This week, Pippin and I traveled from Portland, Oregon to Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators as part of an advocacy effort organized by Stand With Crypto . It was a surreal experience to say the least.

A few years ago, if someone had told me that building independent films and creative communities in Portland would eventually lead to conversations on Capitol Hill, I wouldn't have believed them. Yet there I was, sitting in congressional offices, sharing the story of film3, our efforts to build Flannel Donut Studio Café in downtown Portland, and the growing community of artists, entrepreneurs, developers, and small business owners using emerging technologies to create new pathways for creativity, connection, and economic opportunity.

What struck me most throughout the trip was how different our conversations were from the narratives that often dominate public discussions around crypto and blockchain technology. The people in those meetings weren't talking about price charts or speculation. They were asking about businesses, jobs, innovation, communities, and the practical realities of building something from the ground up.

That was a conversation I was most eager to have, because that's how I've grown two studios and a professional career in web3 over the last 5+ years.

Since Pippin Beard and I arrived in this space, we've been building alongside others in film3, a movement exploring how filmmakers can use emerging technologies to create more sustainable pathways for financing, distribution, ownership, and community participation. Along the way, we've organized festivals, educational programs, screenings, workshops, and collaborations with creators from around the world. What began as a conversation about independent filmmaking evolved into something much larger: a community of people experimenting with new ways to support creativity itself.

At the same time, we've been building something much more tangible and local.

In downtown Portland, we're preparing to open the Flannel Donut Studio Café, a hybrid stop-motion animation studio, café, screening venue, and creative gathering space. The idea emerged from a simple question: Could Portland's foodie culture fund Portland's indie film community? And as an extension we saw how independent artists need places to gather, collaborate, and share their work, and that maintaining those spaces has become increasingly difficult. Creative communities do not survive on talent alone. They require infrastructure. They require places where people can meet one another, discover new ideas, and feel connected to something larger than themselves.

A public facing stop-motion animation studio by itself is fascinating, but it isn't necessarily inviting. Most people aren't going to walk into a production studio just to see what's happening. Coffee, however, has always been a social technology. It gives people a reason to step inside. It generates opportunities for conversation. It turns a building into a gathering place.

That realization became the foundation of the Studio Café.

By combining a working animation studio with handcrafted coffee, pastries, screenings, events, and public access to the creative process, we're creating a space where the arts become visible again. Visitors can watch films being made, meet artists, attend events, and participate in a community that might otherwise remain hidden behind closed doors.

For us, this is not an abstract experiment. It's a real business, occupying real square footage, hiring real people, serving real customers, and contributing to the ongoing revitalization of downtown Portland.

That connection between digital innovation and physical community became a recurring theme throughout our meetings in Washington. A highlight for us was generating interest for Senator Wyden to tour the studio when he returns to Oregon on recess. We look forward to showing him and his staff everything we are about.

Much of the legislation currently being considered, including the CLARITY Act, focuses on providing regulatory certainty for builders and developers. While the details can become technical, the principle is straightforward. People who are trying to build innovative products and services need clear rules. Entrepreneurs can adapt to regulations. What becomes difficult is operating in an environment where those rules remain undefined.

The need for developer protections was another important part of the conversation. The internet flourished because developers could build tools, protocols, and platforms without having to seek permission at every step. The same spirit of innovation is driving many of the technologies being developed today. The developers creating open infrastructure are not necessarily the ones using it, just as the builders of roads are not responsible for every destination people choose to visit. Protecting that distinction is critical if innovation is going to continue.

For small businesses like ours, these discussions are not theoretical. The tools being developed today have allowed us to raise funds, coordinate communities, reach global audiences, and experiment with new business models that would have been impossible only a few years ago. The film3 community exists because those tools exist. Our ability to build relationships across continents, collaborate with creators around the world, and bring those opportunities back to Portland is directly connected to the openness of these platforms.

What made the trip particularly meaningful was its timing. The CLARITY Act is expected to move toward a floor vote in the coming weeks, and our meetings came at a pivotal moment in that process. In many cases, we were among the last constituents legislators heard from before the bill advances to its next stage.

We weren't there as lobbyists. We weren't there representing large corporations with teams of attorneys and policy advisors. We were there as filmmakers, developers, artists, founders and small business owners. As people investing our own time, money, and energy into building communities we care deeply about.

Whether the bill ultimately passes remains to be seen, but I left Washington feeling encouraged by the willingness of legislators to listen. The conversations were thoughtful, respectful, and grounded in a genuine effort to understand how these technologies are being used by ordinary people and businesses across the country.

I'm incredibly grateful to the team at Stand With Crypto for creating opportunities like this and for ensuring that builders have a seat at the table during these discussions. Their leadership helped bring together voices from every corner of the ecosystem and reminded policymakers that innovation is not confined to Silicon Valley or Wall Street. It is happening in small towns, creative studios, local businesses, and community spaces across America.

I also want to thank the DeFi Education Fund for its ongoing work helping policymakers better understand these technologies and the people building with them. Thoughtful policy requires thoughtful education, and organizations willing to bridge that gap perform an invaluable service.

As we prepare to open our doors in Portland, I keep thinking about how connected all of this really is. A filmmaker building a community. A stop-motion studio funded by coffee and pastries. A downtown storefront becoming a gathering place. Developers creating tools that make new forms of participation possible. Legislators working to establish clear rules for the future.

These may seem like separate stories, but they are all part of the same one. They are stories about people choosing to build. And after spending time in Washington, I am more convinced than ever that protecting the ability to build—whether it's software, businesses, films, communities, or gathering places—is worth fighting for.