NEW HAMPSHIRE — Colin Rowntree of Wasteland Studios got back to me late at night, over the weekend. He emailed me saying that he wanted to talk to me about his Succubus re-release and was piqued by my question regarding non-fungible tokens.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a recent innovation in the ecosystem of a blockchain ledger meant to stimulate interest in a wholly unique digital collectible that wasn’t available anywhere else. When you hear the term ‘blockchain,’ most people think of the rise of digital currencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
I bought into the whole craze of cryptocurrencies, investing several thousand dollars into the push. Lo and behold; I lost more money than I invested (don’t ask how) and it created a sentiment in my mind that things in this segment, while exciting and new, could prove problematic in the future.
So, when the adult industry press started reporting about the craze of NFTs in recent months, I felt the need to dive into the phenomena to understand why this move towards blockchain is popular. Rowntree, being one of the earliest and most prominent entrepreneurs and filmmakers in the adult industry, saw the potential for capitalizing on innovative technology and distribution methods.
In an exclusive interview with YNOT.com, I was able to get real with Rowntree and ask him about his intentions, his plans, and why he chose NFTs.
YNOT: What drew you to NFTs?
Rowntree: NFTs initially came on my radar after a tip from a journalist who pointed me at an article he had written and a feature article in Rolling Stone magazine about adult content creators Allie Eve Knox and dominatrix/artist Cryptonatrix, who were both early adopters of NFT collectibles for adult content they were creating. The journalist put me in contact with Allie Knox and she generously offered me a look behind the curtain of how she had done this and offered to help in any way she could. Shortly thereafter, I was introduced to the Nonfungibleporn.com community who are in the early stages of adult NFTs, also known as NFP (“non-fungible porn”) and we joined forces.
Within a week, now knowing the basics, I decided upon releasing never-before-seen footage from a feature film I produced years ago starring adult stars of that time, Raven Riley and Liz Vicious. My video editor, knowing this was time-sensitive in order to be the first adult studio to release an NFT product, literally cut two short mashup videos, one featuring each porn star. These then went to Nonfungibleporn.com who did their magic and within the next 3 days, they went live on one of the most popular mainstream NFT shopping platforms. Literally 7 days from inception to release, Succubus — The NFT was made available in a total of 10 limited-edition mintings on Monday, March 22 with opening minimum bids set at 0.3 ETH ($545.04). And, much to my amazement, Nonfungibleporn.com had already done a presale on March 21st and overnight had sold approximately $1300 of the product, literally by word of mouth with no publicity being released yet.
YNOT: Why NFTs? I don’t necessarily see the vision. How do you convince skeptics?
Rowntree: Since 1994, Wasteland has always been fleet of foot in adopting new technology. In 1996, I introduced Ron Cadwell to the concept of online adult entertainment and Cave Creek Hosting and CCBill were born. We were later the first beta tester for AEBN white-label streaming libraries, the first adult entertainment studio to go live soon ROKU when it first came out, and many other “firsts”. One of my guiding principles over the years is the old adage, “perfection is the enemy of speed” and when it comes to the race to the top in new technology, we have done well with the paradigm and expect to “make a mint” (pun intended) in the early days of Porn NFTs.
YNOT: Do you see this as a passing fad, like other components of blockchain technologies?
Wasteland: Perhaps it will end up like the Great Dutch Tulip Mania of 1636. Tulipmania was one of the most famous market bubbles and crashes of all time. It occurred in Holland during the early 1600s when speculation drove the value of tulip bulbs to extremes. At the height of the market, the rarest tulip bulbs traded for as much as six times the average person’s annual salary. During that period, tulips cost upwards of $750,000 in today’s money (but with many bulbs trading in the $50,000 – $150,000 range). By 1636, the demand for the tulip trade was so large that regular markets for their sale were established on the Stock Exchange of Amsterdam. Today, the tulipmania serves as a parable for the pitfalls that excessive speculation can lead to.
But, regardless if it has a shelf life bubble of one year as tulip mania did, there is a tremendous amount of money to be made by content producers with very little production expense. My thought is that it won’t’ completely crash and die, but rather parts of it will remain in the online porn ecosystem as it offers ways to embed copyright, legal, and 2257 info for anti-piracy, and a way for content creators to keep one foot in the cryptocurrency marketplace for years to come with products that will evolve over time based on what the voices in Elon Musk’s head tell him to tweet to the world.
YNOT: Do you expect from the industry will move to release a feature via an NFT?
Rowntree: Releasing full-length feature films is not the appropriate way to release these for purchaser volume reasons (you can only sell one!). Features need to continue to be released to VoD, paysites, streaming, and DVD (yes, people are still buying them!). Where NFTs come into play is to monopolize on interest, and the fan base generated by feature films with NFT releases like “Making Of” short behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews with stars, outtakes, photos, bloopers, and other footage not in the actual feature films.
YNOT: Could this be a new industry standard?
Rowntree: As I said before, it will be a standard, but just one of many in the adult industry distribution ecosystem.
YNOT: Be real, where do you stand on the regulatory uncertainty? It just seems like there is a lot of unknown as it relates to the future of NFTs in the adult entertainment industry. Thoughts?
Rowntree: Actually, NFTs and Crypto seem to decrease the risk of government regulation. Platforms like Coinbase already have tax reporting in place. NFT’s can encode performer 2257 and model releases in a way that only the content creator can see but follows the tokens from trader to trader and can be unlocked for law enforcement if needed. As for the religious right’s War On Porn, they have enough low-hanging fruit on the Tube and Torrent porn trees to go after for years to come, and attacking NFT technology would be difficult for them to raise money for attacks and even get their constituency to understand what NFTs are.
YNOT: I know models have minted their own NFTs at this point. Some like Sophie Dee, others like Siri Dahl. Do you think studios are at risk of competing with independent models and performers doing similar things?
Rowntree: Not at all. Independent content creators are able to promote their products directly to consumers, much like they do now for Only Fans and other cam platforms. Studios going into the NFT market will use their traditional use of big media for promotion in industry trade magazines and such for their studio film productions. There is plenty of room in this emerging market for both and in many ways, one does not compete with the other.
YNOT: Do you see any new groundbreaking things in the future for Wasteland?
Rowntree: It’s now early spring in New England where I live, so I am thinking hard about tulip bulbs.
