EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Group has launched an NFT-focused Emerging Technologies department, with the Hollywood management and production company tapping longtime manager Matt Shichtman to run it, while elevating him to partner.
The division already has a first project, with production underway on the adult animated series Alien to Me. It will be fully Web3 with only those that purchase NFTs getting access to the series, which hails from Shichtman-repped comedian and digital artist Connor Kerrigan and Melbourne-based animation studio Pixel’s Andrew Goldsmith and Monique Mulcahy.
“While studios have had considerable success over the past decade consolidating market power, Web3 has moved swiftly in the opposite direction, decentralizing networks, building grassroots communities, increasing transaction speeds, decreasing fees, and pushing towards carbon neutrality, a goal many blockchains have now achieved,” Shichtman said. “With over $25 billion in NFT sales in 2021, we couldn’t be more excited to leverage the power this new technology holds for creators like Connor, Andrew, and Monique to have a much closer relationship with their audience and see real financial upside in the success of their work.
He addied: “We can help creators make these unconventional and innovative stories that we love, but may never have seen the light of day because they don’t fit neatly into a studio development mandate.”
Alien to Me centers on an average alien named Krill on an journey across the upside down and completely twisted modern universe. Check out the prologue episode below.
“I think that it will just be a much more fun way to create a show,” Kerrigan said. “Being able to have direct contact with people who care about the characters and the universe of Alien to Me during the entire production process, sounds much better than sitting in front of a computer furiously writing and animating on my own. With any luck, it’ll make for a pretty insane show.”
Shichtman joined The Gotham Group as an assistant in 2010 and in the company’s live action and animation departments reps Kerrigan as well as David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle 2, Shazam), Pat Casey & Josh Miller (Sonic; Sonic 2), Chris Winterbauer (Wyrm), Olan Rogers (Final Space), Mike Rubiner (The Loud House), Latoya Raveneau (Rise Up; Sing Out), Tony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls), Rosa Tran (Anomalisa), Mark Satterthwaite & Pedro Eboli (Cupcake & Dino), Simon Smith (Penguins of Madagascar; Bee Movie) and Stephen Markley (Ohio; Only Murders in the Building) among others. He began following blockchain trends in 2017.
He now joins Gotham Group partners Peter McHugh, Julie Kane-Ritsch, Lindsay Williams, Jeremy Bell, Eric Robinson, Lee Stollman and Rich Green.
“We’re thrilled to have Matt leading The Gotham’s Group’s head-first dive into blockchain-based media,” said company founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. “We’re exploring new pathways and opportunities for our clients to build original film and television projects outside the confines of the traditional studio and network environment.”
Here’s a look at Alien to Me: