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BEN MAURO
EP.57
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Ben Mauro
How HUXLEY pushed against NFT trends and won
In the first episode of season 04, Ross is joined by Ben Mauro, creator of HUXLEY.
World builder. Character creator. Storyteller. Ben Mauro’s work has made a powerful impact on the gaming world, as a senior concept designer and art director for first-person-shooting dynasties Halo and Call of Duty. His visions have graced the big screen in Elysium, Chappie, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Now he unveils his fully-fledged graphic novel series, Huxley.
Ross and Ben discuss how HUXLEY has rebelled against NFT trends – using them as a sales channel instead of a fundraising platform and taking their time to craft the world of HUXLEY – and why Ben chose to launch his ideas in Web3 instead of traditional media.
Highlights
A graphic novel [is] one of the few ways a single creator can create the entire product
You go to a meeting and they're just like "Cool art, kid – but what does this look like as a movie?"
Once NFTs + Web3 happened. It was just like, well, maybe this is a more interesting way to launch a product?
You can't one-to-one sell a product like you would in Web2, you have to create some kind of interesting gamification
I feel like a lot of stuff in Web3 is reverse – "Here's some art. Maybe I'll make a product if you give me money"
Everyone was treating it like a Kickstarter. And I was treating it more like sales distribution
More about Ben Mauro
World builder. Character creator. Storyteller. Ben Mauro’s work has made a powerful impact on the gaming world, as senior concept designer and art director for first-person-shooting dynasties Halo and Call of Duty. Ben has been crafting the characters, weaponry, machinery and gamescapes that have made these franchises house-hold names for two decades. His visions have graced the big screen in Elysium, Chappie, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Now he unveils his fully-fledged graphic novel series, Huxley.
Show notes
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Season 04 of One More Question focuses on brands in web3. How are blockchain, NFTs, decentralisation, and the reallocation of creativity affecting our culture? We speak to builders, leaders, and brands that are building the next iteration of the internet and culture.
This podcast came about because we want to share some of the best answers we have heard over the last 15 years. We talk to significant creators, experts and communicators we encounter and share useful insights, inspiration, and facts that make us stop and take note as we go about our work.
Hosted by our founder Ross Drakes