The Life Saving Film Only Blockchain Could Deliver | Donald Griswold

One documentary. A 4.9-star rating. A kidney community of millions waiting to see it. And nine major studios; Amazon, Apple, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, and Stars that all said no.

So Donald stopped asking for permission.

In this episode, Lauren Weymouth sits down with filmmaker Donald Griswold to unpack how he's using Stuff.io, a blockchain platform backed by Mark Cuban and Snoop Dogg, to distribute Abundant directly to the kidney community, bypass the $50M Hollywood P&A machine, and prove that true digital ownership changes everything for independent artists. One in nine Americans is affected by kidney disease. This film could reach every one of them and no traditional streamer could make that happen. Because on a streaming platform, you have a license. On blockchain, you own it. And as Donald says "you can't give it, if you don't own it."

If you're a filmmaker, a creator, or a founder who's been told your project is too niche, this episode is your proof of concept. This isn't just a film launch. It's a manifesto.

Transcript

AAB S8EP2 Transcript

Lauren (00:04)

I'm Lauren Weymouth and this is All About Blockchain. We usually cut through the crypto noise to find the meaningful ways this technology relates to our lives. But today, we're doing something more. We're revealing how blockchain is being used to dismantle a century-old gatekeeping system.

My guest today, documentary filmmaker Donald Griswold. He did everything right. He made a masterpiece, screened it across the country for months to rave reviews, and proved an audience existed for his film. But because he didn't have a bankable star, the major studios slammed the door, insinuating that this film was unbankable. So Donald... Okay.

So Donald stopped asking for permission. After running an AMC Theaters, he's now taking his film Abundant to the blockchain to secure its future distribution.

We're exploring a fundamental shift from digital licensing to true digital ownership. How one filmmaker is proving that at the audience, not the studio, should hold the power. This isn't just a movie launch. It's a manifesto for every unbankable artist. Donald, it's so great to have you. Welcome to the show.

Donald Griswold (01:24)

Thanks,

Lauren. This is going to be great. I've been looking forward to this.

Lauren (01:28)

Okay, so you have a documentary named Abundant, and it played in 80 theaters last year to incredible reviews. In any other era of filmmaking, that's a clear commercial sign. What was the exact moment you realized the traditional studios were making, what was the exact moment when you realized that traditional students were making decisions based on something other than audience demand?

Donald Griswold (01:56)

Well, I went into the whole distribution of the film knowing that this was probably going to be the outcome. And the studio system is just as polarized. I mean, we all see it in the theaters with the big tent poles. You you go to the movies in November and ⁓ in December and it's all Wicked or Spider-Man or, you know, the movies that the studios are trying to make their year on, those are called

tent pole films and small, great films like one that I wanted to see in the theater is called Rental Family. I just had to stream it a couple weeks ago because it was in my local theaters here in Dallas for less than a week because Wicked needed all the screens. So it is difficult to get a small film, a theatrical release and promote it at the level where people would know about it in order for it to be profitable. So

When you talk about independent documentaries, which is what Abundant is, I I knew we had a gigantic Mount Everest type mountain to climb with this. Luckily, I you know, I've owned a marketing company for 30 years before becoming a filmmaker. And I think I'm a little bit more prepared than most indie filmmakers were. So when I saw the blockchain option present itself, I knew this was the answer for me.

Lauren (03:22)

Yeah, and I'm so glad you arrived at it. mean, that's the whole point of the show is to showcase different use cases and how we're using this technology to make dreams come true in all kinds of sectors. But back to like, when you realized that this was the criteria, having a celebrity name, being bankable, how did that make you feel to be ignored in favor of this legacy star system formula?

Donald Griswold (03:46)

Well, I think that there's a lot of confusion about what the star system really is. And all I've done is recreate the star system, but just in a different format. And it's not recognized by studios. My stars are the real life people in the film. They're living kidney donors because that's the...

the frame that we look through abundance and generosity and scarcity through. you know, there's millions of people with kidney disease and hundreds of thousands of people who are on dialysis and a hundred thousand people who are on the kidney waiting list at any one time. the people in my film are a direct reflection of the experience that those people have had. So it's a little bit different.

