that it entails when establishing a much more direct relationship between creators and audiences and create authentic participatory communities around all types of projects.
In fact, Miguel Faus highlights that what is really strange is Web2. Web3 makes the entire process much simpler and once again gives relevance and puts the focus on creators and audiences, making the interaction between and the participation of both actors much simpler.
The short Calladita was financed with crowdfunding and was carried out after a week of filming on the Costa Brava, then passing through festivals such as the Malaga Festival, the Melilla Film Week, where it won third prize, or the London Short Film Festival. We asked Miguel why this change from crowdfunding or other more traditional forms of financing to the idea of launching a financing campaign with NFT and he told us the following.
For the feature film in Spain he was betting mainly on public financing and he realized that this way it was going to be really difficult to carry out his project. In this way, when Miguel learned about NFTs and all their potential, he was clear and decided to turn his feature film into the first film financed with NFTs in Europe.
Furthermore, Miguel explained to us how when he started with this project his film was the first, but in a short time Julie Pacino, daughter of Al Pacino, started with her project and managed to create the first film financed with NFT's in record time. In this way, Faus is clear that this type of financing alternative, still incipient in the film industry, has many signs of becoming a truly powerful alternative in the future, especially because, as we indicated above, it allows for a complete change in the paradigm. existing until now, returning creative freedom to the authors. With Web3 it is possible to return to the essence of what the Internet was since with this technology no one controls this communication tool as has been happening with Web2 in recent years.
Web3 allows ownership to be decentralized and therefore allows authors and directors to fully manage and create their own projects, while NFT crowdfunding allows passive viewers to become active funders or producers of the projects that interest them most. With this new paradigm, the community can have access to the entire process of creating the film and the authors and directors can maintain their complete creative freedom, since they do not have to associate with large studios, this decentralization also largely affecting the narratives: which will become much more varied and multicultural.
Cinema is an art form that can benefit greatly from Web3 and decentralization. Numerous actors in this industry agree on how this type of independent film projects financed and supported by DAOs and decentralized communities will allow stories to be given much deeper and more varied narratives by being able to bypass the conformity of the industry and the control established by Web 2.0 providers.
Without a doubt, Web 3.0 therefore represents a revolution for cinema, one of the most centralized industries to date (and for this reason also one of the most susceptible to decentralization). Being able to leave behind the domination of corporations over cinema and of this industry over financing, marketing and distribution allows once and for all to empower creators and the public, giving the power to the community so that all society can enjoy a much more diverse cinema that allows all content creators to find the opportunity to create and distribute their art.
In addition, we also asked Miguel Faus if he considers that the adoption of blockchain technology and NFTs as a financing alternative is being positively valued by the sector or if there is some resistance.
Faus explained to us that in the film industry there is no resistance at this moment, but rather ignorance. Despite this, he also explained to us that there is a lot of curiosity and a great desire to try new things and implement this type of financing to many more projects. In fact, for any producer, having new forms of financing is undoubtedly especially interesting.
Calladita art collection: a very special collection of NFT's
In collaboration with different artists, the Calladita Art Collection has also been developed. Miguel Faus also talked to us about it and explained its interesting potential.
The Calladita Art Collection is a collection of NFTs developed in collaboration with different artists that is made up of different pieces of art inspired by the film Calladita and created for this Campaign. In this case, the profits will be distributed equally between the artists and the budget dedicated to the film.
In conclusion, betting on alternatives as interesting and current as the one provided by Miguel Faus and his feature film Calladita is betting heavily on the idea that Web3 and decentralization can help the film industry become something much more diverse, with projects created by filmmakers who are truly passionate about what they do and by communities involved in carrying out different and interesting projects.
NFTs in the world of cinema allow creators to be empowered to carry out the projects that they are truly passionate about and audiences to choose the films they want to see, so that they can be part of their creation process and even so that they can acquire the ownership of a part of them directly and completely decentralized, without intermediaries. We will continue to expect the evolution of this project, betting because without a doubt NFTs in the film industry, and in many more scenarios of content creation at a global level, have come to change everything.
Where can I learn more about “Calladita” and Miguel Faus?
Source of photographs and video: Social networks and web space of the director and the project.
