📺 Building the audience-owned TV platform of the future

In the last year, the rise of NFTs and digital ownership has shaken up traditional power structures and top down control in favor of more decentralized, cooperative systems. In turn, we’ve witnessed the shift of power from the editor to the creator, allowing creatives and fans to own their digital work and capture their upside.

First it was developers, then artists, then musicians. In the next ten years, this same paradigm shift in ownership will come to entertainment – fundamentally upturning the way that Hollywood operates.

Today, creatives have two choices: they can either bootstrap their audiences on big tech platforms like Youtube or Tiktok, where they’re at the mercy of algorithms and paid pennies on the dollar for their work. Or, they can sell their ideas to a network, forfeiting creative control and signing on to steep deals, where a handful of executives make decisions about what gets funded and what gets to be legitimate TV.

Audiences have more influence over distribution and grassroots cultural trends than ever before, yet are left out of most decision-making – creating a sense of distance from content.

So we asked ourselves: what would happen if we placed the control into the hands of fans, in turn creating a cooperative and decentralized network for entertainment creation, distribution, and consumption?

At Mad Realities, we believe these two things will shape the future of content:

Interactivity and shared experiences. You would think we’re in the golden era of content with abundant optionality with sophisticated algorithms telling us what we want to see. But the experience of consuming content today is passive and often done alone in dark rooms. We see the future of content going a step further – community formed around shared attention, conversation, participation, and IRL social experiences.

Co-creation and ownership. The creation of new forms of media will be collaborative, contributors will have ownership beyond meaningless credits, and the content will be formed around the sentiment of the community interacting with it as it’s being created, in real-time. The antiquated, corner office, one-to-many production model will be retired in favor of community and co-ownership. Content will never be the same again.

Since launching our interactive reality TV dating show Proof of Love, the first unscripted TV series ever to be funded via NFTs, we’ve had over 1,500 members participate in the co-creation of the show and over 172 ETH worth of interactive passes minted (making the show entirely self funded without a network partner.) In the last 6 months we’ve proven out what it looks like to build one show funded by NFTs – we want to make it possible for ANY creative to fund, create, and distribute their own work and foster their own community support and contributions.

🤝 Our partners

We’re excited to announce that we’ve closed a $6M seed round from Paradigm with participation from funds Maveron, Long Journey, Paris Hilton's 11:11 Media, and individuals, Selby Drummond, OK Play co-founder Chris Ovitz’s Electric Ant, Rob Hayes, Behance founder Scott Belsky, co-founders of crypto social club Friends with Benefits Trevor McFedries and Alex Zhang, Not Boring founder Packy McCormick, Syndicate co-founder Will Papper, Web3 investor Sabrina Hahn, Zora co-founder Jacob Horne and more to build a decentralized media platform and protocol that reimagines entertainment for the modern world – focusing on shared experience, co-creation, and ownership at the community layer.

With this investment from Paradigm, we plan to double down on this protocol – expanding our core team, hiring engineers to build a platform and protocol through which creatives and audience alike can create content and in turn earn a currency native to the platform, educating the creative community about how the building blocks of crypto can be used to fund and develop their content, foster community and a closer relationship with their early supporters, and more.

Paradigm is known for backing disruptive crypto and web3 companies and protocols and have already been valuable partners to the Mad Realities team as we define the playbook for what entertainment can look like in this new world.

🌎 Step into the Mad Realities Universe

We are just getting started. It’s going to be mad.

To stay up to date on new drops, events, content programming, and news from Mad Realities, Text MAD to +1 (917) 810-3314, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Discord with 1500 members, and check out our collection of Genesis Membership Passes on Open Sea to interact with our growing library of content.

Tune in to the Proof of Love finale Sunday 5/1 at 8pm ET on Youtube or live at Webster Hall and cast your vote in real time on which couple should take home 4.20 ETH. Text FINALE to +1 (917) 810-3314 for instructions on how vote.

Also, we are hiring! Check out our job listings here.

Follow us (or fill out this form here) to get updates on what’s new, ways to get involved, and memes in the coming weeks 👉 — Twitter, Discord, Opensea, Instagram, Website, Casting

We’ve heard a lot of questions about casting for the season, so here’s your source of truth...

📣 Voting for our first 3 bachelor(ette)s ends this Thursday, March 3rd at 5pm ET! Cast your vote if you haven’t yet and check out newly added profiles.

First you voted on the name of our show.

Then you voted on our host (meet Tanthai!)

In the last two weeks, we have had an eclectic array of characters apply or get nominated in to be on our first show Proof of Love, a dating show where NFT holders decide what happens (and who happens).