⁓ you know, for a studio, ⁓ they have an affinity audience for Brad Pitt or for, you know, other major movie stars that are bankable. Well, they're bankable because people like to see them. And my audience likes to see people who are like them. So it's to me, it's just an incredibly, ⁓ short sighted miss either that, or, you know, just a lack of research or understanding.

You know, my agent and I did everything we could to explain that tapping into this audience was like having a ⁓ bankable star, but nobody bought it.

Lauren (05:20)

All right, well, I'm glad that we're highlighting this for filmmakers listening who have additionally been gaslit by the system. Now, you found a new way, right? Instead of seeking permission, you're using blockchain as a distribution, it's building a bridge or a new door. You've mentioned that nine major studios passed on this. Who were the gatekeepers that told you the story? I'm getting a little juicy now. I kind of want to know, like, can you say it?

Donald Griswold (05:44)

Hahaha

I only have one name, I'm not going to say it, I will tell you Amazon originals, Apple, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney, movie Paramount Plus, Peacock Showtime stars. All of y'all passed on Abundant. And, you know, it's just in a way as that was happening, it became really, really obvious to me the more because we had started working with Stuff.io, who is our blockchain streamer.

at around the time that we started getting some of these rejections this summer. And it just really, it just added fuel to the fire. to be truthful, I was waiting for the last one, which was Mubi. I was waiting for Mubi to pass so we could fully step onto this path. ⁓ Because frankly, knew if I had to, and I should clarify here, we asked those streamers to make us an original, which meant that they would market the film.

So if I had to market the film, why would I, because I'm sure some of them would have taken it just to list it. I mean, the film has a 4.9 star rating. That's equal to 96%. Yeah, I mean, the content is there. The audience is there. 99 % of the audience says that they think it'll start kidney donation conversations. Got all this incredible feedback. People love the film. I'm sure that I could get a really, really small deal.

Lauren (06:55)

Yeah, content.

Donald Griswold (07:11)

to have the film buried somewhere in any of these libraries, but that's not going to do any good. And it's also not good for the filmmaker. It's not profitable. So if I had to market this myself, I would rather have a platform that allowed me to do something great with it and show the film. And, you know, what stuff.io offers is it's just incredible. We're going to make such a great example out of what to do with this film.

And I think that it could be an eye opener, obviously, for filmmakers. But I the blockchain world is going to look at this and go,

Lauren (07:47)

And we're gonna get into more how it's working with Stuff.io, but I just wanna like really dig into by the end of this year, because we're all rooting for the little guy, right? Although with a name like Abundant, you're not so little. But by the end of the year, if Abundant is a success, what is the one metric besides revenue that will prove that blockchain has officially saved the indie film industry?

Donald Griswold (08:08)

Well, think that the idea, and this is one of the things that I think is a kind of a flaw in the blockchain world is that most of the encounters that I've had in the blockchain world have a really hard time explaining the whole ownership thing. It's explained in a really technical way and the benefits are kind of couched in technological terms and decentralization terms.

One of the key features of how we're marketing abundant is to not just buy it for yourself, but to buy it and give it to someone else. So we've created a distribution method that allows somebody to buy a film and give it to a kidney patient so that they can watch it. And it may change the trajectory of how their ⁓ storytelling goes for their, you know, maybe finding a kidney for themselves. So we're going to demonstrate the value of the portability of this.

And the way that we're describing it just in very, very basic terms is you can't give it if you don't own it. And I think that is going to be something that ⁓ people all up and down the spectrum here ⁓ realize maybe there's different ways of communicating the value of the ownership aspect of this. And that's where the light bulbs are going to go off for a lot of people. That will be success for us.

Lauren (09:29)

Well, totally, and you're doing it in a feel-good way, where you're also showing how creating probably B2B relationships with clinics and hospitals and patient providers ⁓ can also generate, right?

Donald Griswold (09:43)

yeah, when

we're done, we're gonna have a network of hundreds of ⁓ touch points across the country where kidney patients can get free donated copies of Abundant. And that is, it's just going to be massive. I'm told by our audience, we need to get this into the hands of the people who need it the most. Well, they're the ones who can't afford it. They're the ones who are...

are on limited capacity for all kinds of stuff because they're ill. And this entire area of the kidney community, which is massive and it affects so many, one in nine Americans are affected by this. So you can imagine how many activists and touch points there are on this. And we've just mobilized it in a way where the ones who want to give to the ones who need it most, it's facilitated by the process. And ⁓

And stuff.io has really been, they've been great about creating a format that sits on top of their normal way of distributing that is, is I think going to be a big IO.

