Proposal: Spy TV/Comic Franchise Launch

We propose launching a new multimedia franchise that will include a TV series, comic books, web3 innovations and more. The world has responded overwhelmingly to intelligent multi-tiered content from Marvel / Star Wars / Disney — why can’t we take that level of storytelling and bring it to a new franchise, controlled by like minded nerds?

Smoky back rooms. Sexy lounge singers. Overly complicated, easily escapable death scenarios. Toxic Masculinity. Fart Jokes.

This world is called FRONTS.

Official Series Logline: Maxwell King and Bronx Beaumont have known one another most of their lives. What they didn’t know is that they would grow up to become enemies working on opposite sides of the spy and intrigue industry, their companies operating through legitimate business FRONTS: Maxwell’s is a posh hotel and Bronx, runs a swanky nightclub. Now as they begin to battle one another for the fate of the world they can’t get over just how much they personally loathe one another.

This project is special for the following reasons:

  1. Assembled by a team of film professionals, we already have distribution secured! Being a new property - as is typical with the film industry - they want us to do the early work to prove that we know what we are doing. So this will be a great piece of content that does not have to worry about how to sell itself. We just need to get the first one done to establish tone, quality and potential and we’re good to go!
  2. This distribution brings us an LOI (letter of intent) for 300K - which is 83% of our total investment ask, or 120% of our TV pilot budget. This does not include any profits from the NFT collection, the graphic novel or the sale of future content that will all keep the ship going for years to come.
  3. With a wide cast of characters and a multi-year mythology already outlined for this universe, we invite and encourage our DAO to participate in creating content for the FCU (Fronts Cinematic Universe). There will be a few guideposts (i.e. you can’t kill the lead characters or ret-con the main mythology) but otherwise DAO members will be able to pitch and shoot fully funded shorts/episodes that expedite the growth and scope of the story.
  4. We have already begun assembling a cast that includes actors with major arcs from FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, THIS IS US, STRANGER THINGS, SUPERNATURAL, MAD MEN and more. Our budget is lean but we know how to make this money look and feel like much more than it is!

The Tone of Our World

The inspiration for Fronts is the comic Spy vs. Spy as well as series like Archer, Venture Bros and The Boys. While they lampoon the genre worlds that came before them, their genuine love and understanding of their predecessors earns them the right to play with those conventions and say something new.

Why Fronts?

As kids we grew up reading Marvel comics and dreaming of the day that content like that would cross over to mainstream and not just belong to the nerds in the basements trading “very good” condition X-men comics amongst themselves. Now that that day has come and Marvel is the biggest franchise in the known universe - the next dream is to be able to create something just as creatively fulfilling and unpredictable! As filmmakers our business motto is transparency, collaboration and empowerment - and by controlling our fate with this Intellectual Property - we want to bring more filmmakers into the light with us.

In a world of selling yourself to Hollywood, this is an IP that will remain creator owned, backed by our DAO, who will come along for the ride with us. We are not a faceless corporation, we are filmmakers and content creators trying to have our voices heard and pave the way for more great filmmakers looking for their big break.

Who Are We?

Sean Flanagan is leading the creative team on the Fronts franchise. He began his film work in distribution, working on the release of over 1000 films in all windows of distribution for clients including Sundance Institute, FilmRise, Pokemon, Funimation and more. Project highlights include Al Pacino’s WILDE SALOME, FIRST GIRL I LOVED, ZEDD TRUE COLORS, THE LENNON REPORT and running the social media campaigns for Sting and the Police for CAN’T STAND LOSING YOU: SURVIVING THE POLICE. As a writer he developed and sold the script TOUCH OF FELT to the Tony award winning Tanniger Entertainment as well as having written TO CREATE AND DESTROY and KILLDEER. As part of his mission to educate and empower filmmakers, Sean has participated as a mentor, panelist and jury member of the New Orleans Film Festival, Emerging Voices, Austin Film Festival, San Diego International Comic Con, Women in Film, Coverfly, USC Film School, Coverfly, Roadmap Writers, Stockade Works and many others.

Jim McCann is an award-winning TV and comic book writer. He is the writer & creator of the ongoing thriller MIND THE GAP from Image as well as the writer & co-creator of the Eisner award-winning RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN. Other works include being part of the writer’s room for STAR TREK SEASON FIVE from IDW, LOST VEGAS from Image and many titles from Marvel including HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD, for which he won a PRISM Award for best portrayal of PTSD. He also wrote NEW AVENGERS: THE REUNION, HAWKEYE: BLINDSPOT, and the Hawkeye/Black Widow team-up WIDOWMAKER, among other titles. Jim has adapted a number of blockbuster hit films into novelizations for junior readers such as SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, BLACK PANTHER, and AQUAMAN. He has also written for the Disney XD cartoon ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and the ABC soap operas ONE LIFE TO LIVE and GENERAL HOSPITAL. Jim served as the PR Manager for Marvel Comics for 8 years before moving to Los Angeles.

