BY J. CLARA CHAN | HollywoodReporter.Com

Troy Warren for CNT #Digital

In a deal valued at $100 million, Eluvio will provide the technology powering Fox Entertainment and Bento Box Entertainment’s NFT arm, Blockchain Creative Labs.

Fox Corp. is deepening its commitment to cryptocurrency with a new investment into Eluvio, an end-to-end platform for managing, distributing and monetizing content on the blockchain, the companies said on Wednesday.

As part of the investment, which was valued at $100 million, Eluvio will provide the underlying technology powering Blockchain Creative Labs, an NFT company from Fox Entertainment and Bento Box Entertainment. Fox’s chief technology officer and president of digital, Paul Cheesbrough, will also join the board at Eluvio.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Eluvio CEO and co-founder Michelle Munson said her company’s technology could be used for everything from minting and selling NFTs to selling tickets and live 4K streaming. But the biggest appeal for partnering with Fox, Munson said, was that this technology could be brought into the mainstream.

“This is a really big, big thing to go to mainstream media,” Munson said. “Everyone is much more conscious of the power of blockchain principles.”

Consumers and viewers should be able to start using the technology “in weeks,” according to Munson. Bento Box Entertainment CEO and co-founder Scott Greenberg said viewers would have a better opportunity to engage with the creators of their favorite shows and movies.

“Like owning a DVD, you can actually own an episode of television or movie,” he said. “If I bought a movie and I’m done and I resell it, the creator gets paid again. And if there’s a studio attached and helping finance it … they can track all the revenue and they get multiple payments.”

Greenberg added that traditional release windows would not be changed by the introduction of this blockchain technology.

“It depends on the content, it depends on the creator, it depends on the windowing, but we’re not disrupting the windowing,” he said. “We’re actually creating more revenue opportunities within the traditional windows that are presented.”

Already, some creators are working with Fox to distribute and market content using the blockchain. Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon is making Krapopolis, an animated comedy, that is curated entirely on the blockchain. Users will get access to “NFTs of one-of-a-kind character and background art and GIFs, as well as tokens that provide exclusive social experiences to engage and reward superfans.”