Lauren (10:49)

Well, I love to share even more. mean, not just because I sit on an impact team, so these things are really important to me, but in a time that a traditional system failed you, you were resilient, you knew that you had a dedicated audience within this medical and organ donor community. I just wonder, why was the Hollywood unable to see that audience? How did that lead you to blockchain?

Donald Griswold (11:16)

Well, I think that the thing that led me there instantly was the first impression that I got from Stuff.io. I was a judge at the Oak Cliff Film Festival the summer that we were really trying to get the initial distribution going with streamers. And Stuff.io was the sponsor of that event. So I went to their event. This is a small local film festival here in Dallas.

⁓ but there was somebody from a major Hollywood studio that was in their session. And the reason that he was there was they were going to drop a, ⁓ Hollywood release on stuff.io later that summer. And they started to describe why that decision was made, how it worked. And, you know, I have a background in database marketing, so I instantly understood how all of that works. ⁓

As I, before I left the room, I really had a more fully formed idea. So I didn't invent this. ⁓ Hollywood went there first and kind of demonstrated it for me. ⁓ But it was at about that time that it just became really, really clear to me that it, because we were getting rejections, it was not being understood our ability to reach our affinity audience, which is so.

massive. And it's just really, really easy to buy something that is packaged and reliable than to look at something that has enormous potential and say, okay, this makes sense, even with a small investment here to give this a try, we should run it out there. And we had a plan proposed where everything that we were doing, that we're doing in all the touch points with stuff.io, we were going to

point that at whatever streamer took us on as an original. So we would have delivered this entire affinity audience to any one of these streamers who passed. So I got to be honest from a financial point of view, I'm glad they passed because now I don't have the big overhead of the streamer and I have direct control over all of the marketing for this. And, and I've got a platform and a technology that allows me to do it better than they're doing it. I mean, it's.

Lauren (13:37)

Yeah, I mean, that sounds

like a total win. And we should really dig into stuff.io because it's not just you out there DIY you, putting a link on your website. You've got this partner. And for people that don't know stuff.io, they're backed by Mark Cuban and Snoop Dogg. There's a whole community behind this new distribution pathway. Maybe you can talk a little bit more on the details of ⁓ how this is different than, you know,

just doing a standard video on demand link, what they're doing for you that that couldn't do.

Donald Griswold (14:11)

Yeah, it's mostly the giving function that I think is the unique element of this. And obviously if you own it, you can give it. There's a number of different ways that you can exchange it. The transparency and the decentralization of the blockchain enables that. And that is the limit of my understanding on that. The thing that really works the most for me about stuff.io is ⁓

Everything about them that is consumer facing is very user friendly and easy to use. ⁓ Most of the people, I'm going to say, bet 99 % or more of the people who buy Abundant are going to use what's called Simple Checkout. that you don't even brush it. I mean, you're in the blockchain, but you have no knowledge of it. You don't need to know about it. You go, use your credit card. Everything streams.

It's just, you know, meanwhile, you know, the film is broken up in shards all over, you know, um, you know, web three and it's being assembled on the fly when you call it and all that great blockchain stuff. at the end of the day, my mom who's 93 can go on there, buy it, watch it, stream it to her smart TV if she wants to. And, you know, there's, there's really no technical, um, you know, blockades there.

Lauren (15:31)

Differentiation,

I'm so glad you said that because, and I often say that on the show, this is a technology that's running on the backend, right? You don't need to know how it's used, it's just really making systems more efficient and transferable and easier and faster. Yeah, so that's great. And there's a filmmaker. ⁓ go ahead.

Donald Griswold (15:50)

So

where I equate this is, okay, so this is where streaming really hurt Hollywood. And there's a great article a couple of years ago from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, they did an interview about ⁓ the fact that streaming has basically killed the DVD business. And the DVD business for Hollywood was their long tail sales. And that just has completely dried up and nobody talks about it anymore because

If you're going to watch it at home, you're going to stream it. So this, have recreated the long tail sales aspect of this just because of the portable nature of the blockchain units. I mean, at the end of the day, I can watch it. I can give it to you. You can give it to someone else. You can pass it around. You can sell it. You can, you can lose it. You can do all the stuff that you would do with a real world physical item. And.

the, you know, just the way that this is set up, can, we can continue to sell it forever this way. There's no windows of opportunity. So.

