Gorav Seth, Co-chair of film financing for DeFi and NFT Marketplace platform Mogul, joins Jason Butcher on Off the Ledger to give a behind-the-scenes view (pun intended) of the changing movie industry, NFTs, and how blockchain is the catalyst for leveling the playing field.
Don’t miss the chance to watch Off the Ledger’s newest episode with corporate finance and entertainment industry expert Gorav Seth of Mogul, which is now live on CoinPayments Media and Spotify!
Don’t be fooled by Gorav’s relaxed demeanor. He worked for 15 years in corporate finance and investment banking, handling transactions ranging from M&A and restructuring to IPOs, RTOs, and financings, after a successful career as an entertainment manager and financier for the television industry. And now, with Mogul, Gorav can apply his experience in both fields. As he describes it, Mogul is a DeFi and NFT platform for the entertainment industry, and a means to “democratize that entire space.” As he puts it:
“The genesis for this project was to be able to create accountability and transparency, as the film industry is very archaic in many respects in how they do things.”
The DeFi side of the platform is all about connecting filmmakers and fans; harnessing crowdsourcing to give fans a say in what movies are financed and shot. For Gorav, the “network effect you have in the crypto and blockchain community” is what makes it so powerful. He says:
“You know as a filmmaker, if 17k people voted on your film, you have 17k new viewers, and now they all have skin in the game too.”
According to Gorav, by giving a voice to fans in this way, DeFi and blockchain can finish what started with the movie Deadpool. “Ryan had been trying to make Deadpool for years, and everybody said no.” Gorav continues:
“[He] was so convinced that he went and made a trailer and put it up online, and fans went nuts – loved the trailer, loved the film and this entire chatter and network effect came to be around this project, where they basically forced the studio’s hand to make it.”
And what about the NFT side? For Gorav, the full NFT marketplace currently being launched by the company is an exciting move, as it goes “hand-in-hand with the film side.” The NFT offerings place static images, motion video, music, IP onto the blockchain, providing a new revenue stream for artists and creatives and creating a valuable secondary market for fans and collectors.
Jason and Gorav’s fascinating discussion offers a glimpse into an otherwise closed industry, with the latter sharing information about upcoming NFT launches and exciting film projects in the pipeline. A passionate advocate for the potential of blockchain technology, Gorav also shares his views on how blockchain can trigger change in an industry that is notoriously opaque when it comes to its practices. He explains:
“People end up being screwed out of their fair share of the project based on how they structured deals. That’s something that the industry is notorious for, and a lot of it has to do around the asymmetry in power between the big studios and production companies and the little guy…What blockchain allows us to do with the industry is level the playing field.”
So is crypto and blockchain understood and accepted across the entertainment industry? asks Jason. Gorav believes there is still work to be done. He says:
“The biggest challenge for us is education. Everybody is intrigued and interested, but they don’t understand it.”
Watch the newest episodes of Off The Ledger with Jason Butcher to get a deeper understanding of the enlightening conversations held every week.
Off The Ledger now airs on Spotify as well as CoinPayments Media. Don’t forget to subscribe and turn YouTube notifications ON so you never miss an episode. Catch Off the Ledger with Jason Butcher every Wednesday!
