The company’s NFT collection comes to life in its first animated short, revealing the Woodie’s unique and mystical origins; the 3-minute CGI film debuts September 19.
Web3 entertainment company Woodies has announced the upcoming debut of its first animated short based on its Woodies Generative NFT collection - The Woodies Origin, premiering September 19 on the Woodies YouTube channel. You can check out the 30-second cutdown teaser below.
Woodies launched in September 2021 with 9,739 Ethereum-based NFTs, which are available on the marketplace OpenSea. Brought to life by the art team, consisting of concepts by Des Lucrece, base designs by Jae-838, and stylization by fine artist Gossamer Rozen, every Woodie was randomly generated from a mix of over 900 traits, making each one a unique 1-1 design.
The successful launch saw the collection sell out in 30 minutes, allowing the project to fulfill its first goal: to plant 1,000,000 trees with the nonprofit Trees for the Future. The project’s donation of 73.824 ETH (worth $217,000 at the time) stood as one of the top 10 charitable donations by an NFT.
The Woodies' global community includes collectors and contributors with a shared mission of experiencing and preserving the outdoors, a mission shared with Woodies’ developer UltraDAO, a decentralized collective created by artists for artists. The group has identified the need for a Web3 brand to start with a fully developed story and world, followed by additional entertainment content to drive value to the project’s unfolding story arc.
Expanding Web3 Storytelling
The company’s family friendly NFTs come to life with Woodies Origin, a 3 minute short the company explains as “revealing the Woodies'” unique and mystical origin story. Audiences meet Arden, the last tree left in a grove after loggers chop down all his tree friends. Aided by a magical protective Earth spirit, Merkle the Mother Tree, Arden becomes a Woodie, mobile and free to set off on a search-and-rescue mission to find his friends and stop the logger.”
“The story flows through everything that we do,” shared Woodies Co-Founder Richard Powazynski. “Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. As a purpose-led project with an environmental focus, it made sense that Woodies would have a strong story.”
The developers attribute the placing of storytelling at Woodies’ core as an intuitive and efficient way to attract highly engaged communities.
“That has played a big part in building interest in Woodies’ values and mission because people feel deeply connected through their digital ownership of a Woodies NFT and fundamentally what it represents,” continued Powazynski. “Now the animated short film Woodies Origin is helping us to tell our story in a new and exciting way by bringing our beloved characters to life while also allowing a wider audience to be a part of the Woodies world.”
The “Pixar of Web3”: Expanding Web3 Content Possibilities
In Woodies Origin, the company states it is staking out its position as a Web3 storyteller, but in Hollywood’s Pixar or Disney tradition. Further, the group sees the new film as a representation of how NFT artistry can be transformed into films that delight and captivate in classic Tinseltown style.
The strategic partnership with visual storytellers Woodblock provided UltraDAO with confidence regarding the quality of the imagery produced in the Hollywood-style animation. The process also encouraged Woodblock’s expansion into the Web3 production world.
Woodies Origin is the first in a planned series of animated short films bringing the story of Arden and his friends to life.
Rozen’s (Dr. Martens, Squarespace, Patagonia) art direction, Crystal Schrader’s story lead, and a team of digital artists, animators, 3D specialists, and Web3 developers drove the creation of The Woodies Origin. In addition, award-winning composer Gareth Coker wrote and recorded the score with a full orchestra.
Woodies is working to create an emotional connection with its audience, progressing from NFTs to films and the Metaverse. “With storytelling at our core, we can continuously create new content,” concluded Powazynski. “As we expand the Woodies universe, our community grows along with it.”
Source: Woodies
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
