Victor Versus the Metaverse was born out of a chance meeting during the first week of November, 2021. While hosting an event, we (Delilah and Lucy) met Edward Loh, who told us about the launch event of his new NFT company, VIIRA, taking place in Miami during Art Basel, and his desire to invite young artists to come and document the launch using their own artistic vision.

As narrative filmmakers, we saw this as an opportunity to not just video the event but to create a story out of it. With three weeks to go before the event, we sat down to conceive of a project that would at once engage, educate, and entertain.

Victor Versus the Metaverse was born!

Though NFTs are now ubiquitous, few people have a full grasp on what they even are, no less what role NFTs will play in our lives going forward (we were in this camp too!) We decided we wanted to delve into this world through the lens of a narrative story that would be entertaining while also bringing awareness to NFTs, The Metaverse, and the mission of an accessible creative economy. 

While reading more about the goals of the Metaverse, which is ultimately to pursue a sustainable, accessible and interactive space, we landed on an idea: What if we framed our piece around two individuals with no prior knowledge of the NFT world - our “Every(wo)men,” who believe they've been scammed with an NFT and then decide to travel down to Art Basel Miami to conduct an investigative journalism report and "out" their culprit? We would then be able to use our characters to investigate the possibilities and humor of this digital world, with the goal of expanding our idea out into a series. 

Meet Delilah, an aspiring solo performance artist:

And Lucy, an aspiring documentary filmmaker:

The two women venture to Miami with two goals in mind:

#1: To find Victor Yates, the man who scammed them with an NFT, and get their money back.

#2: (For Lucy) To create an investigative documentary on art fraud during Art Basel

"This is like documentary gold"

By creating a metatheatrical investigative journalism piece within the narrative film, we hoped to maximize accessibility and truly recreate the organic experience for the audience. We decided that a third-person cinematographer would tell an outside fictional narrative, which would then be combined with our own camcorder footage of real people, in real time. We felt that combining the two will be a great way for people to access the world of Art Basel and NFTs while creating a humane portrayal of a world that seems outside of people’s reach.

In other words, "How can we make information more humane?"

Here's a short synopsis: 

Lucy and Delilah are roommates, aspiring artists, and miserable tutors in New York City. However, their lives take a dramatic turn when one of Delilah’s tutoring clients, Victor, pays her in an NFT. The two are baffled - what is an NFT? They become convinced they’ve been scammed.

Upon hearing that Victor is at Art Basel, the two decide to fly to Miami to create an interactive investigative report to get to the bottom of the mystery. Initially, their motive is to publicly decry a man they think scammed them, but while in Miami, they find themselves entranced by the excitingly volatile world of NFTs. This may have been the best payment of a lifetime. 

While VIIRA has generously helped cover part of the Miami shoot, we need your financial help for our New York shoot and post-production. Our money will go to rent film equipment, to pay our cinematographer, sound mixer, and sound & color editor, as well as provide paid opportunites for our cast members.

The completion of Victor Versus the Metaverse will also officially launch our production company, Drama House Pictures, which has been a dream of ours since we made our first feature film in 2019. With your help, we can bring our artistic vision to life and our wry and entertaining lens on social issues to the world.

Thank you! 

*Covid Safety Plan:*

We are especially conscious of the difficulties of shooting during the Covid-pandemic. To keep our crew and cast safe, we have envisioned as many outdoor shoots as possible, and are ensuring all our participants are vaccinated and following state-mandated guidelines.