Zima Red ep 143: Sam & Bryce - Omega Runner: Universe, brand & IP in the Age of AI
Primer: Picture a Sci-Fi world where countries compete in a race to determine who becomes president of the world. This world is Omega Runner. Find out what Sam, Bryce, and their team are bringing to the table in this episode of Zima Red.
Background
Bryce
Started his day job at Hollywood
Worked for film producer Bryan Unkeless, the founder of Clubhouse Pictures and also Co-Founder of Omega Runner
Started trading Bitcoin in 2013. Stuck through it through 2017
When NFTs ramped up in 2021, he knew he was in the right place
Spoke with Bryan about NFTs and how they could position themselves
Sam
Is a trained classical musician
During the pandemic, he went into Web3
Was recruited to build the music section of Async Art
Was subsequently recruited to Metaversal
Metaversal
It’s 2 things:
An investment vehicle
A venture studio
They have over 2000 NFTs in their collection
Their venture studio takes IP that people bring to them and creates Web3 products
Clubhouse Pictures and Omega Runner are examples of IPs they noticed early on
Omega Runner
What Is It About?
In 2020, they were talking about creating a property that they could own
Came up with an idea for a world in which racing is the basis of the political system
Conflicts on Omega are settled through competition and speed
Every 3 years, every country on Omega sends in a runner to pilot a vehicle in a 21-day race. The winner gets to nominate who becomes the president of the world
There’s a country called the Avalonian Union that has won every race for the last 300 years
However, someone has discovered a new tech to navigate wormholes with more precision
Did They Create Omega Runner Themselves?
They created it themselves
Was talking to a friend who was head of merchandising and he brought up the Cars franchise
For each release, they made billions in toy sales
People often think that the movie is the product, not just one facet of the IP
“Because in the movie business, so often people think of movies as the product, right? And it's like, what happens if the movie is not just the product? What if the product is the product? And the movie is just one facet of a massive piece of IP?”
- Bryce Anderson
Once they had their idea pinned down, they spoke to their writers and designers
Decided early on that they wanted to be in Web3 and create a comics series
Traditionally, stories are created for the audience
With Omega Runner, their story still has elements that are going to get defined by the community as they go along with it
Characters In Omega Runner
Other projects tend to have a 6 character cast, with NFTs as one of 1000 versions of a particular character
This makes it messy when it comes to IP rights sharing
In contrast, there are unique individuals that inhabit the Omega Runner world
Right now, they are telling the stories of their main 8 characters, which are part of the core collection
Metaversal’s Role In Omega Runner
Had to decide from 50-60 projects that they were considering
Came across the concepts and explanations of what the Omega runner universe is. Found the story compelling
As Bryce was Web3 native and understood the space well, they could move on to the next level instead of starting from scratch
Metaversal’s primary role is to make sure that they are supporting Clubhouse ideas with a solid framework and presence in the space
Their Audience
Is a mixed bag
Some are degens and are excited about getting on allow lists
Some are Sci-Fi nerds who are interested in the story
How Do IPs Like Harry Potter Monetize Their Brands?
For Harry Potter, their books are doing crazy numbers
They have the movies and their merchandise (wands, toys, lego sets, card games, costumes)
For every Star Wars movie, there is something cute (BB-8 and baby Yoda were invented to be sold as toys)
The Disney model is very different from most of Hollywood
Conversations about merchandise happens after properties are successful
The sad thing about this model is that you always miss your cultural moment with the marketing materials
It took Netflix 3 seasons to get merchandise for Stranger Things into the world because they do not have a merchandising department when the show hit
Netflix lost out on a lot of potential revenue and cultural dominance
View On NFTs
The speculative element will always be there
Most people are going to be fans
Holders share the IP, enabling them to build on it
The IP laws in the US are not set up to recognize things like collaboration or distributed rights
What bugs him about IP is that IP lives with the author
On the internet, creatives constantly interface with IPs they do not own
5-10 Year Vision
Short-term: TV series, continuing the comics series
Long-term: Experiencing the world through a virtual headset
AI And Content Generation
While they were building Omega Runner, they took their ideation to a studio called Sun Creature, an animation concept house
They returned with incredible concepts of what the world and characters looked like
Has tried the same thing with AI, but it provides mediocre results
Has tried using ChatGPT to write stories but it turned out badly
Coin Artist and Blockade Games are working on video game generation using AI
Staying Competitive In An AI-Dominated World
In the future, the winners are going to be the best wordsmiths
AI can create the technical elements, the game, the audio tracks, and the art, but it could never create community and communal-like collaboration
Bullish And Bearish On?
Sam
Bullish: Video Game NFTs (e.g. Bryan Brinkman’s Cloud Poppers)
Bearish: Music NFTs
Bryce
Bullish: People that are creating because they truly love the experience of interacting with NFTs
Bearish: NFT collections that are pumping for no reason
Best Advice He Has Received
Bryce
Two contradictory things can be true at the same time
“That's a really important skill to kind of posture within yourself is the ability to hold two conflicting ideas and consider them both without necessarily getting defensive of one or the other.”
- Bryce Anderson
What Motivates Him
Sam
When people around him are as motivated as he is toward a project
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