Lauren (16:55)

And the fast,

easy checkout that your 94-year-old mom can use. You've actually answered my next question, which is really like for the filmmaker that's listening to this right now, holding a rejection letter from a major streamer. Why your launch of this film on Stuff.io is definitive proof for them that this is a proof of concept that you've been waiting for. And you've kind of really laid it all out for us pretty clearly.

Donald Griswold (16:59)

Right?

Yeah. And I think the important thing when you talk to filmmakers is, you know, there's, there's a couple of reasons to make a film. Sometimes you just have to make it. You just have to make the art. And there's, there are lots of them out there that will never see an audience more than the people who financed it or the filmmaker themselves totally get that. But if you want to have a career where you support yourself as an artist, you've got to be able to connect your art with an audience.

And that is a daunting task for most artists. But I think that it becomes much, much easier when you use a format like this. Because the simplicity of it ⁓ gives you international distribution. It limits your cost to whatever it costs to get you onto the platform. And then it's going to go as far as you're going to pedal it.

So it really, there is a lot of value for the filmmaker who wants to make a career that they can support themselves this way. Because if you're gonna do that, you need to have the business aspect of it. Let's just remove all the middlemen. And that's what they're going to do.

Lauren (18:30)

Yeah,

value and power, right? I mean, and I just want to take a second right now to actually acknowledge what you're saying and really celebrate what's happening here. This is a massive claim, right? You are the first major feature film. And when I say major, we're measuring that by vast audience and overwhelming positive reviews. So first major feature film to onboard general audiences to blockchain in 2026.

Have there been any technical or psychological hurdles you've encountered during this during the launch and you know that could have broken the project or maybe almost broke the project?

Donald Griswold (19:08)

That's a really great question. And as an independent filmmaker, I had to adopt the position from the very, very day one that I'm just not going to take no for an answer. And actually, when we started this production, we had a group of entrepreneurs as advisors. And the reason that I asked everybody to be an entrepreneur is I didn't want one person in the room who took no for an answer. So if a problem came up, you find a way around it you find a way to work it, you don't just say, OK, well,

pack our tent and go home. So this really is no different. Once I saw this and knew we were on a course, I knew that all we had to do is complete the pieces of this and we would have a revolutionary way of hitting all of our goals for distribution. The pushback that I got was initially anytime that I would say blockchain. And you probably know this from newbies like me that when that happens,

You know, get instantly people shut down. No, I don't know anything about that. I you're really going to do that all at negativity. I just don't listen to that. And, and I simply started describing what we were doing as abundant is going to be streaming on blockchain technology. it made it a adjective and not a noun. And then suddenly there were no problems.

Lauren (20:47)

That makes sense, yeah, that's funny, you're right. Okay, so now moving more into like almost a technical masterclass for those really wanting to understand the mechanics of this new Hollywood on chain. We're used to the digital licensing era, right? We buy movies on iTunes or other platforms, but we don't own them. So how does Abundant use this decentralized encrypted assets, these DEAs to ensure that the copy that I buy of the film is truly mine?

Donald Griswold (21:15)

Well, it's yours. I mean, just like any other NFT or DEA, I mean, if you buy it and it's on the blockchain, only you can access it. And the way that this has worked traditionally for streaming is that on any subscription streamer, you're buying a license, you're not actually buying the film, there's nothing to download. And when the licenses expire or if you decide not to renew your subscription or

you know, if you lose your password, then all of those things kind of negate the purchase that you made. And that's why there's all these lawsuits against the subscription streamers over what the definition of of sold you or, you know, I bought it. What that really means with this, you buy it, you own it. And and I think that the ultimate expression of that is that you can resell this if you want to, or you can give it to someone else. So it's this really

I think when we look at what the place of blockchain will be in film distribution is going to be a replacement for the DVD market, but it looks like streaming. Like, you know, for example, you know, this is there's seven different life's to license a film. And the one we're using here is a sales license. OK, well, that means that the streaming license is still unused. So so there are different ways that

This can technically be positioned, but it just makes it so much easier for us to take it to the audience to say, we're streaming on a blockchain technology. You can buy it there. When you buy it, you own it. When you own it, you give it.

