ICON Content Creation - NYC2022

[_smkotaro]

BACKGROUND

The media in the ICON Ecosystem consists of outlets like Eye on ICON and The Iconist. At this time, there is no high quality production content in our ecosystem. Why do we need this? Capturing real life experiences and content can be more captivating and engaging. Powered by Studio Mirai, Mirai Media hopes to bring high production content to the ICON Ecosystem with visual storytelling in the Web3 space. The Mirai Media team consists of a diverse set of skills. Our team has experience in video production, audio mixing, video editing and the most important part, storytelling. A good written script or set of questions can go a long way in content like this. Our team is made up of all Iconists, so naturally we want to bring value and impact into our own ecosystem.Today, we are seeking funding from the community to fund our next project with Mirai Media.

ICON community members will be attending Mainnet NYC on September 21st. We want to take advantage of this opportunity to film content with these key individuals. We also have connected with Reliant Node to create some content relating to the rebranding of the HANA Wallet and its features.

We have two variations of this proposal. Option 1 will be 25,000 bnUSD and Option 2 will be 20,000 bnUSD. We want to know what the community’s opinion is, seeing that costs in New York are much more expensive than in Seoul, Korea. We also underestimated how quickly costs and expenses add up when creating this much content. One will be without some gear, which we will minimize on the amount of content we can produce; the other, is with everything we have planned.

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Proposal #1

We are seeking 25,000 bnUSD from the community to lead NYC 2022 Content Creation. Below are a series of videos consisting of introductions, protocols, applications, commercials and the main video, “What is ICON?” BOLDED would consist of scripted content.

1. What is ICON? Ft. Scott Smiley, TJ Hunt, Elise Shin (3-4 Minutes)
2. Who is Scott Smiley? (2-3 minutes)
3. Balanced Protocol w/Scott Smiley (2-4 minutes)
4. Balanced Commercial (20-60 seconds)
5. BTP Innovation w/Scott Smiley
6. Lydia Labs w/Scott Smiley (2-4 minutes)
7. Who is Elise Shin? (2-3 minutes)
8. Who is TJ Hunt? (2-3 minutes)
9. Contribution Proposal System (CPS) w/TJ Hunt (2-4 minutes)
10. Who is Max Lawrence? (2-3 minutes)
11. RN Hana Desktop Commercial (20-60 seconds)
12. RN Hana Mobile Commercial (20-60 seconds)
13. Headshots & Portrait Photoshoot

Funding Breakdown

NYC 2022 Content Creation: 25,000 bnUSD

Studio(s) Rental: 4,000 bnUSD
On-site Gear Rental: 3,500 bnUSD
Transportation & Lodging: 2,500 bnUSD

• Hotel
• Airfare
• Transportation

Content Creation, Video Production, Photo Production Costs: 15,000 bnUSD

• Pre-Production
• Storyboarding
• Script Writing
• Production Setup
• Editing for 12 Videos & Photography
• Audio Mixing for 12 Videos

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Proposal #2

We are seeking 20,000 bnUSD from the community to lead NYC 2022 Content Creation. Below are a series of videos consisting of introductions, commercials and the main video, “What is ICON?” BOLDED would consist of scripted content.

1. What is ICON? Ft. Scott Smiley, TJ Hunt, Elise Shin (3-4 Minutes)
2. Who is Scott Smiley? (2-3 minutes)
3. BTP Innovation w/Scott Smiley
4. Who is Elise Shin? (2-3 minutes)
5. Who is TJ Hunt? (2-3 minutes)
6. Who is Max Lawrence? (2-3 minutes)
7. RN Hana Desktop Commercial (20-60 seconds)
8. Headshots & Portrait Photoshoot

Funding Breakdown

NYC 2022 Content Creation: 20,000 bnUSD

Studio(s) Rental: 4,000 bnUSD
On-site Gear Rental: 2,500 bnUSD
Transportation & Lodging: 2,500 bnUSD

• Hotel
• Airfare
• Transportation

Content Creation, Video Production, Photo Production Costs: 11,000 bnUSD

• Pre-Production
• Storyboarding
• Script Writing
• Production Setup
• Editing for 12 Videos & Photography
• Audio Mixing for 12 Videos

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Some of our work from recent projects are shown below. You can also check out our work and behind the scenes on our Twitter.

