01/09/2021 UTA Signs NFT Art Projects CryptoPunks, Meebits and Autoglyphs (Exclusive)

The agency will represent the crypto-art projects from Larva Labs for film, TV, video games, and publishing projects, becoming some of the first crypto-native IP to seek mainstream content deals.

Many Cryptopunks
Many Cryptopunks Courtesy of UTA

The CryptoPunks are going Hollywood.

The red-hot NFT crypto-art project from Larva Labs has signed with United Talent Agency for representation across film, TV, video games, publishing, and licensing. UTA will also represent Meebits and Autoglyphs, two other crypto-art projects created by Larva Labs.

While nonfungible tokens have become an area of focus in Hollywood (see Fox’s nascent efforts or Lionsgate’s deal to bring its IP to the blockchain), CryptoPunks looks to be one of the first pieces of crypto-native IP to make the jump to more traditional forms of media.

“I would say that it is one of the first opportunities for an IP that fully originated in crypto-world to enter a broader entertainment space, and they earned it,” Lesley Silverman, head of UTA Digital Assets, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “They really have hit the zeitgeist in a tremendous way.”

If anything, Larva Labs views the effort as a way to help maintain or grow the value of the collections as a whole.

“We are excited to work with UTA for the benefit of the entire community connected to our projects,” said Larva Labs co-founder Matt Hall, “Not only for the exciting opportunities to bring them wider exposure, but to help protect their growth and value for the long term.”

CryptoPunks were among the earliest examples of NFTs as art when launched on the Ethereum blockchain in 2017. Each “punk” portrait was algorithmically generated with certain characteristics (like hats, or facial hair), with some having more common features and others with more rare features.

While they were originally given away for free, in recent months sales of the characters (there are only 10,000) have picked up significantly, with eight examples selling for $2 million or more in just the last 6 weeks. The total collection is now valued at more than $3 billion.

Larva Labs launched Autoglyphs in 2019, and Meebits earlier this year, with all three projects using code to create the pieces of art on the blockchain.

Arts

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/uta-cryptopunks-nft-film-tv-vieo-games-1235005392/