We Are As Gods
A Film About Stewart Brand
We Are As Gods is a new documentary about legendary counterculture prankster, environmentalist, and technologist Stewart Brand that premiered at SXSW 2021. The film chronicles Stewart’s extraordinary biography and his present day mission to shift humanity's perspective on technology, space, time, and life itself. The film is accompanied by a timeless original score by Brian Eno. See the trailer above.
The world dramatically changed in 2020, and so did the way we share and experience stories. We want to be part of the steamroller, taking a crypto approach to distribution that befits the subject of our film himself—a futurist who is always one step ahead.
Our Campaign
So here is our wild pitch: let’s release We Are As Gods by minting NFTs on Mirror! The idea is simple: an NFT will not only allow you to stream the film, but it will also unlock analog artifacts and once-in-a-lifetime IRL experiences, alongside these digital rarities. By releasing the film through blockchain technology, we’re exploring a new distribution model for the future of the film industry.
These are the words of futurist Stewart Brand in 1984 at the first Hacker’s Conference, summarizing his discussion between Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and proponents of the free software movement.
Making the film publicly available is true to Stewart’s philosophy of democratizing new technology and creating access to tools. We also hope it helps grow the Ethereum community, bringing new users into the ecosystem.
Legacy media wants to restrict filmmakers and lock-in viewers into costly monthly subscriptions for mediocre content. NFTs offer an opportunity to liberate filmmakers and audiences from this constraint.
Once we hit our goal, you’ll be airdropped an animated unlocked 1/1 This Film Wants To Be Free NFT that represents your fractionalized ownership of We Are As Gods (pro rata, based on your percent contribution), as a thank you for freeing this film. We will use Fractional.art to mint a 1/1 animated NFT based on the iconic poster art. We are circumventing the legacy film system, taking a crypto-native approach by distributing the film on the blockchain as a public good—free for everyone to watch, but owned by few.
If you have any questions for us about rewards, the film, or the campaign, hit us up on twitter @stewartbranddoc
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Campaign Update
The Editions are still open until October 10th, but the Patron Podium is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. A special thank you to the top 25 patrons. We’ll reach out to you directly about airdropping your unique NFT with bespoke rewards.Big CONGRATULATIONS to the top three winners:
- dorami.eth (12 ETH)
- @WillPapper (7.75 ETH)
- @noun12LFG (5.75 ETH)
Editioned NFT Rewards
Aging Whole Earth Catalog
Stewart is perhaps best known for being editor and publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog, the so-called bible of the counterculture. Years before the Internet would democratize information, Stewart created the ecological do-it-yourself publication The Whole Earth Catalog, which Steve Jobs famously called “Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google existed.” It became a touchstone for an entire generation of hippies, entrepreneurs, hackers, and environmentalists. This aging generative art NFT immortalizes the Whole Earth Catalog.
This Whole Earth Catalog NFT slowly ages over time so that it looks like the aged artifact of today. Over the next 100 years, this generative art project will reward patience and long term thinking. On a dozen intervaled Earth Days (starting April 22nd 2022) over the next 100 years, The NFT will generate new Whole Earth Catalog cover in your wallet. For the next century, this NFT will continually morph into new and surprising animated versions of the Catalog, capturing the spirit of Stewart’s original publication, and conferring value to the art piece for the next century.
This is a temporary enveloped token that can be exchanged for the Aging Whole Earth Catalog. This is your ticket to mint—the moment you unwrap, it starts to age.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film, scan of Stewart Brand’s original Whole Earth Catalog, directors’ cut of the Whole Earth 50th reunion. When the film is freed, your name is immortalized in the documentary on a shared title page in the final credits.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, limited edition Blu-ray, "Why Haven't We Seen a Photograph of the Whole Earth Yet" button replica, signed film poster.
Cost: 5 ETH (the original price of the Catalog was $5.)
Edition: 1/100
Mammoth:
Today, Stewart is on a quest to revive endangered and extinct species using a new type of biotech conservation called “genetic rescue” (or de-extinction)—which proposes to resurrect beloved species humans have killed off, such as the woolly mammoth and the passenger pigeon. Stewart says that “computer hacking was about dealing with what we used to communicate and think with. And biohacking has to do with what we used to live with. And it's wonderful that the biotech pioneers are really taking a long-term responsibility for what they're doing.”
