MILC — Media Industry Licensing Content
The New Marketplace for Digital Content
Video content that stays confined to the borders of a country has become a thing of the past. From Netflix reaching 190 countries to South Korean movie Parasite winning the Academy Award for best picture, the global spread is only accelerating.
While streaming services have helped the spread of video content, there’s still a major bottleneck with licensing and distribution rights. Content providers (streaming services and traditional broadcasters) still have to rely on buyers to attend trade fairs, find content they think people will watch, and pay distributors to get it to screens.
All the traveling, legal fees, and distributor fees add up. Where do you think those fees go? How many hit shows are missed by buyers overwhelmed with pitches? The whole process is very antiquated.
Media Industry Licensing Content (MILC) project is aiming to cut through this gordian knot by tokenizing the media industry and developing a platform that uses blockchain/distributed ledger technology, advanced AI, and cutting-edge broadcasting to address four fundamental challenges in content distribution:
- Global availability of all video content
- Discovery process for buyers
- Complex licensing for the entire industry
- Early feedback from audiences
They’ll accomplish this by providing a platform that includes a marketplace for every content creator and provider, free standardized licensing agreements that cover 70–80% of all deals, and a social community hub that lets creators connect directly with their audiences.
Global availability of all video content
- According to the U.S. Library of Congress, an estimated 75% of all silent films are lost forever due to fires and poor storage techniques.
- ~ 20 TV pilot episodes are filmed for U.S. network broadcast studios each year, but only a few of them actually get picked up. Most sit in the studios’ archives, never to be seen again.
So much content that creators put time, effort, and heart into gets snatched up by big companies, only to be stored in a leaky broom closet. The chance of content making it to audiences is controlled by corporate execs who are often too blinded by dollar signs to understand how to market it properly.
Using the MILC platform to securely store your content means it’s ready to be accessed at any time. You don’t have to worry about losing your work to structure fires or dry rot. As long as a computer is powered up and can access the platform, the videos can be found.
Is your movie ahead of its time? No problem. It’ll be on the MILC platform ready to go when the time is right. Your show isn’t well received in Canada but German fans are loving it? Great. You can connect with German buyers, add subtitles, and get it out to a receptive audience.
Discovery process for buyers
- Dragon Ball was licensed by two separate companies for U.S. distribution in the 80–90s. It was canceled twice due to poor testing. The first company tried to change Goku’s name to “Zero.”
- The Warcraft movie made $47.4 million in the U.S., but $391.7 million worldwide
Different regions have different tastes, and the tastes of different countries vary even more. This means there is an audience for all types of video content. So how do you get your content to the eyeballs that want it? How do buyers keep from getting overwhelmed by the thousands of options available at any given time?
MILC platform’s marketplace allows for targeted selling to potential buyers and gives an easy overview of the available creative offerings. Buyers will be able to contact a creator directly if they are interested. They’ll also be able to pitch specific genres or programs they’re looking to broadcast, allowing the platform to save them time and effort by linking them with matching creators.
With everything stored and easy to access, it becomes possible to find an audience the content resonates with anywhere on the globe. The video data, subtitles, and broadcasting formats are handled through the platform’s content and media hub so the videos can be quickly and easily edited for delivery all over.
Complex licensing for the entire industry
- In 2019, Netflix had $14.7 Billion of licensed content on its balance sheets and $9.8 Billion of original content.
- As of June 2020, Reelgood estimated the top 6 streaming sites had 5488 licensed TV shows and 1134 original shows for U.S. markets.
Netflix has a big lead in international markets but the other services, including TV networks, will have to catch up if they want to stay relevant (and profitable). This arms race in offered content means all content providers will be licensing and funding shows and movies at an increasing rate.
Licensing rights and distribution contracts can be a nightmare. Common practice has been to create a bespoke contract for. every. single. deal. Look at the numbers listed above again. That’s a lot of contracts. Lawyer fees add up quickly as each deal is reviewed and revisited. This stage of the process accrues fees that can add another 50% to the final price for buyers and, by extension, viewers.
MILC platform has free standardized licensing that covers 70–80% of all cases. All contract details, including automated control of a contract expiration, can be entered into self-executing smart contracts and stored securely on the blockchain. This prevents abuse by providers and ensures all rights come back to you when the contract expires.
No lawyers. No middlemen. No unnecessary fees. No headaches.
Early feedback from audiences
- On Kickstarter, $2 million was raised for a Garden State movie sequel. Over $5 million was raised for a Veronica Mars movie seven years after the show was canceled.
- Firefly episodes were aired out of order and poorly advertised by Fox, then quickly canceled. DVD sales were so high after the fact that a movie got made and people started fan conventions.
Studio execs seem to get it wrong over and over again. They’re quick to cancel shows the moment ratings stall or before an audience can build. But in recent years, the advent of online services like Patreon and Kickstarter have allowed fans to put their money toward getting more of the content they love.
The social community hub will be a similar experience. Creators can get early feedback from the viewers and adjust as needed. Content providers can see what’s getting positive reviews and gauge interest. If something looks like it would do well in their area, the MILC platform allows buyers to contact the creator, license the show, market it to the community, then broadcast it to an already waiting audience.
Simple. Smooth. Cost effective. With a few clicks of a button, audiences, buyers, and creators all get what they want.
Movie and TV production technology has come a long way since The Horse in Motion (1878). You can watch superheroes battle in space or a dead actor still complete their part. Relying on traveling buyers and trade fairs to sell this content feels like using the Pony Express to deliver mail. It’s time to bring the business side of the industry up to speed with the production side. MILC platform accomplishes this — to the benefit of all involved….well, maybe not the lawyers.
Written by Jason Lee
Find Out More About MILC at:
Website: milc.global
Telegram: MILC Platform
Twitter: @MILCplatform
Medium: @MILC
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