'Hail Draconis' Is Australia’s First Crypto-Powered Animation

What if holding a cryptocurrency could save you from Earth’s Reptilian overlords?

The pitch might seem out there - but for Australian creators Truce Films, it’s a launchpad into a revolutionary new world of narrative storytelling on the blockchain. Their new series, Hail Draconis, is one of the first animated series in the world to be created and financed using a unique combination of cryptocurrency and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Launching its first-look teaser last weekend, Hail Draconis is an animated comedy following the misadventures of the Grand Reptilian Council, a shadowy, shapeshifting cabal trying to take over the world.

The revolutionary financing model behind the series is a bespoke cryptocurrency called ‘Reptilian Coin’ ($RPTC), a meme coin similar to Dogecoin. Holders of $RPTC receive exclusive bonus content and interaction with the series, including collectible NFT rewards. They’re also marked as ‘safe’ from the great Reptilian blood sacrifice, a reference to the running joke that the show’s lead characters are on the brink of laying waste to mankind. The launch and growth of the coin has funded the entire development and production of the project thus far, a world-first for animation. 

“It’s like crowdfunding on steroids,” says Jim Wright, head of development at Truce Films. “People who buy $RPTC are literally invested in the success of the show. As well as becoming an active part of the storyworld, they become our biggest asset in spreading the word of Hail Draconis. This is a potentially radical disruption of the traditional pathways to audience, and to financing content.” 

Co-creator Micca Delaney elaborates: “This is a totally new platform for storytelling. We’ve been able to build Hail Draconis from the bottom up, and in doing so have built an incredibly engaged community along the way.”

The series plays out within an expanded and participatory Hail Draconis metaverse spanning episodes, comics, NFT releases, and fan interaction on Twitter and Discord. The bumbling lead characters are active across all platforms, interacting with fans and weaving threads of story between the real world and the imagined. Purchase of $RPTC feeds the creation of the series, funnelling exclusive content back to the holder and bringing a sense of ownership to the show. The first-look teaser was released on Sunday 10th of October, its launch almost tripling the value of $RPTC.

Truce executive producer Elise Trenorden said: “We’ve been really fortunate to have some amazing creative partners and voice artists based in the US who have helped us bring this to life, including Production partner Michael Sinterniklaas, who’s voice direction and post-production work for animation have been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes, and Niv Toar and Gabriel Mann who are the incredible composers behind Modern Family and numerous other US TV shows. We’re also super excited to be working with Melbourne animator Cam Gough at Dirty Puppet (Aunty Donna).” 

Production is underway for a full pilot episode and development has begun for the first series of 6 episodes, which will be written and directed by Nicholas Clifford. Soon to be released is a second issue of the Hail Draconis comic book, as well as further NFT drops for holders of $RPTC.