Wētā Workshop teams up with Neal Stephenson’s Lamina1 Web3 platform

Wētā Workshop, known for its world-building for The Lord of the Rings movies, has teamed up with Neal Stephenson‘s Lamina1 Web3 company.

They are working on an interactive storytelling project on the Lamina1, which is being built as a creator-first platform. Stephenson is a prolific science fiction writer known for coining the term “metaverse” in Snow Crash, which debuted 30 years ago and created a vision for virtual world experiences. Decades later, he became inspired to help build the metaverse and he is getting ready to launch Snow Crash 2.

The multi-year collaboration will explore a new blueprint for intellectual property development, providing fans with the opportunity to participate in unraveling and crafting a dynamic digital universe.

Lamina1 has been at work for years on its Web3 platform and blockchain protocol to incubate, distribute and monetize the next generation of digital content for creators. (Stephenson will be a speaker at our GamesBeat Next 2024 event coming on October 28-29 in San Francisco).

Wētā Workshop is a special effects and design company that filmmaker Peter Jackson spun up for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It also worked on projects such as Blade Runner 2049 and Avatar. The as-yet-untitled experience will bring to life a first-of-its-kind framework for IP development and worldbuilding alongside Stephenson. They are introducing a new blueprint for IP expansion through immersive experiences that incorporate fan action and input.

Stephenson and the Wētā team will begin engaging a global community of creators and fans on the Lamina1 platform this fall, inviting them to unravel the lore behind a mysterious set of “Artefacts” that will build upon the themes and lore from Stephenson’s critically-acclaimed catalog of work. Next, the superfan will take on the new role of creator, utilizing their discoveries to contribute directly to the expansion of the universe and own a piece of the story.

With Neal Stephenson as both a cofounder and one of the first creators to launch an IP universe on the platform, the upcoming Wētā project will serve as the flagship project and first showcase of a major multimedia property launching on Lamina1’s blockchain infrastructure and tooling. In the short time since the launch of the project in 2022 and its Mainnet debut in May 2024, Laminal has onboarded 65,000 active users into a rapidly growing global community of makers and open metaverse enthusiasts.

“This is more than just a new story—it’s a new way to tell stories. It’s a promising new way of looking at what we can offer to both creators and their communities,” said Stephenson, in a statement. “By collaborating with Wētā Workshop, we’re forging a new path in digital storytelling. Lamina1’s commitment to a creator-driven economy and open metaverse provides a foundation that ensures long-term value and creative quality.”

Stephenson, Lamina1 cofounder Rebecca Barkin, and Wētā Workshop have a track record of breaking new ground in immersive and digital storytelling and worked together previously during their tenure at Magic Leap. With this new collaboration, the two storytelling titans are leveraging blockchain technology to help enable their breakthrough approach to fan engagement, ultimately pioneering a new system for IP development and expansion through digital item drops, questing and co-creation, genAI tooling, experience/game development, and beyond.

“To collaborate with people who share our absolute passion for creativity and storytelling, and to make things that can inspire and connect, has long been at the heart of Wētā Workshop,” said Richard Taylor, CEO of Wētā Workshop, in a statement. “What an opportunity to be able to do this alongside Neal Stephenson, a visionary with whom Wētā Workshop has built a long-standing relationship and friendship. We can’t wait to see what’s to come.”

“This is what we built Lamina1 for; this collaboration represents a bold step forward for Lamina1 and the broader entertainment industry,” said Rebecca Barkin, CEO of Lamina1, in a statement. “The project will make use of Lamina1’s unique platform features, designed to support the development, monetization, and ownership of creative content in a decentralized ecosystem. This, in turn, allows for an unprecedented level of fan interaction and creative output.”

I asked Barkin if they could narrow down what the storytelling experiences mean. In an email to GamesBeat, Barkin said, “In the case of the original IP Lamina1 is developing with Wētā, we are refining the concept, but you can think of it like narrative scaffolding–a story that begins to unfold with a drop of 2D “relics” and metadata that must be decoded and remixed by our global community to unlock new chapters. It will begin simply on the web (and mobile), and we expect to develop it alongside the community over the course of years and possibly in the direction of immersive (3D, VR, AR, potentially LBX).”