Lauren (22:57)

Okay, well and also along with the powers of this new distribution, how do you kind of bypass the traditional, know, big Hollywood print and advertising spend? Like how do you sustain a marketing budget for an indie film using this resource?

Donald Griswold (23:13)

So that's a question for ⁓ my old career as a marketing consultant. And I can tell you that there's only one replacement for a big media blitz, and that is a sustainable networking or sales campaign. So all we've done is grow and activate the number of people who love the ⁓ film, love the message.

love what it can do, see how it can further their individual missions in the kidney space, in the organ donation space, whatever that is. And we've activated them as networking agents and affiliates for us. So when I say that we're going to have ⁓ hundreds of touch points across the country where you'll be able to download Abundant, well, those were put in place through networking.

by people who care about this. So the model that we have for this, and as I do this for my next film, because we're gonna distribute my next two films on ⁓ stuff.io also, but we're gonna start building our affinity audience before we start production. And the couple of years that it takes to make the film, we're also gonna spend that time building the audience for it and creating anticipation. So it's the same.

process of promoting a film is just using different marketing tools. We use a more sales and networking oriented approach rather than media. I haven't spent one dime on advertising for Abundance so far.

Lauren (24:54)

That's huge if it's just based on networking and paying it forward and gifting and the like. That's kind of a whole new outlook. ⁓ Have we touched on, my next question is about the death of minimum guarantee. Did we touch on that yet about filmmakers? Okay, so all right, all right. And we've already talked about the resale because there's gifting and.

Donald Griswold (25:10)

We're not involved with any of that. I don't even know what that is.

Lauren (25:29)

Should we touch on that? Like, if I have a copy, I no longer want it, I can resell it, and then you still get, and then the filmmaker still gets a cut of that resale? Yeah, we should see that, ⁓

Donald Griswold (25:39)

Yes,

it's a smaller percentage,

Lauren (25:41)

It still exists, so it's good to call out. So, blockchain allows for the resale of digital content. if I sell my media token copy of this film in two years from now, how does the smart contract ensure that you or your crew get a cut of that resale? Like something that's currently impossible for DVD or digital market. How is that fixed by Stuff.io?

Donald Griswold (26:07)

Yeah, that's a great point because that is a place that traditionally the artist gets shortchanged. know, the artist gets shortchanged in a lot of ways. Once something gets out there, there's all kinds of ways to ⁓ pirate or give away or extend the audience where you're taking the artist's work and basically people are getting free views when that happens. And that's one of the things that I like about the principles ⁓

that connect the artistry to the technology here is that if somebody does decide to go to one of the reseller markets and resell abundant, then there is a small percentage that comes back to the artist. And it should because a new person will be getting to see the work that I created. And that is a, this is the only way that I know that the artist is able to continue to get the value for their work.

Lauren (27:07)

Okay, very cool. That was something that I really wanted to make sure that our listeners understood. Let's shift to 2026 Outlook and the final word in the future. If this movie, if abundance hits its numbers, do you think the major studios become partners in the blockchain space or do they become the new blockbuster video, like relics of a centralized past?

Donald Griswold (27:29)

Well, I think streaming is in trouble no matter how you cut it. I don't say that just because they rejected my movie. I think that it's important to look at the history of this medium. And there are very predictable cycles that Hollywood has gone through. And this is ⁓ just yet another case in which they're trying to reorganize how to cash in on a certain audience.

Donald Griswold (27:59)

And when streaming came around and was popularized during COVID, there were huge investments on just trying to get as many people onboarded as possible. Well, then the financial deadlines hit, I guess, for the investors. And the bean counters took over. Now, everything has to be profitable. So decision-making changes. And these are the things that are really

causing ⁓ the cycles to happen. Nobody is really investing in what are great long-term solutions that are not going to go away. That's one of the things I like about this is that we really are memorializing abundant on this medium forever. It will always be there. that means that we can continually sell it. It has that long tail. So I think Hollywood has no choice.

but to look at this, and I think eventually they will, I think that we have to cycle out of streaming. And I think that somebody has to really ⁓ be the first big one in the pool. But what they're gonna be looking for are comps. I am starting to get the feeling as I see our plan coming together that Abundant could be one of those comps. Because if a production like mine can be successful with no stars,

and with no marketing budget and have the kind of distribution that we do that is enabled by this technology that has to be a signpost. ⁓ So I do think, I think this is an eventual replacement for DVD. Do I think it will replace streaming? I don't think so. think streaming will always have that subscription streamer ⁓ convenience to it.

and branding. mean, some people can't live without their HBO. I'm one of them. But there's very little brand ⁓ association with streamers right now. So I think there's a lot of weak points on here for streaming that could cause Hollywood to want to regenerate the long tail alternate way of getting the film out there digitally. And I just don't see any other path beside blockchain.