Now, you get to choose the first 3 Proof of Love bachelor(ette)s, each who will be the star of their own solo episode airing March 13th, 20th, or 27th. Watch them date 4 contestants — also voted in by you each week (more on this below) — compete to “prove their love” to win a hot date with our chosen star OR run with a crypto prize.

Note: you can vote for as many applicants as you’d like as a rose holder. In the future, we may spice things up a bit so you can show some more support for your favorite contestant (cough cough, simp).

🚨We are looking for contestants who:

• represent our vibrant community - we ❤️ all love

• optimize for entertainment - the only way this show is bad is if it’s boring

🚢 We’ve shipped a ton of new functionality...

• You can now change your vote on previously voted applicants 🤔

• You can view the leaderboard by most recent OR by top # of votes ⏰

• You can nominate a friend and make a profile for them 💘

• You can get a spiffy shareable link of your profile. This one’s fun: vote 🌹 for Vitalik Buterin 💦 on proof of love 💘 by mad realities 📺

• You can sign in with Coinbase wallet 🤑

As always, you can vote for as many people as you want, not just one!

🌹 How does voting work?

1. Vote “cast” or “pass” on as many candidates as you want

2. Cast = 1 vote

3. For this first round, the candidates who are in the top three get casted!

4. Voting ends Thursday 5pm ET

🤏 What does it mean to be chosen in this round?

This is the first round of voting taking place throughout our 5-week season (first episode airing next Sunday, March 13th!)

The 3 individuals with the most votes by Thursday at 5pm ET will each be the main character of their own episode, a bachelor or bachelorette if you will.

A new casting race opens each week during the season March 13th - April 10th, and anyone can shoot their shot to date the star of the coming episode. 4 real people — voted in by you — will get to come on Proof of Love (filmed in our production studio in Greenpoint) to woo our lovely star in attempt to win a date OR run with a crypto prize.

Sign up here to get notified when new casting calls drop and keep an eye on our Twitter!

Note: If you applied to be on Proof of Love and do not get chosen in this first round, there will be other opportunities to be in the show as a contestant and we would obviously love to have you as part of the Mad Realities community — that means you should 100% come to filming sessions, live after shows, and get to know everyone in the Discord server since you are now known by all in our casting channel. DM us on Twitter for more info on how to get involved 😎

😴 Considering applying but are sleeping on creating your audition video?

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, baby. You have until Tomorrow, Wednesday March 2nd at 11:59 pm ET to get your application in (45 second video max). Get inspiration from our leaderboard of potential contestants. Note: Anyone can be on the show, with or without an NFT.

🚨 Be sure to get people talking about your audition on socials to increase the chances of making it onto the show. Look at these examples from our host auditions to get a better understanding. Also now, with our new improvements to our casting game, If you make your profile, it’ll show up on the leaderboard right away.

📅 Mark your calendars

🚪Wednesday, March 2nd at 11:59 pm ET — Application window to be on Proof of Love closes.

Submit your profiles by Wednesday March 1st at 11:59pm ET.

🔒Thursday, March 3rd at 5 pm ET — Bachelor(ette)s 1-3 locked in

Voting for rose holders closes. Whoever is top 3 in the leaderboard when the timer ends will be the stars of our first 3 episodes.

🚨We are looking for contestants who:

• represent our vibrant community - we ❤️ all love

• optimize for entertainment - the only way this show is bad is if it’s boring

🗳️ Monday, March 7th at 11:59 pm ET — Voting for the 4 contestants that will date star #1

Once the star of Episode 1 is locked in, we need your help to find them true love. Think they seem interesting? Apply yourself, nominate your friend to date them for a chance to win a Sangria Rose NFT if they make it onto the show, and vote on potential contestants.

🎥 Wednesday, March 9th at 11:59 pm ET — Filming Episode 1

Our first episode (airing Sunday March 13th at 8pm ET) will be filmed at our production studio in Greenpoint. Yes, that is correct. Proof of Love will be filmed in-person on a REAAAL LIFE SET.

Membership Pass NFT holders have exclusive access to a live stream into the set, and can hang out or throw out creative ideas live as we film. Alice, Devin, Adam, Sarah, and our amazing Proof of Love creative team will be on set, directing, and curating creative ideas from the stream. (We hold creative direction, but we know the funniest and best ideas are going to come from our community!)