Additionally we have an award winning director who hails from New Orleans on board as well as an executive producer who has worked with SXSW winning and Spirit Award nominated Jim Cummings.

We have already engaged with lots of “Below The Line” talent in New Orleans including camera, hair and makeup, lighting, sound and more. They remain on standby, awaiting this greenlight!

Benefits to the Nouns Community

  • We would like to credit Nouns with assisting in the production in a role similar to an Executive Producer across the first season of the series, with a credit likely being akin to “In Association with Nouns.wtf” across all opening credits and promotional materials.
  • Additional press and exposure will come from The Pilot, Our DAO, the Graphic Novel release and additional marketing and social media
  • Exclusive content available to Nouns community (i.e. comic variant covers, exclusive NFT)
  • With permission, inclusion of the Nouns community into an episode storyline - turning Nouns into a shadow organization that our lead characters interact with similar to James Bond’s SPECTRE.

Phases of Execution

Phase 1 - Development (July-August)

  • Close contracts with writer, directors and crew for the TV pilot and graphic novel
  • Begin pre-production on the TV pilot including applying for Louisiana Tax Credit
  • Officially launch DAO

Phase 2 - Production (September)

  • Physical production completed on TV pilot
  • Graphic Novel scripts underway with writer

Phase 3 - Post Production (October-November)

  • Post Production completed on TV pilot
  • NFT collection launches for our Fronts DAO
  • Artwork commences for graphic novel

Phase 4 - New Content (January - March 2023)

  • Minted NFT collection leads to development & production of remaining season one episodes
  • Sale of TV pilot to streaming platform (deal already in place)

Phase 5 -

  • Season 1 of Fronts is released
  • Graphic Novel 1 (4 full issues plus lots of bonus content) is released
  • DAO community content creation forum opens for a selection of spin-off content
  • Season 2 and beyond of Fronts goes into development
  • 1st Metaverse collaboration enters into development (either Maxwell’s The Cover Up Inn or Bronx’s The Hip Joint)

Our Budget Breakdown
The total budget, as broken down below, is 325K for a 22-25 minute length TV pilot, 4 issue graphic novel and the launch of our DAO and NFT collection to fund the remaining episodes of Season One and DAO created spin-off.

TV Pilot Production - 250K

  • Inclusive of crew, travel, accommodation, equipment, editing, post-production, music, legal, etc.

Graphic Novel Production - 50K

  • Inclusive of development, writing, art and delivery of a 100+ page graphic novel to publishers

NFT Collection & DAO development - 25K

  • Inclusive of promoting NFT collection and maintaining our DAO through phases of creative
2 Likes

Love Archer and Venture Bros. This sounds awesome

This sounds really cool.

Couple of questions for the team.

  1. So you have a prospective letter of intent to repay the investment?

  2. If true- then your just looking for first money in to cover and then the Nouns DAO would get paid out in full per the terms of the LOI?

  3. Would Nouns be able to be involved in future seasons?

This sounds like the first project on here that could be paid out like a real investment opportunity.

Great work and really like the idea of the project.

Thanks for the questions and support!

1. So you have a prospective letter of intent to repay the investment?

  • Yes we have collected a Letter of Interest from a new streaming platform that would like to acquire the pilot when it is completed (it’s cheaper to acquire finished content than to have corporate pay for development, etc)

2. If true- then your just looking for first money in to cover and then the Nouns DAO would get paid out in full per the terms of the LOI?

  • Yes, we can actually offer a repayment to Nouns on a quarterly basis until the sale is fulfilled. That would be that 120% against the TV pilot or 92% of the total investment (300 against 325, I believe our math was wrong in the initial post and I said 83).

3. Would Nouns be able to be involved in future seasons?

  • We’d love a continued involvement and support from the Nouns world as the franchise continues to grow - I imagine we’d have to figure out what that looks like!
2 Likes

While i like the logline, this does not strike me as nounish.

You don’t need permission. Assets are cc0, just go ahead and use them.

I really like the idea of NOUNS as a shadow org, and I would be way more willing to fund this if the NOUNS shadow org was a centerpiece in the FRONTS universe.

Ultimately, this sounds like you just want someone to foot the bill, and if Nouns don’t do it, you’ll take this to another community/DAO/angel?

Hey Krel,

My name is rekola and I am one of the Executive Producers of FRONTS.

I read your post on your philosophy of nouns and how you plan to vote or support proposals. Happy to walk through a few of your questions.

  • Thanks for liking the logline. We’ve had a ton of praise because our project is fulfilling a void that is not seen in the independent film and tv space.

