A group of filmmakers and community members are collaborating to create a feature-length film that will chronicle the rise of the meme that inspired the popular cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. The film, which is being produced by Web3 art and culture collective PleasrDAO and Doge-oriented NFT community Own the Doge, aims to attract a major Hollywood studio or backer.

The meme, which featured Kabosu, a Shiba Inu, has had a significant impact on popular culture over the last decade, inspiring a cryptocurrency with a market cap of $11.6 billion, a life philosophy, and even a pilgrimage to Japan. The film will pay tribute to the 17-year-old dog’s journey from an abandoned puppy to a global icon.

The untitled “dogumentary” film is directed by Jon Lynn and has been funded by PleasrDAO and community members of Own the Doge. Despite the project’s origins in the Doge community, the film’s backers hope to attract a mass audience. “We are looking to bring on the right partners to make this the most wild film the world has ever seen,” said tridog, a pseudonymous film producer and core contributor of Own the Doge.

The film is also produced by director Lynn and New Revolution Media. The group is actively seeking more traditionally established backers, and has so far attracted the support of Jim Toth, the former Hollywood talent agent and producer, as well as Arthur Jones, director of the Pepe the Frog-inspired documentary “Feels Good Man,” and documentary producer Evan Rosenfeld.

The creative team behind the film hopes to attract a major film distributor, such as streaming giants like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. They plan to have a variety of partners and producers, both traditional and crypto-native, to make the film the best piece of art the internet has ever seen.

However, it remains unclear whether any traditional film studio will be willing to shepherd a crypto-native project backed by a decentralized web of numerous producers, many of whom use pseudonyms. This challenge is not unique to the Doge community, as many filmmakers are attempting to harness Web3 tools to fund, produce, and distribute media in innovative ways. While DAOs can offer unique fundraising mechanisms and distribution channels, established film studios still offer a reach and impact that are difficult, if not impossible, to replicate.

Tridog speaking at a TedX conference in Fargo, North Dakota in October. Courtesy: TedX Talks

Proponents of Web3-native film projects believe that they can offer studios something that those companies are struggling to find anywhere else: built-in, passionate audiences with a stake in a project’s success. The Doge community, with its deep passion and engagement, is a prime example of such an audience.