Filmmaker David Goyer, known for his work on franchises like Blade and The Dark Knight, is developing “Emergence,” a blockchain-based science fiction universe. This transmedia project leverages Incention, Goyer’s new blockchain platform built on Story Protocol, a blockchain designed for intellectual property management. Story Protocol, backed by investors including a16z and Hashed, allows for the registration, tracking, and monetization of IP, facilitating direct collaboration and royalty sharing among creators without intermediaries.
Emergence will be a collaborative effort, inviting fans to co-create the universe alongside professional storytellers. Goyer criticizes Hollywood’s traditional, top-down approach to IP development, highlighting Web3’s potential to democratize the process. He aims to leverage this technology to build a more inclusive and innovative model.
A comprehensive 2,500-page story bible underpins the Emergence universe, serving as a foundation for concept art and supplementary stories penned by award-winning science fiction authors. This bible also fuels an AI agent, “Atlas,” used to aid co-creation within a pre-defined narrative framework. Goyer emphasizes this as a “sanctioned use” of AI, distinguishing it from simple data scraping.
The Emergence platform allows users to read existing content, generate their own stories and visuals, and vote on community contributions. An editorial board, led by Goyer, will select user-generated content to become official canon. This process balances community input with curated quality control.
Goyer acknowledges the concerns surrounding AI and blockchain’s impact on creative labor but expresses his intention to utilize these technologies in a way that empowers artists, advocating for a seat at the table to guide their development in a beneficial direction. The project utilizes both established science fiction tropes (spaceships, relic hunting, white holes) and a novel collaborative development model that integrates fan contributions directly into the narrative.