[bwhli]

We fully support the 25,000 bnUSD proposal. In the long run, we believe the value gained with the additional content will be greater than the 5,000 bnUSD additional cost. From our perspective, Mirai Media is the first team in ICON that has been able to create broadcast-quality material on the video front. Furthermore, Mirai Media has also attracted attention from other blockchain projects such as NEAR. We believe there is considerable value in having an ICON-based media entity branching out to work with other BTP-connected blockchains. With these thoughts in mind, we’d like to give Mirai Media as much support as possible via the CPS.

[dmcho]

Here are my thoughts;

The proposal is asking for $20,000-$25,000 of CPS money to fund hotel, airfare, transportation to record 12 (20-60 second) interviews in a crypto conference in New York City.

1. I don’t believe CPS funds should pay for hotels, airplane tickets, transportation expenses etc. This isn’t an all expense paid vacation. $10,000 for 2 days

2. You are planning to create 12 short videos that seem to be mostly interviews (20 seconds to 3 minutes). You don’t need 15,000 bnUSD for that let’s be honest. Here’s why;

The video quality of your screenshots looks decent enough, it’s obvious you are using good cameras to shoot but you haven’t shown the results of these videos. Have they been published somewhere? TV? Netflix? YouTube? If so what are the views and reach?

We just haven’t had the chance to see if these kinds of videos are worth it yet.

3. Another reason I don’t believe it makes sense to spend this kind of money;

It appears smkotaro has 506 followers and mirai media has 166 followers. It’s one thing to film some videos it’s a whole different thing to get them seen by people.

Do we really need to spend $25,000 for 12 videos which will be seen by a few hundred people on a small YouTube channel? What I’m trying to say it’s not enough to just film but you also need to publish the videos to a large audience. Otherwise what’s the point? This is a critical step that’s missing. How do you get people to see the videos.

In general my opinion is that asking for $20,000 or $25,000 to cover personal expenses, travel expenses, and film one crypto conference especially when ICX price is near all time lows for this just doesn’t make sense.

Are we really going to be approving multiple $25,000 CPS proposals for every crypto conference that comes up in the future? This isn’t sustainable use of funds, the costs are just way too high.

I don’t believe ICON will get $25,000 worth of value from the current proposal.

[_smkotaro]

I’ll try and cover all the concerns and comments here:

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I don’t believe CPS funds should pay for hotels, airplane tickets, transportation expenses etc. This isn’t an all expense paid vacation. $10,000 for 2 days

• These expenses are 100% should be covered IMO. If you take these out of the actual “pay” for the job, I’m pretty much not even making enough to survive. What kind of motivation would I have to create content and put effort into a system where your work doesn’t get compensated? I hope you don’t think it’s an all expense paid vacation. I don’t see where in this proposal screams to you as vacation.

You are planning to create 12 short videos that seem to be mostly interviews (20 seconds to 3 minutes). You don’t need 15,000 bnUSD for that let’s be honest.

• 15,000 bnUSD breaks down into about 1,250 per video. Let’s breakdown this cost.

1. Each video goes through about 4-5 hours of editing, going back and forth between Mirai Media and the ICON Comms Team.
2. Setting up for shoots in terms of actual studio setup, storyboarding, meeting with these individuals and projects to plan out what we need to convey takes about 2-3 hours.
3. Despite it being short form videos, production wise takes about 1-2 hours.

Roughly speaking, we are at about 7-10 hours per video of work. Then we have the talk about people willing to create content of this form in this space, honestly I can’t think of anyone. 1,250 is low in my opinion, but I want to create value for my work and let that speak for itself.

Have they been published somewhere? TV? Netflix? YouTube? If so what are the views and reach?

Yes, they all will be posted on the ICON YouTube Channel. If you read my previous CPS, you would know that the timeline for the editing is by the end of September. Of course, content will be rolling out throughout the month. Actual content of the footage in the form of content is being rolled out frequently on the Mirai Media Twitter as teasers.

It appears smkotaro has 506 followers and mirai media has 166 followers. It’s one thing to film some videos it’s a whole different thing to get them seen by people.

