Insight: Web3 Technologies Have Spurred Success In Adult Animation

Just last week, the executive producer for The Simpsons Matt Selman had to let everyone know that a recent meme flying around Tiktok claiming to have predicted P.Diddy’s current situation was in fact doctored up, blaming AI and whatever else on the image being produced in the first place. Likewise, the producers of South Park have received notice this week of a new cryptocurrency that just released today inspired by the show called the “Book of South Park” memecoin. We actually reached to the folks at Paramount to see if this was an officially-licensed meme coin or not due to the fact that the show’s producers have messed around with Web3 in the past, but I hadn’t heard back at the time of this writing.

The takeaway here is that the kids are starting to warm up to web3 technologies that are now becoming more available and it allows those that wish to make their own content a lower barrier of entry to do just that. In fact, a new AI software that just released this week, called Showrunner, comes from the guys who actually used this same platform to start making their own episodes of South Park. Now, you may think that could piss a lot of people off, but the company claims that they’ve been in contact with numerous networks whom have inquired about potentially making new episodes of various TV shows that may no longer be on the air but now would have the opportunity to make more using a much more cost-effective and simplified process.

Anime is jumping in as well. A new dataset just launched made available for generative AI platforms like ChatGBT called Sakuga42M that would allow people to produce their own anime with just a few prompts. In an era where the popularity is exploding so much that Sony is even launching an Anime Academy to nurture the future of anime creators complete with new machine language to help with the increase in expected production.

The data is also showing that younger audiences are enjoying animated series infused with web3 tech. For example FOX’s Krapopolis was the #2-rated comedy series across broadcast and cable in the 18-49 demo for the 2023-24 season averaging a 1.1 rating which is pretty remarkable. More so because Fox stated that it would be “the first-ever animated series curated entirely on the blockchain”, and the network would sell NFTs and other digital tie-ins to the series. According to Fox, NFT owners “would be able to vote on specific show content and dictate exclusive on-air elements. That means the series was profitable even before it made air and explains the series is already being picked up for two additional seasons.

Even the animation festivals are waking up to the possibilities of AI. Just announced earlier this week, Seattle’s Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival has announced a fall 2024 return complete with a call for entries for a new DeepFake contest with a winning prize of $5000. The contest, called Big Fake Deep Foot Competition,  are specifically looking for comedic takes on the iconic Bigfoot character using Deep Fake software that uses AI to manipulate photos and videos in order to achieve the desired effect.

Suffice to say, web3 tech isn’t going anywhere, no matter how hard anyone complains about it. We’re in the Moneyball era of animation production, it’s time to adapt or die.