In Brief:
- The Sandbox SAND $0.06818 ▲ +12.3% (official site) creators Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget are acting as lead investors and partners on Hollywood Hills, a cosmic horror feature from writer-director Benjamin Rozovas.
- The film’s community fundraising drive went live Oct. 8 on Republic, targeting $1 million at a $200 minimum, with a contractual revenue share and priority repayment of 120% for backers.
- A 3,000-piece Villa NFT collection minted on Ethereum lands on OpenSea on Oct. 15, and every Villa conceals a clue to the film’s central mystery.
Hollywood Hills, a cosmic horror feature fronted by The Sandbox co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget, launched its public fundraising drive on Republic on Oct. 8, chasing $1 million from fans who want a stake in the picture before a single frame is shot.
The Regulation Crowdfunding offering stays open through Dec. 31 and lists a $75,000 minimum target against a $5 million cap, with a minimum investment of $200.
Creating new IPs has been my passion for 15+ years. What excites me most is bringing communities along for the journey, letting them participate in building these worlds and even share in their success.
Who says virtual worlds can’t become games, movies, or both?
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Backers gain contractual rights to a slice of revenue from release, streaming, merchandise, sequels and remakes. They stand first in line to recoup 120% of what they put in before any remaining proceeds are divided 50/50 between investors and producers. Nothing is guaranteed — payments rest entirely on the film making money.
Madrid and Borget are lead investors and partners on the production, and The Sandbox is on board as a strategic marketing and community partner. The project made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024.
Villas that double as evidence
The first 1,000 backers receive a Hollywood Hills Villa, one of 3,000 digital collectibles illustrated by Steve Scott, whose client roster spans Led Zeppelin, Disney and The Washington Post. The set is minted on Ethereum, with its OpenSea debut set for Oct. 15.
Every Villa stands for an address in the film’s take on the Hills and carries a piece of evidence linked to the plot. Rarity layers on more: uncommon holders get a digital art book, rare holders unlock the complete 125-year backstory of the prequel comic, and legendary Villas can enter the canon of the comic or an investigation game.
Holders also gain a private Discord, behind-the-scenes drops, the Black Fire Archive investigation game and early access to the comic prequel.
“The Villas are not simply collectibles. They’re pieces of evidence, carrying clues that invite people to investigate, form theories and become part of the mythology,” Borget said in the announcement.
Ownership has its boundaries. Per the project’s own FAQ, a Villa confers no intellectual property rights and no share of revenue. Revenue participation runs solely through the Republic offering.
Tiers span from the $200 Passenger level, which bundles a common Villa with a founding investors web credit, up to a $100,000 Black Fire tier carrying a single-title-card executive producer credit and the buyer’s Villa recreated in the film. The $2,500 Society tier adds an associate producer credit, plus a seat on the bus tour or a guaranteed audition.
A star dying over Los Angeles
The plot revolves around the Dead & Famous bus tour, a nighttime route past the homes where celebrities died. In the film, the bus strays off route as a star dies above the city, echoing a comet that crossed the sky in 1899 — the year Los Angeles “lost its mind and never entirely got it back,” according to the campaign page. 12 people have gone missing in the hills.
“A dying star. A sleazy tour bus. A secret society waiting in the Hills,” the film’s official account posted.
The tour runs off screen too. The production has teamed up with Los Angeles operator Grave Line Tours to drive the Dead & Famous route this month, past spots tied to Ramon Novarro, Peg Entwistle and Dorothy Stratten. Investors get the first rides before it opens to the general public around the release.
The Sandbox ties
Madrid and Borget launched mobile studio Pixowl in 2011 and sold it to Animoca Brands in 2018. The pair stepped back from running The Sandbox last year — Madrid now serves as chairman and Borget as ambassador. The Sandbox’s LAND NFT sales brought in $390 million, though the collection’s estimated value sits around $14 million today, per CoinGecko data.
“Creating new IPs has been my passion for 15+ years. What excites me most is bringing communities along for the journey, letting them participate in building these worlds and even share in their success,” Borget shared on X.
Madrid cast the project as a wager on shifting film economics. “We really believe that everything is changing in the movies industry, and it’s pretty interesting to build an IP and build a community even before the movie is made,” he said in an interview. “This is the tokenization of a real world asset.”
The script is done and casting is underway, Madrid said. Rozovas spent two decades as a film journalist for GQ and Première and directed “Sam & Julia.” Principal photography is set for Q3 2027 in Spain, with a 2028 release in its sights.
Buyers face one immediate pitfall: a token called $HILLS went live on-chain on Oct. 2 from a wallet tied to copycat projects, and neither the film’s account nor its website claims it.