The crypto space is bold, brash, innovative, unpredictable and a little bit crazy, with heroes and villains to spare. Perfect ingredients, you would think, for a rollicking movie or TV show. So why are we currently being served up a bunch of damp squibs?
Earlier this year, Entourage star Kevin Connolly made an appearance at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami to drum up interest in Cryptos.
The TV project, which is still in development, involves a group of discouraged young filmmakers living in Hollywood who discover a new way to finance their pictures through, yep, you guessed it, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
To quote the synopsis: “They start a company called Dionysia and end up going to war within the Hollywood system. On their journey to building a successful decentralised studio, they quickly realise that their struggle within Hollywood is just the tip of the iceberg in a planetary zeitgeist against corrupt financial institutions and the global balance of power.”
Connolly’s last effort, we should point out, was the unintentionally hilarious John Travolta mob movie Gotti. So hopes are not high for Cryptos, assuming, of course, that it ever actually makes it to our TV screens.
This week, meanwhile, a new movie, Crypto, reared its ugly head. Starring the once mighty Kurt Russell and the lesser known Hemsworth brother, this cybercrime caper looks like all kinds of awful and doesn’t even appear to understand how Bitcoin actually works (check out the trailer and you’ll see what we mean).
Broad City
If you ask us, the award for best attempt thus far at tackling crypto on screen goes to an episode of Broad City, which aired in the UK earlier this year.
For those who don’t know this awesome Comedy Central show, it was created by and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and was developed from their web series of the same name. It is based on Glazer and Jacobson’s real life friendship, and focuses on their surreal antics and attempts to make it in New York.
In the aforementioned episode, Glazer visits an old flame to cash out her Bitcoin share for around eight grand. All is fine until she runs into some protesters who inform her that Bitcoin is killing the environment. Oh, and it is also the preferred currency of pedophiles.
It’s a genius set up. All it lacks is a cameo by Nouriel Roubini. But, hey, you can’t have everything, right?
Social media
Perhaps one day an awesome crypto movie will emerge. We’re talking about a movement that is still in its infancy, after all.
And remember, following a few wrong turns Hollywood finally got another tech upstart, social media, right with really rather good movies like The Social Network, Catfish and Ingrid Goes West.
For the time being, let’s just hope that Cryptos remains in development hell and Crypto proves to be a case of ‘crap trailer, good movie’. Stranger things have happened.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.