📺 Sunday, March 13th at 8pm ET — Episode 1 of Proof of Love airs

Every Sunday night from March 13th to April 10th will be “Mad Realities Night” — an hour-long segment will air live 8pm ET on Youtube. The pre-filmed dating show will be around 10 minutes long, followed by a special live after show — Proof of Love: The After Party — with surprise guest judges. (Episodes will be viewable thereafter online, even if you missed the original airtime.)

🤝 Mad Realities x Bright Moments: A match made in heaven

🏙️ Our shows are content networks and social experiences in one — that’s why we are running an IRL experience in NYC on top of the show online starting Sunday, March 13th. We’re partnering with ✨ Bright Moments ✨ to make this a reality.

Our live after show — Proof of Love: The After Party — will be filmed at Bright Moments in Soho with a live audience consisting of rose holders, Bright Moments community members, and friends.

This show is an experiment and we want to make it a conversation with our community. Watch online (or IRL if you are lucky!) as contestants debrief dates with special guest judges during our live after show. Picture Andy from Bravo vibes.

At this live after show, we will also kick off the casting process for the next week’s episode, have a live auction for a 1/1 NFT related to the next week’s episode (stay tuned for the reveal of the art and the exclusive perks in each 👀), and other surprises to come 👿

Sign up here to get notified about drops, programming, and IRL events in NYC. More to come on this soon 👀

Note: We are doing a panel on Proof of Love and the Mad Realities Vision at Bright Moments this Thursday, March 3rd at 7:30pm ET! Dm us on Twitter if you want to come.

🛖 It takes a village

The Mad Realities Universe is expanding in all directions and it will take a team of interdisciplinary killers to bring our vision of the first decentralized media platform into reality. We are excited to put out new job listings for positions on the Mad Realities core team.

Check out out listings here 👇

• Social Media Manager

• Software Engineer (Full Stack)

• Product Designer

• The Intern

Follow us (or fill out this form here) to get updates on what’s new, ways to get involved, and memes in the coming weeks 👉 OFFICIAL LINKS — Twitter, Discord, Opensea, Instagram, Notion, Website

🚨 WE ARE CLOSING THE MINT FOR OUR GENESIS MEMBERSHIP PASSES MONDAY 1/24 AT 6 PM PT

Since launching our vision for a new type of entertainment uniquely enabled by web3, so much has happened. We minted 100+ ETH of Genesis Membership Passes (our minting site closes Monday at 6pm PT!), fostered a community of 800+ creatives, engineers, degens, and romantics, and have built a killer core team from all corners of the internet — ex-Clubhouse matchmakers and + roasters, degen devs that raised $45m+ in 7 days in attempt to buy a copy of the US Constitution, and young creatives in LA trying to do Hollywood differently... we are a diverse group trying to make shit weird.

ALONG THE WAY, 2 THINGS HAVE BECOME CLEAR...

1. The people are stoked for our first audience co-created dating show - Proof of Love.

2. Our vision extends far, far beyond this first step — and extends into a future decentralized media platform that anyone can make content on. Mad Realities is not just one show, and it’s not just the current core team making shows - it is a decentralized media platform that anyone can make content on, that will be audience governed and owned in a way like never before. We have a lot here cooking in the works and are excited to share more with you as this develops.

As Mad Realities gears up to launch our first show, we are closing our minting site for the Mad Realities Genesis Membership Passes on Mirror. This is only the beginning, and we have BIG things in store in the future — and these genesis passes are your key to this future value 👀

🤑 WHAT AM I BUYING?

Mad Realities is reimagining entertainment for the modern world - focusing on shared experience, co-creation and ownership. A membership pass is your key to the first decentralized media platform, starting with the world’s first interactive web3 dating show Proof of Love.

Membership special powers include (but are not limited to):

• A lifetime basic membership to all things Mad Realities (and access to exclusive community).

• Voting (Y/N) on our cast: both bachelors and contestants.

• Ability to interact in real-time with the show: live chat, elimination, showing support (saving contestants), speculating on weekly outcomes, and more.

• Eligibility to win 1-of-1 commemorative NFTs throughout the season for interaction.

• Exclusive IRL events in NYC.

In addition to all utility above, those who purchase higher tier membership passes may have the ability to: play host for an episode (if they choose), choose pick-up lines for contestants, have a say in set design, get free limited edition merchandise, and more.

🤩 NEW COLLECTION PAGE, WHO DIS

We now have our own Opensea page for our Genesis Membership Pass NFTs! Before, our Membership Pass NFTs were mixed in with all other Mirror crowdfund editions, but now when you see your rose membership pass shining in your wallet, it will be under a Mad Realities collection with the correct floor price listed. This means that you can rely on your Genesis Membership Pass NFT to unlock the Mad Realities universe.

