San Diego movie-maker Nicole Natale is offering one of her film projects, a horror themed creature-feature, as a NFT token recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are units of data stored on a digital ledger. The new investment platform has been gaining lots of traction in recent months.
NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. A massive compilation of artwork created by Mike Winkelmann sold for $69 million in March.
Natale says her flick, “Brood X,” is now in the form of an NFT, which includes a screenplay, lengthy character descriptions, shooting budgets, a trailer, and other pieces of the project needed to bring the film to the big screen, according to a news release.
Once stored, the material is considered unique and not interchangeable, making it a potentially valuable commodity.
“As far as I know, an NFT of this type has never been created and sold before, so I’m really excited to be breaking new ground here,” Natale wrote in a news release. The offering “can serve as either a nuanced piece of unique NFT crypto art or be a fantastic undertaking for the right producer.”
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The 400-room Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine says it has completed a $10 million renovation of the landmark property. Updates made to the 32-year-old hotel include renovations to the lobby and public spaces, as well as to rooms and suites, according to a news release.
The hotel said that a new breakfast restaurant opens later this summer.
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The Building Industry Association of San Diego County names Lori Holt Pfeiler its new president and CEO. She succeeds Borre Winckel, who led the BIA for 13 years. He leaves the group in mid-July.
Holt Pfeiler has compiled a long resume in local politics, especially in the area of housing. She was the mayor in Escondido, chair of SANDAG and the North County Transit District, and served as CEO of San Diego Habitat for Humanity. She also chairs the board of the San Diego Housing Federation.
“Tackling the region’s housing affordability crisis tops her priority list,” said a news release. She notes that homes are being built at the high and low ends but “nothing in the middle.”
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NBC Sports Group has tapped San Diego-based Sony Electronics to supply broadcast and production equipment for the Tokyo Olympics, which is set to run July 23 to Aug. 8.
According to Sony, NBC crews will deploy 100 Sony-made cameras to capture the action at the summer event, as well as use related Sony production equipment necessary for television coverage. Added details can be found here.
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South Korean private equity firm Centroid Investment Partners has acquired high-profile Carlsbad golf equipment maker TaylorMade Golf from KPS Capital Partners, also a private equity firm. The sales price was not disclosed but the New York Times reported earlier this year that the gold equipment maker was being shopped around in the $2 billion price range.
If that price was any indication, KPS did pretty well. KPS acquired TaylorMade from Adidas in 2017 for $425 million. According to industry publication Golf Digest, TaylorMade is benefitting from this past year’s boom in golfing, thanks the rush to go outside in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Finally…San Diego’s Rincon Reservation Road Brewery, the region’s only Native American brewery operating on tribal land in Southern California, found out recently it will compete in Walmart’s 2021 Open Call competition.
The program allows participants like 3R Brewery to pitch products to be sold sale in retail stores. Walmart says 4,300 businesses applied for a shot to pitch this year, making it one of the largest in the eight-year history of the program.
Arkansas-based Walmart has set aside $350 billion to procure local products made in the United States. Selected participants could secure deals ranging from a few local stores to supplying hundreds of Walmart and Sam’s Club stores and websites.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Reservation notes that the goal of having a brewery “is to educate and pay tribute to our heritage while making quality craft beer from sustainable ingredients inspired by our culture.”
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.
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