She added, “Broadly, we’re starting with creators that have story ideas or projects that may be showcased and teased out via 2D, digital art, BTS video clips, as they evolve and mature. This is agile, non-linear, but still directed development–some of our creators ultimately intend to release scripted series, films, games, education applications.”

I asked her to clarify if the Wētā content was related to Snow Crash 2, which Stephenson has started talking about.

She said, “No, the original IP we’re developing with Wētā is not related to Snow Crash or specific to one of Neal’s pre-existing IPs, of which several are in active development. However, we will certainly tap into the themes that have made Neal’s work so influential and enduring.”

Asked what kind of creators are the primary target, Barkin replied, “The Lamina1 platform is looking for those who consider themselves professional, independent creators and innovators. We’re specifically interested in independent makers of film, games, or music – segments of the industry that have largely been underserved and suffered from unsustainable economics and traditional business models that don’t prioritize creators/creatives. If you have the flexibility to experiment with your IP, are tired of waiting on traditional funding, care about rights retention, and want to engage with a community early in idea development, you’re able to do so with Lamina1.”

While Wētā is not directly developing the platform and protocol with Lamina1, Wētā will provide invaluable guidance as first- class creators building and delivering high- quality interactive content on platform with the tools, Barkin said.

She said there are some realities to delivering performant content and great experience leveraging decentralized networks that Lamina1 reckoning with, and it has to balance a web3 philosophy of autonomy and agency with Web2 expectations and creative considerations–best way to do that is work with top notch creatives.

How does the blockchain help here, versus some kind of web2 solution?

Blockchain enables transparency via immutable records of ownership and transfer, and allows for direct transactions between creators and consumers. The technology stack to eliminate costly and largely ineffective middlemen is maturing, which will ultimately result in increased revenue sharing and better compensation for artists. Customizable rights and micropayments will drive content distribution and consumption models, including enabling permissioned derivative works from fans. Ultimately, the platform, which is built on the L1 protocol, will offer a full-stack solution to give creators greater control over their work and direct connection to their fans. DeFi and memecoin stigmas aside, blockchain is fundamental to IP and data ownership, and it will contemporize the way content is funded, developed, distributed, and monetized.

I asked if there was a Web2 solution for the content in addition to Web3.

Barkin said, “There are plenty of Web2 methods of distributing content, and we use them everyday–some pureplay entertainment, some designed to keep us in a HW/SW buying cycle, some social models that depend on algorithms and ad dollars. The question is are we satisfied with them–are creators making a good wage, and getting their projects funded? Do they own their content, have the power to negotiate distribution and licensing, and do they know their fans? These are some of the fundamental problems we are solving with Lamina1 – ultimately using blockchain to create a new home for the next generation of the creative industry.”

The platform is in beta as of this summer, currently available to early creators and community of top testers to pressure test the software. The Mainnet protocol is live and validators and security are up and running.

“We did our first airdrop to the global community of people that helped us build over the last 2 years and over 50,000 people qualified,” she said. “72% of the 32.5M tokens we set aside for this early participation were claimed within a couple of weeks and that will help us secure critical utilities on the platform. Our big priorities at the moment are securing great content partners, fortifying the platform, and simplifying onboarding.”

I asked what share creators get.

Barkin said, “Creators own their work, always. And they have the ability on the platform to set credits, rights, and enforce royalties–this was of the utmost importance to Neal and I. We don’t own their work. We take a small percentage of each transaction via a platform fee to cover our costs, and there are some fees associated with fiat onramps that the creator/consumer will absorb, but those don’t go into our pockets. The modern blockchain-based business model combines the upside of broad use due to utility with traditional saas models, otherwise you end up in speculative territory.”

Barkin said in the coming weeks, Lamina1 will announce additional content partners–from Oscar winners building their own studios, multimedia artists and directors pushing the boundaries of agile, creative development, as well as some more traditional Web2 partners that are interested in embracing a deeper level of fandom and engaging younger audiences to keep their content relevant and evolving.