So I hope someone's listening.

Lauren (30:21)

I mean, and the least it's a,

and the least it's an exciting new business pathway, business opportunity that ⁓ needs serious attention. And I've kind of been thinking about, you know, historically film festivals as a way that filmmakers peddle their films, get awareness. What do you think happens there? Like if filmmakers follow your lead, what happens to the Sundance or other major film festivals in five to 10 years? Do they become obsolete?

Donald Griswold (30:27)

yeah. ⁓ yeah.

Lauren (30:49)

Do they just become like NFT minting events?

Donald Griswold (30:52)

I think that that's probably a likely outcome because there's the thing about film festivals is that people aren't buying out of film festivals anymore. And film festivals are reinventing themselves as a result. Originally, the whole idea for film festival started as a celebration of the art. And then they became platforms for sales as it became more corporatized and

sales agents were there and people from studios. And I've been to Sundance, I know that feel and it's everywhere. But now people aren't buying out of them anymore. So it's really a platform for networking, promotion, and I think it's moving back to a celebration of the art. So as a result of that, there's a lot of filmmakers like me who, you know, if you're going to get...

accolades, if you're going to get recognition, if you're going to try to get your foot in the door in the industry. Yes, all of those things are great for festivals. But if you're trying to make a living as an artist, there are no pathways out of festivals these days. So I think this is one of the things that's really, really clear to me is that there's no market whatsoever for short films, whether they're.

⁓ narrative shorts, especially documentary shorts. But on blockchain, there's no limitation on the length of time that something could be. So I think that there is a huge potential for the right kind of documentary shorts, specifically ones that have affinity audiences like me, where they could never get a release. And therefore those filmmakers would never make any money or make any

be able to make a living doing this. go back to their job shooting commercials during the day and do this at night and weekends because they love it. Okay. This is the kind of thing that you, if you took those shorts to blockchain and did what we're doing to try to find your audience and connect them, it's just really, really easy to find your audience and to sell an appropriately length film at an appropriate price. There's opportunity here that there just is not.

And I think festivals, if they started promoting that, ⁓ would give a lot of small filmmakers, especially ones who do shorts, a lot of hope.

Lauren (33:20)

Well, that takes a lot of connecting the dots, right? Like we're not saying that shorts or documentary shorts are obsolete. They just need to find the right medium to connect with their audience and be able to proliferate distribution. you're proving that there's now an avenue for them. ⁓

Donald Griswold (33:35)

Yeah, and I'll say,

know, this is one week, we're recording this one week after the Oscars. Okay, do you know who won best documentary short? Did you see it? Do you have any idea? Okay, well, you know what? It was, that's because it's been buried in the system. Okay, but I guarantee you that something that is good enough to win an Oscar as a documentary short can easily find an audience and why have the middle.

I mean, that's a film right now that should be looking right now that should be looking for blockchain distribution. They just won the Oscar.

Lauren (34:14)

Well, that's very hopeful and I love that we're creating possibilities here. I want to try something totally new. ⁓ I want to get your gut reactions to the biggest debates in the industry with a rapid fire segment. So I'm going to ask 10, 11, 12 questions and you've got 10 seconds or less for each one. I don't want you to overthink it. I really just want to get your gut reaction. Are you ready? Okay, good. Here we go. And this is going to be a sprint.

Donald Griswold (34:36)

Yes.

Lauren (34:43)

In five years, will the word blockchain even appear on a movie poster or will it be invisible infrastructure? Will a major studio, Disney, Warner, launch their own chain by 2027? Yes or no?

Donald Griswold (34:49)

It'll appear.

No to 2027, but yes in the future.

