I learned that it's really challenging to take something that's in your head or on the page and translate it to what's on the screen. There's a real craft in that that is the art of directing uh. In my, in my humble opinion, and so like that, just takes practice right, like that's just trial and error, of having a vision. Doing what you think is needs to be done to execute that vision and then seeing if it worked.

Seeing what the finished product looks like um, so that takes that takes time. You know my most recent short, though it's called harmony and golden, and it it wound up, looking better than what i had in my mind and so like when i achieved that i felt okay, i'm ready to to do a feature and um and yeah. I got into the nft space about a year ago my genesis drop was in october, which was a series of 100 photographs that i took at the madonna inn, hotel, amazing location and uh. Those photos inspired the screenplay for what's now going to be.

My first feature film, and also for the photos of keepers of the inn right we did. We took almost 3 400 photos during the rehearsal process of that movie and drop them as nfts, as you know, as as a as a means to get the film funded and as well as trigger some other grants to onboard more women into the nft space. More film female filmmakers, i love that hold on one second uh, everybody who's listening dustin. Do we have some audio problems on my end, interesting.

Give me one second, how about now how about now i might have to stop it do do we want to do that or yeah, let's just keep it going. Can you guys hear me? Okay, we'll just keep going awesome. Let's keep that part in the podcast. I want everybody to know everything i believe in full transparency, big, shout out to justin and seth for helping us julie.

Let's keep it going. So let's talk about photography nfts, so i think one of the things that attracted me to your project is, i was just going down rabbit holes of people that were in photography and we're active in the nft community. I saw you very active, then phil toronto, our mutual homies. Like i love julie, i was like okay, i got ta actually get around to really pic if you're, a friend of phil's you're, a friend of mine, i got ta really look at this and then, when i kind of finally had a second to breathe and look At it, i'm like wait a minute.

This is also tied into movie, making i'm very hot on music and books being funded through nft projects. Of course, i believe in scripts movies and television shows being the same um, but before we get into that film stuff, i want to talk about just photography. Nfts, what's your take? Do you agree with me that there's a real potential? Obviously, when we look at the real world, art art is a bigger market than photography art, but photography art's, a son of a it's big. There are people there's.

You know i spent a ton of money on an andy warhol kodak little. You know like little. You know of my of kareem abdul-jabbar like and then you know, there's obviously uh my my my um dear friend from college uh, dustin bingham. His father was the legendary howard bingham, who was one of the iconic black photographers and i know his work.

So you know a can you educate me because i'm not that educated on how big the real world photography collecting world is, or maybe that's not your expertise and b. What do you think about photography nft? Because you could have fundraise? You could have done this for the movie, not through photography. You could have done it through art or drawings or doodle. Nfts.

Take us home on that yeah. I mean the choice to to do this with photography was organic, because this the screenplay was based off of photos, so the whole process of this has been quite organic and photography. I don't know about photography collecting in real life, to be honest because as a professional photographer, my work is more in photographing for brand campaigns and uh product stuff and so and you know all album, art and stuff. That's like a little bit more um client-based, but um, but i definitely think that that this explosion of photography nfts is real and is going to continue its trajectory because i think there's a real when it comes to one-of-one photography.

In my opinion, there's no real need for utility. It stands alone, as this captured moment, this sort of piece of fine art, and i don't think that there's another medium in the space that does it that well um. That's coming from me who obviously my photos for keepers of the in comes with utility, but the only reason that those photos come with utility is because it's again organic. It's like i'm trying to bridge that gap between film and photography.

So um, i don't know, there's just something like as a collector, even like i've collected tons of photography and there's just something so magical about, seeing an image online and being able to earn that moment. And so i i think that it's just really we're poised for photography to continue to explode. Have you have you collected physical photography in your life or no, i mean yeah sure i have like not in a not from like a fine art gallery or i've. I've not dropped a bunch of my i've spent more money on photography nfts than i have on in real life.

Uh photography, but but i i love having it in my place, but i don't know it's. I sometimes at night i'll just scroll through my wallet and look at my beautiful photography collection. I it's there's something so gratifying about it. I agree.