  • You clearly state in your philosophy that you want to support proposals that have artistic expression, proliferate the nouns ecosystem and even

“In practice, I will push for us to put more proposals on chain. As long as props are coherent, achievable, and nounish, we should bring them to the DAO for a vote. Furthermore, I will work to pass experimental props as long as they don’t hurt the DAO.”

  • This is a huge statement of intent and I applaud you for clearly stating your position. I would love to invite you to a zoom call with the team to ensure integrity in our proposal.

  • As for artistic expression - our team is stacked with award-winning artists who are fully independent and focused on quality rather than payment. FRONTS will be a series that works to put talented deserving filmmakers at the helm by removing silly Hollywood gatekeeping and barriers to entry.

  • As for nounish - our plan is to fully integrate Nouns into our graphic novel, episodes, and even in future NFT artwork that will be released, DONT WORRY WE WILL NEVER OBSTRUCT THE VIEW! After all, we’re like you we belive in the power of nouns. We believe in CC0 and want to proliferate nouns throughout.

  • As for footing the bill - Like I said we are independent artists who do not have studio backing but we do have distributor backing which means if we get the seed money we need we can produce an amazing project with a built-in guaranteed return. Your right we could go anywhere to seek funding but we specifically chose nouns. The reasons are many, for example, some of us are involved heavily in Film3 and have supported projects like Miguel Faus’ Calladitia and praised nouns when they backed Miguel. Some of us love nouns because y’all are revolutionizing systems bring transparency into primetime, some believe fully in nouns mission, and others on our team love the views.

  • As for Nouns being the secret org- again we’re open to any and all potential collaborations so if you want to learn more about the project and help us refine our proposal as we work through the process, I’d love to connect.

Thanks for reading and commenting Krel!

Best, Rekola

2 Likes

Krel

Thanks for the message.

Why we love the opportunity of doing this with Nouns is the “anarchist” (we can’t think of a better word) spirit that Nouns represents with it’s ability and interest in disrupting whatever system it decides to tackle. Nouns is a springboard for opportunities.

Hollywood is a system made of gatekeepers and old, white, straight men (our lead writers/creators are LGBT) sitting in offices and mansions making decisions. It’s not a world for artists, or artists outside of that bubble, to thrive. I personally have been in numerous interviews for jobs in which I was explicitly told the bosses (insert family member here) was going to get the job because they were home for the summer, over any of the qualified applicants who applied, and came to interview, for the job. That mentality and nepotism is deeply ingrained in the process of Hollywood filmmaking.

What we want to do with this world is break through that process of banging on doors and walls - and 99.9 times out of 100 being ignored - and create a world where writers, artists, directors can all make their dreams come true and possibly, get their big break.

We would love to incorporate Nouns in a more meaningful way into the storyline, it’s relatively new to us to be speaking with a group that has both the ability to make the business happen and genuinely care about the creative. Or to not be charging money for image licensing, extensive creative approval processes, etc.

But it’s that flexibility in our storytelling (our DAO spinoffs, wide cast of characters, comic books, etc) that is exactly why we find Fronts to be so exciting for a larger group of storytellers. We want Nouners or DAO members to come pitch us characters they’ve always wanted to see in media and figure out how to weave them into our tapestry.

Representation matters - whether it’s earnest or just a silly henchman dressed like Little Bo Beep hellbent on world domination.

2 Likes

Hey Shenangans thanks for the answers. Sounds really cool. Good luck!

thanks both (cc @shenangans) for your thoughtful answers

I’m still not sold on how well this would proliferate nouns unless nounish characters are a big part of the plot?

To be blunt:

  • We would like to credit Nouns with assisting in the production in a role similar to an Executive Producer across the first season of the series, with a credit likely being akin to “In Association with Nouns.wtf” across all opening credits and promotional materials.

Not sure this moves the needle by much

  • Additional press and exposure will come from The Pilot, Our DAO, the Graphic Novel release and additional marketing and social media

Not quite sure what this means, would like more details

  • Exclusive content available to Nouns community (i.e. comic variant covers, exclusive NFT)

Meh

  • With permission, inclusion of the Nouns community into an episode storyline - turning Nouns into a shadow organization that our lead characters interact with similar to James Bond’s SPECTRE.

YES, now we’re talking

  • Repayment…

Idk, continuous proliferation is way more important. (A source of recurring revenue could be interesting, but imo, that’s ≈≈ to continuous proliferation.)

Hey Krel,

Excellent points again. So lets keep the discussion train going. Nothing is final in our world and we are totally up for learning, adapting, and creating the best possible collaboration.

With that said, some follow-up.