It’s clear to me that you haven’t dived deeper into our project. Our follower count has nothing to do with the contents of the media. Everything we are creating will be marketed on the ICON Foundation Youtube Channel & Twitter. While there is content being created in sub-branches in the ICON Ecosystem, our specific and direct goal to creating content is to add more content to ICON’s direct branding. Yes, the YouTube is small, and that’s because there hasn’t been anyone willing to step up in the past to really create content for ICON in this manner, but the Twitter, as you probably know has over 200,000 followers (if follower count is really what you go by).

In general my opinion is that asking for $20,000 or $25,000 to cover personal expenses, travel expenses, and film one crypto conference especially when ICX price is near all time lows for this just doesn’t make sense.

Fun fact, we’re actually not shooting Main-net, but taking advantage of the individuals that will come together in one place as a result of a crypto conference. Korea Blockchain Week was a special occasion since we had a separate side event for that. I don’t think separating personal expenses and travel expenses is doing anything. Let’s be frank, it’s all just expenses. If price action plays a role into why we SHOULDN’T create content, I’m not sure how we can convince you to create content when price action is positive.

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In conclusion, I’m not “making bank” on this project. I’m not going on a “paid vacation.” It’s a lot of work both in the backend and frontend to create a project like this. I’ll be happy to make some money that I can properly use to … well, survive. It’s not $25,000 for 12 videos. It’s $25,000 for someone to make it happen. The storyboarding, the pre-production, countless hours of meetings with people… We are in direct communication with the ICON Comms team to insure our content is created with the best intent.

[dmcho]

It’s not about you “making bank” as you say, it’s about value, competence and reach (which there is none).

The bottom line is you’re asking for twenty five thousand United States dollars for 2 days or work… I mean you could produce a full blown indie film with that kind of budget… Actors, production, and editing included…

Why not hire a local professional film crew based out of NYC for 1/10th of the cost? You’re not exactly offering any groundbreaking reach that couldn’t be replicated by any generic film crew. Let’s keep it real.

There are people in crypto communities that produce what you’re proposing for free on their own dime.

Unfortunately, what you’re asking for is not worth anywhere near $20k in my humble opinion.

Don’t want to offend you or anything but we can hire guys from local community colleges to produce what you’re doing for lunch money… Just being honest.

Anyway, it’s up to the preps to vote and decide, I just had to chime in my 2 cents.

[_smkotaro]

2 days of work? We mention that it’s a 3 month project.

[dmcho]

This is a good example of your lack of competence and understanding of this industry. The conference is 2 days. Any professional film crew would produce this kind of content on sight in 2 days… Speaking from experience… Qualified teams working for 1/10th of what you’re asking on more elaborate productions featured on Vice, Netflix and so on…

I mean, if you need 3 months to complete this project then I don’t know what to say…

As I said I just post my insights it’s not up to me to decide if your work is worth $25,000. Good luck.

[_smkotaro]

Lol my guy, did you even read the proposal? We’re not even shooting the event

[dmcho]

Yes I did and it’s laughable… You would be laughed out the door of any serious production company. That’s all I’ll say. Good luck to ICON!

[CalZ]

Do you have suggestions of film crews, or some community college guys, who are willing to produce what Kotaro offers, at the same level of quality, for $2000? I’d be interested to hear your background and experience in filming and producing, to support such claims.

[dmcho]

Yes, I can if you can explain and you show me why this Kotaro guy is worth 10 times the price ($25,000).

[CalvinisHobbes]

The point is to get high-quality production for marketing purposes. The quality evidenced so far by Kotaro at Korea Blockchain weeks is exactly what Icon needs. We have all seen some work from people who only have ‘lunch money’ (as you condescendingly put it) to produce their work and that’s not how we should represent Icon to the crypto community. If you ‘dmcho’ did have respect for Icon you would actually respect the effort going into this proposal, and its value. Your counter-proposal is insulting to every working professional attached to the ICX chain.

[Pheto]

He’s just 10x better than you or any student you can throw at him. There i said it, now put that money where that mouth is and show me your credentials… I mean, i respect your opinion but i wanna know who’s making the point

[CalZ]

Oh, that’s easy. After all, it’s not based on thin air. He just got back from KBW where he shot material for a number of video’s, for which teasers are available with the full length versions coming out shortly. When Kotaro, who is a passionate ICON supporter with plenty of professional experience in film making, breaks down what the costs are associated with producing content of such quality, I see no reason to disbelieve him. I mean, the guy has been running Studio Mirai non-stop for a year already without actually getting paid for it, so it’s not as if he is particularly financially cunning.

