LOS ANGELES, 14 June 2022
Simon Fuller (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Spice Girls) has partnered with OP3N and the Culture Catalyst – a recently announced $100 million commitment to fostering arts and entertainment projects on the Avalanche blockchain – to develop and produce an innovative musical film with the world’s first global pop group Now United.
The Musical is a live-action musical film featuring members of Now United and original songs. It will be available to the NFT pass holders on the recently launched OP3N app. The mission of the project is to inspire schools everywhere to create their own versions of performances from the musical and compete for honors within the OP3N platform through community voting.
Simon Fuller comments: “This project allows me to redefine how an audience can engage with content. Not only can it be enjoyed simply as entertainment, but you can actually participate, initially through learning and then by creating your own version of the musical with your friends or school. It is a celebration of the art of musical theater and the passion for self expression and new technology that allows people to get involved in ways never before imagined.”
Using the native video and music player on the OP3N app, NFT pass holders will also be able to stream the The Musical and access a broad range of related content including rehearsals, choreography lessons and interviews with the cast. The Op3n app will also facilitate submissions and voting on a competition based on the Musical, as well as the purchase of NFTs.
OP3N, a launchpad for IP and communities in Web3, recently partnered with the Avalanche Foundation to launch and co-finance Culture Catalyst – a $100 million initiative to redefine the entertainment business model. Culture Catalyst will fund and support the development of arts, entertainment, and culture projects on the Avalanche public blockchain. .
“Web3 is powering a new paradigm in music and entertainment, but many artists have been reluctant to dive in for lack of an environmentally responsible solution that can consistently deliver a good user experience. In Avalanche, we’ve found the best possible answer and we couldn’t be more excited to bring these capabilities to bear to help Simon Fuller and Now United realize their vision for interactive entertainment,” said OP3N studios co-founders Jaeson Ma and Eric Tu.
From creator-inspired tokens to NFTs, decentralized tech is redefining the way arts and entertainment is created, financed and consumed. The OP3N – Avalanche initiative is designed to inspire a diverse range of blockchain-based creator communities’ projects and provide funding for emerging artists, entertainers, filmmakers and musicians who are looking to expand beyond traditional channels and expand paradigms for ownership.
“We believe that success in collaboration begins with choosing the right partners and we’re delighted to be supporting this ground-breaking project,” said John Nahas, VP of Business Development for Ava Labs.
“In OP3N and Simon Fuller, we have found visionaries who not only share our concern for the environment, but who also recognize the magic in direct connections between fans and creators,” added Devon Ferreira, Ava Labs’ Chief Marketing Officer.
“I’m super excited to be working with Simon and Now United to bring something truly innovative into the NFT space. We will be utilizing Avalanche to create new ways of fan engagement and build a sustainable fan base and community for years to come,” said Nelson Diaz, OP3N Chief Marketing Officer and Founder of Long Lost Friends.
Culture Catalyst recently announced projects with Grimes for an Intergalactic Children’s Metaverse Book that will be released later this year. Additionally, singer-songwriter Ava Max announced her partnership with Culture Catalyst for the launch of her next music video in collaboration with iconic director Joseph Kanh. Culture Catalyst comes after OP3N’s $10 million seed funding round that brought together heavyweights from the worlds of entertainment, tech and gaming.
About Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment
Simon Fuller is a renowned entertainment industry creator, producer and entrepreneur. He has imagined, developed and executed some of the biggest entertainment properties of all time, engaging audiences across the world and generating $billion revenues in the process. For more than three decades Fuller has positively impacted popular culture worldwide, through properties and businesses that have disrupted convention, defined the times and empowered iconic artists to achieve their creative and commercial ambitions. He was the inspiration behind the Spice Girls, the creator of the Pop Idol global TV franchise, the partner of David and Victoria Beckham and the guidance behind the careers of sporting legends Andy Murray and Lewis Hamilton, extraordinary singers Annie Lennox and Amy Winehouse and award winning projects with entertainment icons Jennifer Lopez and Michael Caine. Today, his company XIX Entertainment is an ever-evolving force of creativity and innovation in music, television, film, and fashion.
About OP3N
Founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of EST Media Holdings, OP3N imagines a world where Communities can come together to create, own, and bring their ideas to the world. OP3N’s mission is to be a Launchpad for Ideas and Communities to create meaningful experiences together. By consolidating the tools needed to mint, share and engage with NFTs and digital tokens into one vertical stack, OP3N leverages its cross-industry expertise from the entertainment, gaming and tech ecosystems, to lay the foundations for a new era of community-driven, inclusive entertainment while bringing everyone together on a journey into Web3. OP3N is co-led by media executive, artist, and serial entrepreneur Jaeson Ma, who has a successful track record launching companies including EST Studios, Stampede Ventures, East West Ventures, and 88rising, and who’s raised capital and advised on transactions totaling over $1 billion; and Eric Tu, an award-winning development executive who’s worked with major brands including Nike, Beats by Dre and Google, and as an Executive Producer with Bjork, Radiohead, Kendrick Lamar and more. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit: https://op3n.world/
About Avalanche
Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time-to-finality. Avalanche is blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly. Any smart
contract-enabled application can outperform its competition by deploying on Avalanche. Don’t believe it? Try an app on Avalanche today. https://www.avax.network/
About Ava Labs
Ava Labs makes it simple to launch decentralized applications on Avalanche, the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry. We are empowering people to easily and freely digitize all the world’s assets on one open, programmable blockchain platform. Ava Labs was founded by Cornell computer scientists who brought on talent from Wall Street to execute their vision. The company has received funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Initialized Capital, and Polychain Capital, with angel investments from Balaji Srinivasan and Naval Ravikant.
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Media Contacts
OP3N
Natalie Yallouz | op3n@mprm.com
Ava Labs / Avalanche
Patrick Sutton | patrick@avalabs.org
XIX Entertainment
Bernie Karkar | bernie@xixentertainment.com