WME’s Newest Clients Are A Pair Of Bored Ape NFTs
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.
Hollywood talent agency WME has added a pair of Bored Apes to its roster of musical artists as NFT-mania sweeps the entertainment industry.
The Beverly Hills-based talent agency signed Escapeplan, a DJ and producer duo comprised of two apes from Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)—a popular digital artwork collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Bored Ape NFT holders own the underlying art and can commercialize it.
The Escapeplan NFTs are owned by Big Night Entertainment Group, a Boston-based entertainment management company. When reached by dot.LA, Tim Bonito, a managing partner at Big Night’s talent agency, declined to name the humans who make the electronic music released by the Escapeplan apes—but described them as a “rotating collective” of producers and artists.
“We’ve put out a couple of mixtapes—we call them our ‘Banana Mash’ mixtapes,” said Bonito, who manages Escapeplan.
The two apes are named ETHan and zeETH (the capitalized letters refer to the abbreviation for the Ethereum cryptocurrency) and hail from the snow-covered mountains of Sethan Village, India, according to a fictional bio listed on WME’s website. In real life, Escapeplan released its first single this month: “Jungle,” a collaboration with rapper Rich the Kid.
WME will help Escapeplan secure event bookings and land brand partnerships, Bonito said. The apes plan to drop more music and even appear at upcoming music festivals—albeit while playing behind electronic screens.
“We essentially live both in the metaverse and in real life,” Bonito said.
The talent agency’s signing was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
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.
Image courtesy of Genies