Lauren (35:00)

What is the one thing a blockchain streaming platform does that Netflix never will?

Donald Griswold (35:06)

validates the artist.

Lauren (35:09)

in 2026, which is the biggest threat to indie film, AI generated scripts or centralized distribution algorithms.

Donald Griswold (35:17)

I would say AI generated scripts. I'm 100 % against that.

Lauren (35:22)

Which is harder, getting someone to donate a kidney or getting them to set up their first crypto wallet?

Donald Griswold (35:28)

Hands down crypto wallet.

Lauren (35:32)

You've talked about content to give, but there is a whole world of incentive content, like Consume to Earn, that actually makes people watch better content. Or does it just reward scroll farming?

Donald Griswold (35:43)

⁓ I'm worried about anything that is in the hands of large organizations. So I would say scroll farm.

Lauren (35:52)

If you could tokenize any human virtue beside generosity, what would it be?

Donald Griswold (35:57)

I would say honesty or caring.

Lauren (36:01)

Hmm. Heart feels. Okay, in one word, what does Mark Cuban's backing bring to the project that the traditional VC doesn't?

Donald Griswold (36:10)

I just think he's a visionary. I've run into Mark on the street corner, scared him because I ran up to him just said, hey, Mark, I just want to thank you for what you're doing. I love it that he's connected to this.

Lauren (36:22)

Yeah, it got my attention, I'll tell you that. And just getting a little bit more personal and closer, given the choice today, a 10 million traditional distribution deal or 250 independent media token holders, which do you take?

Donald Griswold (36:36)

For me, those are the same thing.

Lauren (36:40)

Okay. If Netflix called you tomorrow and offered to buy the exclusive rights to Abundant for $5 million, but required you to delete the blockchain version, would you take the check?

Donald Griswold (36:53)

No.

Donald Griswold (36:56)

Well, and

the reason is, I know that with this, we can exceed that.

Lauren (37:01)

Yeah, for sure. ⁓ That's great. Well, I think that's a really good place to end. Is there anything else I didn't ask you that you'd love? Yeah. Of course.

Donald Griswold (37:08)

Can I add one thing to that though?

I would counter to them to use our streaming license and not our sales license, because I said there seven different licenses. We can give them a different license and they can compete with what we're doing on blockchain. ⁓ And some people would watch it there, but that would be the only way that we would do it now. We're committed to that.

Lauren (36:54)

Yeah, that's awesome.

Lauren (37:33)

Okay, well it's good to hear your commitment. And I think this is a great place to close. What we heard today isn't just a story of a filmmaker who refused to take no for an answer. It's really a preview of the 2026 media landscape. One where the major studios no longer hold the keys to what stories get told or who is considered bankable.

Donald Griswold didn't wait for Hollywood to catch up. He used blockchain to build a direct bridge to his audience. And in doing so, he's proved that when you move from digital licensing to true digital ownership, the power dynamic shifts permanently back to the artist and the community. Donald, thank you for your candor today. It is really a rare time to hear a filmmaker speak so openly about the black box of the studio system.

and even rare to see one provide a clear technical roadmap for the rest of the Indy community to follow.

Donald Griswold (38:25)

Thank you, Lauren. Thanks for having me. And I look forward to checking in with you after Abundant has done everything we've talked about here.

Lauren (38:32)

Amazing, yes, go see Abundant. Tell them how they, I mean, we'll drop the link and access in the show notes, but maybe you wanna just say a few words about how they can get the film.

Donald Griswold (38:41)

Yeah,

you can get Abundant at AbundantMovie.com or you can go to Stuff.io. ⁓ It's a little bit of a surprise how we're doing it. We have different editions available depending on who you are.

Lauren (38:55)

Great, all right, so key takeaways, if you're a filmmaker, a creator, a founder who's been told that your project is too niche or unbankable, let this episode be your proof of concept. The tools are here, the infrastructure's ready, and as we saw with Abundant, the audience is already waiting. Donald, thanks so much for joining us.

Donald Griswold (39:14)

Thanks a lot, Lauren.

Lauren (39:15)

All right, I'm Lauren Weymouth and thank you for joining All About Blockchain. You can find a link to Donald's film and stuff.io platform in our show notes. And until next time, keep cutting through the noise because the future of the real world is being built on the ledger. We'll see you in the next episode.