Fiction Riot and DECENT Leverage Blockchain to Deliver Instant and Fair Pay in the Entertainment Industry

DECENT, a global provider of blockchain technology, today announced it has partnered with Fiction Riot, a pioneer in the production and streaming of user-engaged video through its platform, Ficto, to become one of the first streaming services to pay royalties utilizing blockchain. The resulting “smart contracts” are designed to deliver genuine transparency of payments in US dollars for all parties involved in the production of streaming content featured on Ficto, on par with industry standard studio rates. Ficto will run on DECENT’s proprietary blockchain platform, DCore, which can facilitate over 2,000 transactions per second. 

Through the use of smart contracts, Fiction Riot is addressing broader entertainment industry challenges related to compensation. By recording transactions over blockchain’s secure and encrypted platform, Ficto pays royalties in near real-time, directly to artists based on how often their content is viewed. Because the formula is agreed upon upfront, everyone involved in production is paid in a fair, consistent and timely manner. 

In addition, Ficto is the first streaming service to build its blockchain revenue share to provide direct, verifiable ROI to outside production capital. Plus, compared to traditional theatrical backend, Ficto provides a faster, safer return eliminating hassle commonly associated with standard recoupment. 

“Streaming media services predominately pay a single upfront fee for the right to stream an existing or original film property, which essentially cuts the artists out of royalties on content that generates heavier viewership,” explains Mike Esola, CEO and Co-Founder of Fiction Riot. “Whether for economic or technological challenges, this quickly became the norm. Now that blockchain is much more pervasive and mature, we saw an opportunity to course-correct this practice with trusted, automated smart contracts that take the mystery out of artist compensation for streaming media – ensuring payment is on par with the amount of viewers they attract.” 

DCore is the first blockchain tailored for the entertainment industry that empowers artists to produce content as they desire, earn as much as they deserve and truly understand their audience. Through its openness and transparency around consumer viewing and corresponding payments, DCore securely delivers robust real-time data to help creators instantly see what’s resonating with their audience, allowing them to continue to produce better content over time. 

“Fiction Riot’s bold move to embrace blockchain is ushering in a new compensation model for streaming media, bringing a fresh vision to the entertainment industry,” said Matej Michalko, Founder and CEO of DECENT. “We’re excited to apply the security and efficiency of our DCore platform, removing traditional complications associated with payments, making them more transparent and trusted in Hollywood.” 

Ficto enables a highly engaged user experience for its serialized fast fiction by leveraging native mobile features such as vertical video, 360 viewing, AR, chat and live streaming. The platform’s proprietary technology allows Hollywood content creators to seamlessly combine traditional video assets with mobile-first applications through a “toolbox” approach. 

Ficto will be available to consumers in spring 2019 and currently has twenty series in production, representing a balance of original and licensed content. In the meantime, Fiction Riot is meeting with content creators to secure and develop its second round of series to follow shortly afterward. 

About DECENT

Founded in 2015, DECENT is a non-profit foundation that has developed an open-source blockchain platform, DCore. Cooperating closely with top investment funds and incubators, DECENT is dedicated to building the ecosystem upon its proprietary blockchain technology to help developers and businesses adapt to a decentralized future. 

About DCore

Launched in 2017, DCore is a stable, customizable and cost-efficient open-source blockchain platform you can easily build on. As the world’s first blockchain dedicated to digital content, media and entertainment, DCore provides user-friendly SDKs to empower dApp developers and businesses in the decentralized network. 

About Fiction Riot

Based in Los Angeles, Fiction Riot is a technology and content startup. Through its subscription platform Ficto, it employs award-winning engineers, A-List Hollywood artists and household-named talent, to deliver a new, user-engaged streaming video format designed specifically for mobile. For content creators, Ficto is an intuitive platform with built-in tools that enables them to focus on creating great stories that deliver a one-of-a-kind mobile viewing experience. Fiction Riot was founded and is led by entertainment industry veterans with a vision to deliver mobile video content that is premium, convenient, engaging and addictively fun.