Disney Is Beefing Up its NFT Team As Digital Collectibles Boom
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
With the NFT craze sweeping the entertainment industry, Disney is looking for someone to lead its foray into the world of digital assets.
The Burbank-based media giant posted a job opening this week for someone to “help lead Disney’s efforts in the NFT space.” The business development manager would monitor the “evolving” NFT marketplace, set strategy and manage partnerships, according to the job posting. The position requires “knowledge of and passion for digital and NFT categories.”
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets verified by blockchain technology, giving their owners proof of authenticity and ownership. Entertainment companies in the music, movie and gaming industries have been quick to sell NFTs—even if the jury is still out on whether they’re just a fad or a multibillion-dollar industry in the making.
Disney waded into the NFT world last year when it sold digital comic books and collectibles from its Marvel franchise. The company later sold digital artwork memorializing “Golden Moments” from other iconic franchises, including "Star Wars" and "The Simpsons." Buyers of the digital golden trophies, sold through NFT platform VeVe, also received three months of free access to the Disney Plus streaming service.
Representatives for Disney did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, former Disney CEO Bob Iger predicted that NFTs are here to stay, comparing them to baseball cards. In an interview with the New York Times, he suggested that Disney’s vast library of intellectual property would put the media giant in a strong position to capitalize on digital collectibles.
“When you think about all the copyright and trademarks, [the] characters Disney has,” he said. “The NFT possibilities, they’re extraordinary.”
Other media giants have also entered the NFT space, including Warner Bros., Lionsgate and ViacomCBS. Musicians like Grimes and the Kings of Leon have joined the fray, as well. On Tuesday, popular Southern California music festival Coachella announced that it would auction off lifetime passes as NFTs.
The NFT craze has not been without controversy. Some gamers have resisted efforts to buy NFTs within their favorite games, while NFT marketplace OpenSea this week revealed that roughly 80% of the tokens minted for free on its platform are spam or scams.
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Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