This animated NFT commemorates the future de-extincted woolly mammoth, and Stewart’s mission to bring it back.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film, a scan of Stewart Brand’s original Whole Earth Catalog, and deleted scenes from Stewart's journey to Siberia with geneticist George Church. When the film is freed, your name is immortalized in the documentary on a shared title page in the final credits.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, limited edition Blu-Ray, Whole Earth button replica, and a signed film poster.
Edition: 1/200
Cost: 2 ETH
‘68 Whole Earth Catalog
This NFT commemorates the original Whole Earth Catalog ‘68. The scanned art is based on Stewart’s personal copy of the Catalog, and the original NASA footage he used to create it. Interestingly, Stewart only printed 1,000 copies of this first edition. There are only 5 known copies of the original still in physical existence today. Now, you can own 1 of an exclusive 1000 tokens of the blockchain-preserved Whole Earth Catalog 1968.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film.
Web: Your name will be featured on a special section of the weareasgods.film website as one of the original owners of the world’s only Whole Earth Catalog tokens.
Cost: 0.5 ETH
Edition: 1/1000
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
This NFT is derived from the back cover of the Whole Earth Catalog Epilog (the last official Catalog). The phrase was used as a call-to-action to an entire generation of young Millennials in Steve Jobs’s famous Stanford commencement address in 2005.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film.
Web: Your name will be featured on weareasgods.film
Cost: 0.25 ETH
Edition: 1/1000
This Film Wants To Be Free
Digital: Once the film is freed, this still image poster will come alive as a motion NFT. We will airdrop the animated movie poster to all token holders. Use it on our NFT-gated platform to watch a sneak peek of the film, before it becomes publicly available.
Also, you will be invited to a private Discord chat with exclusive access to the film’s release. You will be the first to know everything.
Web: You get a special thanks on our website weareasgods.film, for this level and any above. Special sections are created for higher supporters.
Cost: 0.001 ETH
Edition: 1/2000
Patron Podium Rewards (Closed)*
When the crowdfund ends, the top three contributors will be able to choose, in successive order based on leadership podium ranking, one of three 1/1 edition NFTs featuring historical moments in Stewart Brand’s life. They each include glittering digital, analog, and once in-a-lifetime IRL prizes.
Backers 4-25 on the podium receive the Whole Earth Catalog Supplement. This NFT unlocks a leaderboard party with Stewart at The Interval with your fellow supplement backers (or a group Zoom chat with Stewart if you can’t make it). Includes a special access NFT-gated stream of the film.
*ALL REWARDS in this campaign will be honored (except the film credits) in the event we don’t reach our goal.
REWARDS PACKAGE #1: The Trips Festival
NFT: This one-of-a-kind token is an animated Trips Festival flyer based on the original artwork.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film, Trips Festival handbill. When the film is freed, you are an NFT Executive Producer—your name added on a single title card at the end of the film.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, limited edition Blu-ray, "Why Haven't We Seen a Photograph of the Whole Earth Yet" button replica, Stewart’s hand-signed Whole Earth Epilog, signed film poster.
Experience: A chartered ride on Stewart’s famed tugboat The Mirene under the Golden Gate Bridge with Stewart Brand. You +3.
Cost: The top 3 contributors will be able to choose, in successive order based on leadership podium ranking.
Edition: 1/1
REWARDS PACKAGE #2: Whole Earth Photograph
NFT: This NFT is an animated "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole earth yet?" button from Stewart’s campaign to release the photograph.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film and 4k NASA film of the Whole Earth—the original film footage, unearthed by the filmmakers, used on the 1968 Whole Earth Catalog cover. When the film is freed, you are an NFT Executive Producer—your name added on a single title card at the end of the film.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, ultra-rare *ORIGINAL* "Why Haven't We Seen a Photograph of the Whole Earth Yet" button from 1966, limited edition Blu-ray, signed Whole Earth flag, signed film poster.
Experience: Screening at The Interval, including Q&A with Stewart and the filmmakers. You +5.
Cost: The top 3 contributors will be able to choose, in successive order based on leadership podium ranking.
