Canadian entertainment brand allows NFT holders to own their characters (VIDEO)
Imagine if you had an opportunity to own the intellectual property rights to Bart Simpson or Pikachu.
Vancouver-based project DeadHeads is a long way from reaching the success of The Simpsons or Pokemon; however, if it ever does, its community of NFT holders could win big thanks to the verifiable ownership of intellectual property that accompanies each character’s non-fungible token.
“DeadHeads is an entertainment brand that allows people to own their characters,” explains co-founder Jeremy Jensen.
The DeadHeads’ journey started in early 2021. Jeremy and his fellow DeadHeads co-founder (who goes by the pseudonym teMpo) began selling artificial intelligence artwork around the same time NFTs were beginning to gain popularity. The AI art sales were successful, but the duo began to see the opportunity to do something bigger.
“When we started in NFTs . . . we realized it was unsustainable to hold a community around a stagnant piece of art.”
Beyond the DeadHeads NFT character art, Jeremy and teMpo realized they’d need to build a narrative if they were going to have long-term success in the NFT space. They began that process by watching countless hours of YouTube videos, which were submitted as part of an animation contest on the platform. After combing through the videos and discovering their favourite animators, they worked alongside the DeadHeads community to create the storylines for the early episodes.
To date, the animated DeadHeads series has released five episodes, but the entertainment brand’s ecosystem goes much deeper than that.
For example, DeadHeads holders can choose to stake their NFT to earn a token called $SHOW, which can be used to purchase other DeadHeads assets. Beyond earning passive $SHOW, a casting director can pick from staked DeadHeads to decide which characters will star in upcoming episodes.
“You’re able to accrue value just for giving us the opportunity to use your DeadHead . . . and your NFT being in the episode is the most valuable thing that can happen,” says Jeremy.
By owning the intellectual property behind DeadHeads NFTs, owners also have the ability to market their individual characters and, in some cases, create their own spin-off stories related to the DeadHeads universe.
As the animated series’ storyline has evolved, so has the innovation of the project. When a common enemy called “Skull Troopers” was introduced in episode three, DeadHeads NFT holders had the opportunity to mint a Skull Trooper NFT for free.
The game theory will extend into next season as the community will be able to choose whether or not to hang onto their DeadHeads NFT or burn and evolve the token into a new, second-season NFT, which is likely to be called “HaloHeads.”
“We believe that if you make your project fantastic and full of utility, long term you’re going to win out because you’re building something that matters instead of building a house of cards.”