Movie and TV ICOs are missing the critical element:
The script.
The ICO for 21millioncoins’s TV show has a premise on their website, but there’s no script yet. The horror movie Braid has a trailer, and possibly a finished screenplay, but no way to read it on their ICO website. Even SingularDTV, which is staffed by film industry professionals and seems likely to succeed as a content hosting site, is promoting their TV show, Singularity, with a video that offers a comprehensive look at the tech that will be part of the story. But, only at the end, do they say that the story will be “character driven”… over a satellite image of a van blowing up.
All of these startups are attempting an ICO without offering potential investors the most important piece of information:
The Screenplay is your White Paper.
It’s how we know whether or not this is going to be a wise investment. No movie studio would greenlight a picture without a script. A successful screenwriter can walk in with a pitch, and get paid to write the screenplay, but until the studio’s seen the end product, there’s no money for the movie.
Because a bad screenplay means a bad movie.
And a bad movie is a terrible investment. Asking people to invest in a movie ICO without a screenplay available to read is like asking people to invest in a financial ICO without a white paper or business model.
IP theft simply isn’t an issue anymore with screenplays.
Once upon a time, sure. You’d send your script to Some Guy, who’d reject it, and then next thing you know, he’s made your movie without your seeing a dime or a credit. But now, many would-be screenwriters post their work everywhere for feedback: Reddit’s /r/screenwriting, the Black List, Script Revolution, and many more sites. This gets eyes on your work, and it gets you valuable feedback from pros before you submit to an agent (or in this case an investor).
TLDR?