I think people are really underestimating the digital world. They're, like you, can't touch it, i'm like guess what i can look at it in my bed on my phone and not have to get up and put on the lights in my apartment and see my art like it's. It's like there's, there's pros and cons to everything. There's i i love physical, but i love digital and it's a game of and not or um speaking about and and not or let's talk about that so you sell out.

Do you start getting a lot of random emails over the next day or a week? Yeah i mean it's still. It was three weeks ago today and it's uh. It's still, things are still pouring in, but yeah for sure it exploded um. It was incredibly invalidating and exciting.

I put i put almost 3 400 of my photos out and you know as a creator how vulnerable of an experience it is to put your artwork out like that, and so the responses have been amazing sure be because it's the first film funded and also because Of the utility, but mainly the thing, that's felt, the best is just people's response to the artwork and how it's inspiring them and interesting situations. Where do people? Where do people find it on open seat? Other platforms? It's oh keepers of the n.art is our website, which can lead you to open c for the secondary sales, um yeah for everybody, it's keepers of the end on openc and it's verified um. If you're looking for what it is. So are people reaching out with the main question of how did you do this yeah we've yeah definitely have gotten a lot of people interested in picking my brain and wanting to know how they can apply it to their film projects.

For sure, that's that's, but i'm happy to talk about that. I love talking about the process. It was so fun super stressful, but super fun to put this drop together and i think it's a model that can really work for a lot of people. So i'm like i've answered every every dm that i've gotten and had a bunch of follow-up calls.

I just i want to spread the word you know i get bombarded by people asking me gary. This stuff is so expensive. Ethereum, like you know, what's a good value. Nft, i think the photography space in general is a good value nft with the right projects i mean julie has to go out and make this matter to people.

You know, obviously it's going to have this historic nature being one of the first, if not the first. I just haven't done my homework, but it seems like it to fund this way and sell out so that might make it collectible, but um like every project, the artist and the company need to make people care. So when is the movie? How does the movie play out like when does it come? How does it go yeah, so we're shooting in uh we're shooting this summer got ta. We have to pick an exact date, but at some point towards the end of this summer and then probably around this time next year, everything will be nice and finished and we'll do a big event and screening in la where people can come or holders can come Or live stream in uh, we'll set up something so you're, probably thinking through a lot right now of like the 3000 plus people that are holding what the benefits are going to be i mean there's it's there's extensive utility that now we're just kind of like now.

We're just figuring out when to trickle this, the utility out and what our sort of benchmarks are for everything. But the main thing that we're doing, which i started two weeks ago, is uh every two weeks: we're going to do a town hall where i'm going to update the community on where i'm at in the creative process and just be candid and share share share my Vision and hopefully get some of the art collectors to weigh in, and let me know their thoughts and um and help kind of guide me to make the best possible version of this film that that i can with the community's support. What are you worried about uh? What am i worried about? I mean, i guess i guess this is the volatility of ethereum. I don't i that that would be.

Like i mean um, did you convert the ethereum into usd, so you can start doing your thing. Yeah we took yeah, we took what we needed to be able to execute the pressing utility items um, but yeah i mean that's, that's a thing and i i believe wholeheartedly in nfts and i and cryptocurrency and i'm i don't. You know, i think it's a long term thing that's going to last, but um just kind of the you know worrying about mainstream's aversion to it and and um the conflict. That comes with that.

But that's honestly such a minor thing and when it comes to the project, i i i truly it's like i wake up every morning feeling so inspired and excited um final thoughts. What did we not get to in this fun little interview? Anything you want to leave people with um yeah. I mean just again just stating that, as someone who's now, hopefully paved this way for more people to come like please just get in touch with me. I want to be able to how do they get in touch with you on uh, on twitter, at julie, underscore pacino, um, the nft community, everyone's so accessible, and that's what i love about it.

And so i just i i'm i'm the same way and i love talking about the process and geeking out over movies and helping provide whatever insight that i can so i i just love connecting with people, and i um you know i i hope if anyone listening Or anyone that sees my art likes the art and wants to talk about it like please get in touch with me, because that's what i live for honestly julie, thanks for being on the show, thanks for having me gary.