🌹 FOCUS ON OUR GENESIS MEMBERSHIP PASS

When you mint one of our Sangria, Cerulean, or Midnight passes, you become a Genesis member of Mad Realities — a founding member with a stake in the game. (A king or queen in our eyes, really.)

We’ve gotten feedback from the community that the inclusion of a ERC-721 and ERC-20 token in the Mirror page is confusing, and we’re responding to that by clarifying where the store of value is for your Mad Realities Membership. The core team plans to not focus on the Season $ZERO token in the short term, and Season $ZERO does not correspond to any access or membership to Mad Realities or the Proof of Love show. BUT — in future strategies encompassing the entire Mad Realities platform, we will consider both the Genesis Membership Pass and the Season $ZERO token to cover all edge cases. If it were us, we would hold onto both the Genesis Membership Pass and the Season $ZERO token. (This is not financial advice.)

TL;DR: Your Genesis Membership Pass is your key into the Mad Realities universe & decentralized media platform. Hold on tight to it — it’s going to be a crazy ride! (Fill out this form here to get notified on updates over email or text.)

🤯 THE WORLDS FIRST INTERACTIVE CRYPTO DATING SHOW

💏 You’ve heard of Proof of Work... you’ve heard of Proof of Stake... it’s time for Proof of Love. Proof of Love is the first show on the Mad Realities platform — and it’s an interactive web3 dating show that anyone can be on. It’s going to be mad.

TIMELINE

• JAN 24 — mint for Genesis Membership Pass NFTs closes

• FEB 13 — launch party in NYC (more details to be announced. 25 spots reserved for Genesis Member Pass holders.)

• FEB 14 — dropping our casting game! be a part of the first decentralized casting crew and vote in our first bachelors and bachelorettes who each star in their own episode. (we know all of you have that one friend that is destined to be on a dating show 👀)

• MAR 1 — kick off filming first episode in our studio in NYC (special extra content for Genesis Membership Pass holders)

• MAR 6 - APR 10 — new episodes of Proof of Love air each Sunday night on Mad Realities platform and Youtube with an in person watch party in NYC for Genesis Membership Pass holders.

FORMAT

• CASTING — Every week, a new casting game launches on our show website where Genesis Membership Pass NFT holders vote in 6 contestants to date the bachelor(ette) of the episode. Note: Anyone can nominate people to be on the show, with or without an NFT.

• PRE-RECORDED DATES — We film episodes IRL in our studio in Williamsburg on Wednesdays. Membership Pass NFT holders have exclusive access to a live stream into the set, and can hang out or throw out creative ideas live as we film. Alice, Devin, our producer (so mysterious...ooo la la), and our film crew will be on set, directing, and curating creative ideas from the stream. (We hold creative direction, but we know the funniest and best ideas are going to come from our community!)

• MAD REALITIES NIGHT — Every Sunday night will be “Mad Realities Night” — an hour-long segment will air live (time tbd) on both the Mad Realities platform and Youtube. We have big plans for distribution as well as prizes for participation and predictions. Note: Anyone can watch, with or without an NFT.

  • EPISODE — watch as contestants go on dates and try to ‘prove their love’ to the star in order to win. Membership Pass holders react if they are gmi or ngmi on our platform. What happens when someone wins? They can choose to split the prize with the star or take a crypto prize.

  • AFTER SHOW — watch as contestants debrief dates with special guest judges during our live after show. Picture Andy from Bravo vibes.

  • LIVE AUCTION FOR 1/1 NFTS — every week, we’ll live auction a 1/1 NFT related to the next week’s episode. Stay tuned for the reveal of the art and the exclusive perks in each 👀

  • KICKING OFF THE NEXT CASTING GAME — at the end of the show, our host will kick off the next week’s casting race, and voting will begin.

  • IRL WATCH PARTIES — Mad Realities will invite a handful of members to join us IRL for drinks, socializing, and a seat at our live airing of that week’s pre-recorded episode and a live after show.

  • ... and other surprises to come 👿

🤫 FREE ALPHA

If you made it this far, this is for you...

• ...we have a lot of big, big partnerships being finalized that will come out in the next few weeks

• ...our 1/1 NFTs for auction might be...interesting

• ...our list of guest judges is pretty epic ngl

Follow us to get updates on what’s new, ways to get involved, and memes in the coming weeks 👉 OFFICIAL LINKS — Twitter, Discord, Opensea, Instagram, Notion, Website

Fill out this form here to get notified on updates over email or text.