Kevin Smith to Issue ‘Comedy-Horror’ Film as NFTs on Secret Network

Kevin Smith, the filmmaker responsible for cult classics like “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” announced Wednesday that he’ll be releasing his latest movie “KillRoy Was Here” as a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Smith is tapping the Cosmos-based Secret Network for the launch, the same network that hosted Quentin Tarantino’s controversial ”Pulp Fiction” NFTs back in November. While NFT plans for “KillRoy” have been discussed for about a year, its details are just now seeing the light of day. A release date is slated for some time in Q2.

As with the Tarantino collection, Smith’s collectibles will rely on Secret Network’s “secret” sauce: making the content of the tokens, which includes the “comedy-horror” film itself along with bonus behind-the-scenes footage, only viewable to NFT holders.

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“Everyone, especially people with fame, are using NFTs as a new way to make money,” Smith told CoinDesk in an interview. “But to me it’s a whole new creative playground. It reminds me of the YouTube revolution, where kids were able to create stuff in a whole new way. I missed it then, but I won’t miss it again.”

Each NFT in the collection of 5,555 comes with its own generative artwork, each a different twist on the film’s main character. Smith’s plan is for holders to use the characters to create content of their own, and then feature the best creations as the film’s sequel.

Smith has had a personal interest in NFTs dating back to April of last year, making his NFT debut with “Smokin’ Tokens,” a collection based on his beloved “Jay and Silent Bob” characters. He said playing around with the new medium reminds him a lot of the indie film space in the ‘90s, defined by creativity and experimentation.

“My dream is for KillRoy to be its own self-thriving franchise within the world of crypto and NFTs, without ever having to step outside of the blockchain,” Smith told CoinDesk.

Different from the Tarantino drop, Secret Network will release the collection through Legendao, an NFT launchpad involving partners Semkhor and Curio.

While the non-fungible film space has actually been burgeoning in recent months, Secret Network’s unique model has yet to be recreated by competitors, who have mainly used NFTs for funding or token-gated access to content, not embedding the content in the NFTs themselves.

“I’ll put it very bluntly, I don’t understand what the point of token-gating is,” Guy Zyskind, founder of Secret Network, told CoinDesk in an interview. “That’s pay-per-view, not NFTs. At the end of the day, if your NFT is just access to some centralized server, why not just do a login and password.”

At some point after the collection’s launch, Smith and Secret Network plan to distribute the film more widely, though no details have been decided on.

Holders will still remain a key component of the film’s community, Smith said, especially for the aforementioned sequel.