Edition: 1/1
REWARDS PACKAGE #3: Hackers
NFT: An animated screen capture in the style of The WELL, with the log-in phrase that declares You Own Your Own Words.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film, scan of Stewart Brand’s Original Whole Earth Catalog, download of directors’ cut of hackers scene. When the film is freed, you are an NFT Executive Producer—your name added on a single title card at the end of the film.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, limited edition Blu-ray, Whole Earth button replica, signed Co-Evolution Quarterly with article about Hackers, Signed film poster.
Experience: Go on a hike with Hackers Conference organizers and technology luminaries Ryan Phelan, Kevin Kelly, and Stewart Brand, to the site of the 1st Hackers Conference. You +1
Cost: The top three contributors will be able to choose, in successive order based on leadership podium ranking.
Edition: 1/1
REWARDS PACKAGE #4: The Whole Earth Catalog Supplement
The Whole Earth Catalog Supplements were published in between issues of the Catalogs. You can own this rare and specialized catalog.
Digital: NFT-gated directors’ cut of the film and scan of Stewart Brand’s original Whole Earth Catalog. When the film is freed, you are an NFT Co-Executive Producer—your name added on a shared title card at the end of the film.
Analog: Your NFT displayed on an Infinite Objects frame, limited edition Blu-ray, Whole Earth button replica, and a signed film poster.
Experience: Party at The Interval bar in San Francisco with Stewart and filmmakers. Zoom hang out for those who can’t attend in person.
Cost: Backers 4-25 on the podium will be airdropped the Whole Earth Catalog Supplement NFT.
Edition: 21
*All signed rewards are autographed by Stewart Brand
More Info on the Campaign
In the spirit of the open source movement, we agree that access to information and culture is a human right—we should tear down the walls to liberate creative works. At the same time, artists and creators should be remunerated for their work, particularly during a time when traditional avenues have been shuttered due to COVID-19. NFTs embody that tension that Stewart grappled with nearly 40 years ago, as Foundation founder Kayvon Tehranian recently wrote.
Always ahead of his time, Stewart Brand wrestled with the tension that information wants to be free AND expensive decades before NFTs were ever minted on the blockchain. Always with an eye toward the future, Stewart gave the keynote address at Ethereum DevCon in 2018, where he says that the blockchain is the decentralized future of the internet—comparing it to the Whole Earth Catalog "because the blockchain confers agency—it lets you do damn near anything you want to do."
These NFTs are inspired from the film and Stewart’s life. The drop includes exclusive 1/1 NFTs, rare limited edition NFTs and a rare generative art token of Stewart Brand’s original copy of his watershed publication The Whole Earth Catalog, one of only five known physical copies in existence. Additionally the filmmakers are making unlockable content available that includes a slew of creative downloadable content; private screenings of the film at The Interval in San Francisco; rare physical rewards including copies of the Whole Earth Catalog signed by Stewart Brand himself; and a Directors’ Cut of the film on a limited edition Blu-ray. There are three premium NFTs that will come with a personalised experience with Stewart Brand himself. See more in the podium!
Crowdfund Donations
Proceeds from this campaign will be contributed to Stripe Climate, an initiative to develop emerging carbon removal technologies that proactively target the reversal of climate change. Additional proceeds will be donated to Eth.build, the Long Now Foundation, and Revive & Restore.
The Filmmakers
Our production company, Structure Films, is a zygote-to-apoptosis (soup-to-nuts) cinematic production company, excelling in feature film production and world-class post-production.
We are filmmakers who tell stories about some of the most fascinating and relevant personalities in science, health, nature, and technology. We are passionate about creating gripping, character-driven narratives that aspire to change the world for the better. We recognize that science is the greatest tool for understanding life, the cosmos, and building the evidence-based world we want to inhabit.
Currently based out of New York and San Francisco, we met at Stanford University while getting our M.F.A.s in Documentary Filmmaking.
We are especially drawn to new ways of funding and distributing documentaries. Our most recent film, Bill Nye: Science Guy had, at the time, the most successful Kickstarter campaign for a documentary.
This time we want to immortalize We Are As Gods on the blockchain. Our fundraising goal reflects the value that we could receive if we distributed the film via the standard theatrical-and-Web-2.0-route. 🥱
The celebrated and critically acclaimed documentary never had a chance to be seen by the public… until now!
To learn more about the documentary, visit weareasgods.film, and to learn more about the filmmakers, read more at structurefilms.com