- Credit - Credit on a series is a big deal. It puts thousands to hundreds of thousands to potentially millions of eyeballs on Nouns that are only living in a web2 world. That creates curiosity and will drive people to nouns. Think of the impact the Bud Light Superbowl Nouns ad had. It will move the needle.

- Additional press and exposure - We are planning a robust press tour once our pilot is launched and created. That means interviews, podcasts, articles, social posts, and more that will highlight how Nouns were our partners in creating this series. This again will build curiosity and a bridge from the web2 world to web3.

- Graphic Novel - Frankly, this will push Nouns the farthest as our awarding-winning graphic novel creator has won the most prestigious awards and has a rabbid fan base. When Jim does something, people in the industry follow.

- Exclusive content - this isn’t supposed to proliferate nouns but as a way to say thank you to nouns for support. But if its not important we can put more money into the series to make it even better.

- Replacing Nouns as the Villians - we’re in talks as a team and are definitely NOT opposed to it. We want to ensure we can do the switch

- Repayment - If repayment isn’t the biggest concern, one option we were thinking and have been in talks with nouners and nouner devs has been a fork of the Nouns Protocol where were would deploy a new Noun Graphic Novel Cover NFT every day forever as a way to create membership for our eventual FRONTS DAO. And we would follow the Lil Nouners style in committing 10% of the initial membership NFTs back to Nouns DAO. The other possibility if repayment isn’t a priority but proliferation is, we can roll the repayment back into a unique and new film3 Nouns DAO focused on building a continuous slate of projects that are launched because the streamer we’re working with is willing to keep committing. Thus creating an endless loop of amazing content and Nouns will be the “Helen of Troy” of Film3— the face (nouns) that launched a 1000 ships (films).

Ultimately our goal is to create an amazing and artistic series.

Again to highlight a comment above, we’re trying to be respectful and go through a process that allows us to build the best proposal before we pitch individual nouners for support. We willing to adapt within certain constraints.

Talking to you today helped so thank you.

Best, Rekola

3 Likes

Thanks again, very helpful.

Im still lukewarm on the credits and press aspect. Oversimplifying here but just saying “nouns paid for this” is not very interesting to me, regardless of how many eyeballs you catch. Does it really create curiosity?

Admittedly im not an expert on this subject so will defer to other nouners to provide their thoughts. I don’t want to nitpick or bring needless negativity to the prop at this stage.

I commend you for being flexible and willing to iterate on the prop with the community. That tend to be a good way to win the confidence of the dao.

2 Likes

I love finding hidden gems like this!! The concept sounds so fascinating and as a comic book geek myself, I NEED this! It’s time for the NEW wave of “marvel” like content that can be globally consumed.

Got a few questions -

Obviously I’d LOVE to see this and want it to be successful, and I know that will stem from the project reaching as many people as possible…

When deciding how the universe you create touches as many people as it can, what factors go into that aside from diverse casting and storyline?

Further, how will you use the cast to promote the story and your goals?

Krel

The publicity and press angle is not “nouns paid for this” and was never claimed to be. it is about an innovative new way of approaching media and the “outside the studio” mentality that we are all taking. We have great connections and experience with film festivals, podcasts and general press about the process of filmmaking - aside from general press that covers content (reviews, teasers, clips, etc)

Transparency in film is very very weak and we would be leading with “look at this main stream quality content that was produced in this largely unprecedented way”

Thanks @mrmidnight

In terms of the promotion of the content, as @krel has also asked - one thing we are excited about is leveraging the talent we are currently talking to to raise awareness. Most of the talent in negotiations right now range in social media followers ranging from 300k to 10 million! By the time we’re done with casting we’re expecting a total of 15M followers from our cast with guest stars bringing in additional exposure. If a portion of that audience follows our bread crumb trail - we’d have a great audience we are confident we can keep coming back week to week.

In terms of the creative elements to excite people - our vision is something similar to Springfield on the Simpsons. When we’re done we want dozens and dozens of characters that represent what the world really looks like. We generally like to create characters without overt detail so we can blind cast for the best actor (we won’t say someone is a 35 year old fit white man with short hair because maybe the best actor is a stocky Asian man).

That being said there are characters we will define by a characteristic if they represent an under represented group and incorporate that story in a meaningful way - while still being funny and dark and twisted with our espionage satire!

What kind of involvement do you see the rest of the Nouns community having in the development of future seasons? Will nouners get to help come up with characters and possible storylines that get voted up?

Yes we will be launching a DAO and giving Nouners a premium level of involvement!

Generally speaking, through the DAO there will be opportunities to vote on things like character names or details, casting opportunities and other creative options. We will also be launching at least once per season the opportunity to pitch original characters or episode ideas that will be incorporated into the main storyline.

Nouners - with the premium level of involvement - will have weighted votes in general open forum ideas as well as being presented exclusive creative opportunities available only to Nouners.