Bitcoin pioneer Jeff Garzik's production company NextCypher has tapped Jonathan Frakes to direct an adaptation of the science fiction “Deathlands”.
Frakes, who portrayed Commander Riker on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is a veteran director who has helmed TV shows including “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” “Star Trek: Picard” and “Leverage: Redemption.”
Speaking to Decrypt, Garzik said he was incredibly humbled and blessed to have Frax join the project: “It's amazing.
Based on the James Axeller and Jack Adrian series of novels, “Deathlands” follows a group of survivors who traverse a post-apocalyptic world using teleportation technology. “It's post-apocalyptic, Mad Max AI meets monsters from ‘Tremors' and everything in between,” Garzik said.
The TV show is a “revamped” adaptation of the novel series, Garzik explained, adding that “the books were set in a post-Cold War, post-nuclear war setting” and that the TV show's setting is “post-AI driven.” Chaos and all the fun that follows.”
“I know ‘Deathlands' doesn't scream optimism from the title,” he said. “But it's a lot of survivors who persevere despite everything we throw at them every week. To me, that's the optimism — and I think that's what inspired Frax.”
Source: Jeff Garzik
The first show on NextCypher's slate, “Deathlands,” will go before the cameras in Sofia, Bulgaria this spring. Garzik will serve as executive producer on the series alongside Thomas P. Vitale, along with “Pandora” and “Agent X” producer Mark A.
A key developer of the Linux operating system and Bitcoin Core Project Garzik founded NextCypher Productions in 2022 with plans to use Web3 tools to produce independent science fiction entertainment.
Garzik, who co-founded Bloq, Spacechain, and Vesper Finance, explained that the firm plans to use Web3 technologies as immutable tokens.NFTs) to give fans early access to the product.
While Garzik noted that “the details are subject to change,” the manufacturer's playbook includes a run of 1,138 NextCypher multipass NFTs that are “cross-product not tied to any IP or a specific product” as well as “product-specific NFT runs.”
Holders of Multipass NFTs will be given a “discount or tranche or first bite at the apple” of “Deathlands” NFTs, which will provide rewards such as downloadable digital assets, Discord events and tournaments. Other ideas on the roadmap include contests to win highlight chats with showrunners, contributions to projects, costume and set designs, contests to win items used in the show, and a “very rare trip to Sofia, Bulgaria” to visit the set. .
Garzik said NextCypher is not currently investigating Web3's financing and distribution models for its shows.
“For NextCypher there's not yet a practical foundation, to the point where we're giving away IP to the Web3 streaming platform.” He added that the production company is taking a “hybrid approach” that includes traditional financing and distribution models of well-known assets, and that it is “weaving” Web3's “supporter base verification” part.
“Hopefully the flywheel will start moving.” “We've got some momentum, we're going to prove we can actually produce and then a lot of Web3 funding doors open.”
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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