Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave” for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
SAG-AFTRA strike ends as AI deal reached, Hollywood still torn
The 118-day Hollywood actors’ union strike ended with an agreement on AI usage, though not everyone in the industry sees it as the right move.
Writer’s Guild strike ends with tentative deal approved, AI key negotiation
The Writer’s Guild strike has come to an end after five months of picketing, with a tentative deal approved for new conditions that include negotiations over AI usage.
Californian lawmaker proposes legislation to protect actors from AI clones
Californian Assembly Member Ash Kalra labeled the bill as a “common sense requirement” to help protect the work of actors, artists and entertainers.
How Web3 can prevent Hollywood strikes – Replay joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Hollywood strikes echoed the unbalanced value distribution in the streaming video industry — blockchain can change that.
Hollywood studios offer new proposal for AI and data transparency to curb strike
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released a memo of its offer to striking writers and actors, with proposed guidelines for AI usage and data transparency.
Netflix eyes AI amid Hollywood strike, offers high-paying AI positions
The positions come with six-figure salaries, ranging from $450,000 to $650,000 for the Technical Director role and $300,000 to $900,000 for the Product Manager position.
Ben McKenzie, the Hollywood Hypocrite Crypto Critic
Hollywood studios reject banning AI from writer’s rooms
The Writers Guild of America sent out a list of demands to Hollywood studios, including regulating AI usage in guild-affiliated projects.
Web3 Entertainment Studio Toonstar to Release NFT-Backed TV Series ‘Space Junk’
The animated show about trash collectors in space was written by “Workaholics” producer Dominic Russo and stars “Napoleon Dynamite” actor Jon Heder.
NFTs Are the Ultimate Disruptor of Hollywood’s Entertainment Status Quo
Web3 technology is already being used in the film industry to build communities and monetize niche content offerings. NTFs are the next big step.
Sundance Film Festival embraces blockchain and crypto film initiatives
Film festivals have seen an increase in blockchain and crypto-funded film projects and initiatives as Web3 technologies continue to merge with the entertainment industry.
FTX miniseries gets go ahead, covering the ‘most brazen frauds ever committed’
The Russo’s are reported to have said that FTX “is one of the most brazen frauds ever committed” in their reasoning for wanting to create the show.
Fortune did not, in fact, favor the brave: Matt Damon’s Crypto.com TV spot turns one
Many in and out of the crypto space have parodied Matt Damon’s appearance promoting the crypto exchange following the market downturn in May.
Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins sells out NFT collection in minutes
The collection features 1000 original cinematic art pieces inspired by the actor’s award-winning career.
Blue Chip NFTs 101: Cool Cats Lands On Its Feet And Does It In Style
Do the Cool Cats still have Blue Chip status? The collection fell on hard times lately, but so has any other NFT project out there. We’re in a bear market, after all. A Hollywood agency manages the Cool Cats project, they had the coolest exhibit in NFT NYC, and collaborated with TIME magazine in a weird NFT drop. Still, the collection’s floor price is down to levels not seen since the project’s conception.
The Cool Cats started spreading good vibes in July 2021. It’s a PFP collection consisting of 9.999 unique cats assembled from various traits that could form 300K possibilities in total. The ecosystem expanded in two major ways a while ago. They launched their secondary collection, the Cool Pets, and their own token, $MILK. The new coin is the blood that powers the gamified experience that the collection’s creators have been releasing.
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) July 9, 2021
Speaking about those, the core team are: the smart contract programmer Tom Williamson, web developer Rob Mehew, creative director Evan Luza, and illustrator Colin Egan AKA The Cartoonist. The unofficial fifth member of the band is Mike Tyson. A few days after launch, the eternal heavyweight champion changed his Twitter profile picture to a Cool Cats and that propelled the collection when it needed it the most.
The Relationship Between Cool Cats And CAA
The Cool Cats went Hollywood on March 2021. In a move unprecedented at the time, the creators signed with leading talent agency CAA. In a press release from the time, the partners explained the deal in detail:
“Leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has signed Cool Cats, producers of the widely known Cool Cats and Cool Pets NFT collections. In collaboration with the gamified NFT company, the agency will identify and create opportunities for Cool Cats characters across an array of areas, including licensing and merchandising, animated content, brand partnerships, live events, publishing, and more.”
So, there’s serious money and interests behind the cats. Why are they fading away into the background, then? Is it just an effect of the bear market?
ETH price chart for 09/24/2022 on OkCoin | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Cool Cats ’ got utility
First of all, Cool Cats holders get their NFT’s property rights. That means, they can produce commercial projects with their NFT’s images. Cool Cat owners also get access to the project’s Discord server, and priority for all of the exclusive Cool Cats events and mints. Holders can stack their NFTs and get yield in $MILK.
Another benefit is access to Cooltopia, a project they define as “a gamified ecosystem built on interactivity and utility, community rewards and growth, collaboration with brands, and much more.” Another self-definition has Cooltopia as a “place where having a Cool Cats NFT grants you evolving access to games, tokens, community events, collaborations, and more.”
Plus, there’s the Cool Pets side project. A reward to NFT holders and a way for newcomers to enter the ecosystem at a lower price point. The Cool Pets collection has 19,999 units. Every holder got a pet for free and the general public bought the other half. The Cool Pets first come as an egg image that hatches and reveals the final NFT. The pets are divided into four elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Grass.
The $MILK token
The $MILK is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. It’s the oil that greases Cooltopia’s gamified economy. According to the documentation:
- “$MILK is the key to all sorts of functionality and fun in the Cool Cats ecosystem, from buying Battle or Housing chests to going on quests.”
- “$MILK is also how you’ll enhance and evolve your Cool Pets.”
- This one describes the NFTs staking-like mechanism: “Your Cool Cat is earning $MILK just by being cool (the $MILK claiming clock begins as soon as the contract is deployed), and that $MILK will accumulate over time.”
Controversy And Suspicion
There might be something strange going on with this project. In April, the newly-appointed CEO stepped down after just three months. There was never a credible explanation given. The collection just tweeted, “Chris Hassett has stepped down as CEO. We thank him and wish him the best moving forward.” Is there problem brewing in the Cool Cats headquarters?
And then there’s the price. At its height, in October 2021, the Cool Cats floor price was around 26 ETH. Almost a year later, the floor Cool Cats are trading for 2.9 ETH. That’s not all, the Cool Pets’ floor price is currently at 0.18 ETH. Are those Blue Chip numbers? Even though we’re basically in the middle of a crypto winter, the collection seems to be falling off a cliff…
Will the Cool Cats land on their feet?
Featured Image: screen shot from the collection’s site | Charts by TradingView
Influential celebrities that joined the crypto club over the past year
Despite the prolonged bear market and an evident dip in cryptocurrency prices, celebrities continue to pour in support for the crypto market.
Quentin Tarantino settles Miramax lawsuit over Pulp Fiction NFTs
Miramax sued the Hollywood director in November last year after the blockchain provider Secret Network announced the auction of his “uncut screenplay scenes.”
Dozens of VIP backers invest $87M into crypto payment startup MoonPay
Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg are among MoonPay’s strategic investors who have brought the company’s valuation to $3.4 billion.
Crypto.com will air campaign in support of Ukraine during Academy Awards
The platform will match many donations in crypto, fiat and nonfungible token purchases toward humanitarian help for Ukraine through March 31.