If you ask me, we have in Kotaro someone who is willing to undertake this effort (which is important! There is no such video content about ICON because clearly no one has been willing to lead a project and hire some community college guys), he has lots of relevant experience with recent videos we can judge for ourselves, and from all of us he has the best idea about the costs involved because he just got back from shooting videos at an ICON event!

In the end it boils down to whether we want such content for ICON, and if so, this is what it costs. If you think it’s not worth it, well, that’s what is what this proposal is about. But no one is served by throwing around wild claims about cheaper alternatives which no one will actually pursue.

[_smkotaro]

Correction: Your counter-proposal is insulting to every working-class professional working in film production.*

[dmcho]

Oh wow just look at the coordinated troll raid. How convenient for Mr kotaro…

Here are the facts;

Your boy kotaro has no reach (no followers). You will waste $25k for a bunch of videos nobody will see…
Production skills are average tbh… college grads can do just as good of a job for a fraction of the cost.
Can get a local NYC production crew for 1/10th of the price. FACT. (Actually could get it done even cheaper than that with just as good quality… but that’s beside the point.|)

Why overpay for something just because someone better hasn’t stepped up? This guy is clearly milking the CPS fund and you’d see it yourself if you cared to take an honest look. ICON can’t afford to give away free money for all expense paid vacations to a bunch of amateur video makers. And if they can, we are in serious trouble ICX holders…

Let’s focus on what matters and not charity cases.

Maybe this sounds harsh but I hope voting preps will see beyond the trolls. If you want to donate $20k to Mr kotaros vacation to NYC be my guest.

[_smkotaro]

Just Kotaro* is fine, no need to make me sound so formal.

It’s clear we aren’t going to come to a conclusion. I do have no reach, but like I said (if you read) this content isn’t for my personal use. Production skills, yea they are average, but it’s a one man crew. You keep saying FACT FACT FACT, but you aren’t backing it up or breaking down any costs, so I can tell you aren’t here to bring valuable criticism.

If I was milking the CPS fund, I’d ask for 50,000 united states dollars and an all expense paid trip to Disneyland, but with the costs break down, I can tell you may not be from the United States, where we use united states dollars. And if you are, well everyone knows how expensive NYC is, ESPECIALLY during Main-net week. You’re right, ICON can’t afford to pay amateur video makers like myself which is why I’m going to the community.

I have no need to scam the community or anything. I’ve been building and connecting with individuals for a year now, there is no reason for me to give that up by milking CPS. It’s clear WE haven’t connected, or maybe we have and you got hit with a factory reset.

Actually, we should focus on charity cases, I think people need help especially now.

You can’t start things with “don’t want to offend” or “maybe this sounds harsh” who’s the troll here?

[CalZ]

It’s easy to pull the trolling card, I have actually tried to engage with you here, but from this reply it’s clear you are not particularly interested in having a meaningful discussion. Saying that he is only after some vacation money is so out of touch, it’s staggering.

So instead of giving this any more attention, I want to contribute my own two cents: I know Kotaro as a passionate, creative and (overly) hardworking individual, who in a short time has managed to build a network that includes many many major contributors to the ICON network. In combination with his video making skills, I think he is perfectly suited to pursue what is proposed here. I want to stress that ICON needs people as driven and passionate as Kotaro, and it’s clear that he is filling a niche that so far simply has not been given the attention that is required this day and age. I have been involved in ICON since 2017, and had no clue about what people actually make up ICON until Kotaro started giving them names and faces. And based on all my personal experiences with Kotaro, in terms of effort and time spent I am sure we would be getting a fantastically good deal here.

[dog]

Don’t be a bully be a buddy .

[skanderberg]

I think this type of content is very much needed for our ecosystem and I support it 100%- I wish you all the best with the proposal and can’t wait to update Myiconcommunity.com with all these videos.

I would personally like to see more video content on BTP on the proposal and a BTP ad/commercial would be really nice to see especially since it would probably activate other BTP partners and their community to engage with it for more outreach.

Good Luck