Rick Dugdale von Zero Contact bei der Regie eines NFT -Films während der Pandemie

They [the actors] have a lot more respect for producers now, which is great. We used Zoom as a device to stand on set. It was not a Zoom movie, right? There’s real equipment. So if the Wi-Fi signal went down, we can’t see or hear the performance, but they probably recorded it in the camera. So we had to say, “Hey, can we get some playback on camera? And by the way, you need to do the playback yourself and tell us if you like the shot.” We had a great AD [assistant director], and we treated the set like a real set because, from a psychology standpoint, you needed comfort. I think, personally, I needed everyone to have the confidence that this was worthwhile.

So we had an AD. We had a production designer on set. We had an editor on set, which is not totally common for every scene you shoot. But the AD, Ardy Carlson, would run it and say, “OK, guys, you ready? Pictures up. OK, so let’s roll sound. Oh, wait, let’s close the curtain. Got a silhouette that’s not going to work.” Got the DP [director of photography], Ed Lukas, calling shots for framing, which means the actors change the frame themselves and all kinds of stuff. But then it’s like let’s roll sound. The actor would turn and push the button on the camera. [He would say] “You good, Alex? All right, let’s do this.” Then, we would read lines opposite him and he’d perform opposite myself or the AD. The more you treated it like a real set, then [you get] the real outcome, the real performance.

A unique aspect of the film __ is the NFT side of this. Zero Contact is a feature-length NFT through Vuele. Can you explain what Vuele is, and what it means when someone purchases it through Vuele?

Vuele is the world’s first-ever NFT film distribution company doing film distribution using NFTs, which is a lot different than a traditional distribution strategy. This is more of a fan engagement, collectible, resalable tool using NFTs. With Vuele, we’d also be doing collectibles tied to the films that it releases. But this is a unique way for us to engage the fan base that is not the same consumer, right? To be able to partner with Lionsgate just sends the message to Hollywood that this is something new. This is a revenue stream that did not exist in Hollywood.

So it’s two totally different audiences right now. People who have the NFT will have all kinds of components that are added and airdropped to it. It’s like getting the T-shirt from the Metallica concert. There’s something to go home with, a utility. Das ist anders. I think the traditional distribution strategies that are happening now are not filled with utility. When you buy the Blu-ray box set, you still get to own it and put it on your shelf. It’s just a different consumer base. The future is going to obviously, we believe, include an NFT component to it, just like streaming became a popular thing 10 years ago. It’s no different than that.

Now for someone who may not even own NFT or even understand them all, what will the audience receive get if they purchase Zero Contact through Vuele?

I mean it’s exclusive access. It came out previously, and there are different versions of the film that were accessible. Speaking for Vuele, every film will have different components like this: Exclusive early access and long lists of utilities. In the first 11 versions of the film, for example, if you bought that on Vuele, inside your NFT, you got to shoot yourself into the film. Once we go with a studio like Lionsgate, you couldn’t make 2 million copies of the film from the people that bought the 2 million [copies], so it would be impossible. But in this particular case, in Zero Contact, you get to play a character in the film. Your version of the film is you opposite Anthony Hopkins. That’s unheard of in Hollywood. That is one of the many utility components.

With the idea of putting someone in a film, everyone can be an actor now.

Even if it’s a bad performance, it’s still a cool NFT to have [laughes]. I think that’s it. The sky’s the limit with inclusions and utility components that you can have as an NFT. Again, different audience, but a different way to release a movie.

Zero Contact is getting two sequels, and you just shot part of the first sequel in Antarctica. How did that come about? Why shoot in Antarctica?

I’ve long had a passion to do that. We had been working on a show at one point about Antarctica because we knew a lot about it. But I also realized that once you go there, everything we’ve been making for years, set in Antarctica that was shot in Alaska and Montana, is wrong. There are no trees there. There are no helicopters flying around Antarctica. In the origin story of Zero Contact, although driven by a tech titan, hard enterprises, and time travel, what you will start to realize is how did he develop the time travel technology. This is like quantum physics and the Earth’s electrical grid lines. This is where we are going with this universe.

Es beginnt mit den elektrischen Netzpunkten, die die Nord-und Südpolen umfassen würden. Könnten wir das in Montana erschießen? Sicher. Wenn Sie als Produzent die Arbeit einsetzen, stellen Sie jedoch fest, dass es nicht viel teurer ist, an diese Orte zu gehen, als es im Backlot in LA oder in einem Studio in Kanada zu betrügen. So sahen wir es mir an. Bringen Sie das Publikum zu diesen Orten, die sie noch nie für den „Wow-Faktor“ waren. Darüber hinaus war die emotionale Wirkung des Talents dort unglaublich. Wir hätten es Greenscreen geschossen, das, was wir in der Antarktis gemacht haben, und Sie hätten nicht die gleiche Leistung erhalten.

Wie werden Sie eine Antarktis für den dritten Film aufbauen? Ist Raum eine Möglichkeit? Ein Vulkan?

Ich möchte es nicht verschenken, aber wir werden noch einmal darüber sprechen. Wir machen einige ziemlich besondere Dinge und innovieren weiter. Darum geht es darum. Lassen Sie uns das Leben interessant machen. Und in diesen Filmen ist die Handlung Teil Indiana Jones, Teil Inception/ cloud atlas. Wenn Sie sich in einem Zeitreisegenre befinden, gibt es endlose Möglichkeiten, wohin diese Handlung gelangen kann. Sagen wir einfach, wenn wir eine Sequenz auf dem Mars erfassen könnten, wäre das ziemlich cool. Also werden wir das noch einmal besuchen.

Nullkontakt is in den Kinos, auf digital und auf Bedarf ab dem 27. Mai 2022.