tZero to tokenize a movie about Atari

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Overstock’s blockchain arm, tZero, is tokenizing a movie. The company announced it has partnered with Vision Tree, a film production and financing company, to tokenize the upcoming film, Atari: Fistful of Quarters. This will reportedly be the first time a movie has been tokenized and is designed to raise up to $40 million for the biopic.

The movie follows Nolan Bushnell, who became one of the most important pioneers of the video gaming industry. He started out as a repairman fixing broken pinball machines before becoming the founder of Atari in the 1970s. The film will be produced by Appian Way, a production company owned by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Vision Tree’s Benjamin Gerry and J. D. Seraphine.

Saum Noursalehi, tZero’s CEO, said in the announcement, “Our goal is to apply blockchain technology to capital markets and every industry that can benefit from the platform we have built. The Atari movie is the perfect project to lead the way for the tokenization of the movie business.”

Overstock CEO and Director Patrick M. Byrne, who has become a die-hard crypto supporter, adds, “We have been looking for the team to crack the code for Hollywood and bring much needed transparency and accountability to an industry that has been historically resistant to change. This is an extremely impressive team and we are thrilled to bring the tZERO tech stack to the movie industry.”

Vision Tree launched the Bushnell crypto token in March 2018. The offering was presented as a means of attracting up to $40 million in investment funds, but also provide certain benefits to investors. They receive a share of the earnings of a backed film, can assist in the film’s development—including in choosing the cast—and can vote on how the film’s trailer is produced.

Vision Tree founder Benjamin Gerry states in the announcement, “It has been a long process to find the right partner to tokenize the Atari movie and to blaze a new trail for other media projects to follow. After looking closely at every major company in the space, we are thrilled to collaborate with tZERO on this exciting endeavor.”