25/03/2022 Bill Murray to Launch NFT Collection Based on His Real-Life Stories

The enigmatic actor is partnering with The Chive to reveal biographical "Bill Murray Stories" for a unique collection of NFTs.

Bill Murrayis finally ready to talk about all those “Bill Murray Stories.”

But in standard Bill Murray fashion, he’s not going to reveal his past and musings in a conventional way.

The enigmatic and belovedCaddyshackandGhostbustersactor is partnering with viral photo site and streaming company The Chive to enter the NFT space with a line of blockchain collectibles that will tell verified Murray tales.

Each token in the Official Bill Murray NFT 1000 will have a unique graphic of Murray and accompanying text of a brief anecdote about the actor that he has either personally revealed to the company or has verified from previously published material.

As Chive Media Group co-founderJohn Resigtells it: “I asked Bill’s thoughts about all the Bill Murray stories swirling about. Bill gave a surprisingly candid answer, ‘I like them just fine, I was even present for a few.’ Bill leaned in with that mischievous twinkle in his eye, ‘But there are more stories out there,betterstories.’
I asked Billy why he hadn’t decided to tell them, to fill in the missing pieces of the mythology? ‘The timing has never been right, nor has the storytelling vehicle. I don’t want to film a documentary or write an autobiography. Social media is for the birds. Still, I wish most people would understand how much I like fresh eggs, laid daily.'” (That last bit is a reference to one of the Murray stories in the collection).

Asample Bill Murray story posted Tuesdaywas about Murray’s phone: “It appears to be an eight-year-old Blackberry Classic. He’s nicknamed the relic, ‘Bill Urry’ Why? The ‘M’ key doesn’t work. If you’ve received a text from Bill in the last five years, the M’s are omitted. Considering Bill prefers texting to talking, that’s a lot of missing M’s.” (Note the image below isnotthe NFT.)

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Bill MurrayCourtesy of Sterling Ballnone

The project represents a potentially savvy entry into the crowded NFT marketplace as each token isn’t merely a celebrity image, but also has a narrative attached by one of Hollywood’s most secretive icons.

The Hollywood Reportertoured The Chive’s offices Wednesday and got a peek at some of the Murray NFTs in progress. In addition to documenting some of his encounters with fans and fellow celebrities, the tales ranged from professional topics (such as discussing a role he turned down), to philosophical Murray-isms, to his uncommon pastimes and quirks. Together, they form an impressionistic summation of a celebrity who’s always been difficult to precisely define and pin down. Some of the actor’s most publicized tales will remain unaddressed, however, to preserve some air of mystery.

Murray’s unique way of operating within the world of, well, everything, has grown to be the stuff of Hollywood legend. A 2018 documentary,The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man(in which Murray did not participate), attempted to capture some of the anecdotes that surround the actor. A few of the Murray NFTs will give the actor’s versions of tales in the film.

Many more details about the NFT and its accompanying stories — including the NFT hero image by artist David Grizzle — will be released in the coming weeks. Resig says proceedsfor the first token up for auction will go entirely to charity and that Official Bill Murray NFT 1000 will be one of the first projects to debut on Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace. Murray was represented by David Nochimson on the deal.

The Chive launched in 2008 as a photo blog with a frat house vibe and penchant for media pranks. Over the years, it’s become known for driving its fan community toward charitable endeavors and its popular direct-to-business streaming channel Chive TV. The company has long partnered withMurray, including sponsoring an annual charity golf tournament with the actor (The Murray Bros. Caddyshack Charity Golf Tournament).In 2019, The Chivelaunched a streaming platform, Atmosphere, which has 67 channels, including Chive TV.

Last year, The Chive launched a blockchain technology company calledProject Venkman(a play on the Murray’s iconicGhostbusterscharacter), which is seeding the NFT project and has raised $4.6 million in seed funding. Murray has also come on board as a partner in the company.

Arts

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/bill-murray-nft-1235117478/

Interesting NFTs
Alex in Wonderland
A figure, Alex, stands mostly naked in the midst of a physical and psychological maelstrom. He is clad only in nostalgic 80’s era socks, on a tenuous island between active waters and a variety of shark denizens. Sharks on the right side of the image are all beached, including a shark with a quartz crystal snout, an orange shark wrapped in a life buoy, and a shark further in the distance wearing an 80’s style shirt with the number “88”. On the left side is the largest shark, wearing bright glossy red lipstick and brandishing prominent teeth with braces. She is cordoned off from the figure by a roped float divider, and within her thought bubble is a warning symbol. Behind the figure, hovering in the air, are Grey aliens emerging from the distance, out of a series of elliptical UFO shaped interdimensional membranes. The Greys take on the visual form of spermazoa ostensibly impregnating the interdimensional thresholds. As is typical, these Greys inhabit a zone just behind the unconscious topology of Alex’s dissociative mind. Though Alex’s bottom half is representative, his top half mutates into a psychological cornucopia. In a manner akin to “Auto-Erotic Sphinx”, a predecessor work, the figure has self suctioned—an act of sensual infatuation, enjoyment, and exploration. Upward exists the figure’s primary conscious eye, adorned with a revolutionary beret emblazoned with a Bitcoin badge. The figure’s summit features the nose of a fighter jet facing off against video game Bullet Bills, one of whom is marked by a communist North Korean star. A cropped section of a UFO observes the contest. Alex’s mind branches both left and right. To the left is more singular embodied consciousness, manifesting two eyes and a Ganesh trunk grasping crayons. The right branch dissociates upward diagonally, emerging into an array of eyes, faces, teeth, tail, a unicorn horn, and much more—all of which participate in expressing his unconscious being; a democracy of psychic factions representing thought impressions and associations. All illumination and darkness– fernal, infernal, high consciousness and corporeal underbelly–reside in this realm. In the distance are relatively languid, light clouds, and against the firmament hovers a colossal distant eye peering over the scene and far beyond. This painting possesses underlying genetic traits with previous works such as “Auto-Erotic Sphinx with Toys”, “Dionysus”, and “Fuku-Shiva”. The work serves also as a nod to an earlier period of art inspiration during late teens and early twenties— born out of the nakedness, vulnerability, curiosity, and wonder inherent to coming of age and all subsequent psychedelic revelation.
#56464
By OthersideDeployer
Ocean Front (Beeple)
Cinema 4D, Octane render, Photoshop Everyday #4344
taro
conceptual art. drawing and digitally processed
Untitled (Self-Portrait)
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987) Untitled (Self-Portrait) token ID: 3200 wallet address: 0xfc1e8a007f83d197e7cd5e04408f0e3a33ab9747 smart contract address: 0xabEFBc9fD2F806065b4f3C237d4b59D9A97Bcac7 non-fungible token (tif) 4500 x 6000 pixels Executed circa 1985 and minted in 2021.