5 Questions With...
Here's the kick-off to this special edition's 5 Questions With... series taking you inside the minds of innovators in the tech and filmmaking space. We are in the midst of a major convergence of these two areas and creating what I call Future Storytelling. These experts will help you prep for the new era whether it be digital film, NFT film financing, crypto film payments, and more. Here we go:
EDWINA YEO
FOUNDER, SUPERMOMOS
Lauren deLisa Coleman: What is Supermomos' mission, how does it impact the industry, and how does your career background play into the idea for the app?
Edwina Yeo: We are living in a time where we are more hyper-connected than ever, but at the same time also more isolated than ever. Former New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi recently declared “an epidemic of loneliness”, citing citywide health surveys that found that “57% of residents felt lonely some of the time or often, and 67% felt socially isolated in the prior four weeks.” Supermomos’ mission is to bring people in the city together and facilitate meaningful in-person interactions. We curate communities of people in similar and adjacent fields within the same city. Profession is the biggest common denominator of most adults – it is where we spend the largest amount of time on and hopefully, what we have interest in. Profession, therefore, becomes one of the easiest foundations for us to build friendships on due to greater shared experiences. We are starting first with the technology sector – our users are young tech industry professionals such as software engineers, designers, product managers, marketers, founders, and investors.
I used to work in venture capital for most of my career – both on the portfolio management side where I helped companies scale from series A to acquisition, and also on the investing side where I invested in both early-stage and growth-stage start-ups. Connecting founders and investors was something that I enjoyed doing. Why not supercharge this with technology and also enable other professionals to do the same? Serendipitous encounters within a community can lead to friendship, knowledge sharing, and new opportunities for people.
LdC: What do you see as the future of the intersection of film and emerging tech like crypto, NFTs?
EY: I think there is a lot of potential for blockchain to democratize the film and music industry, and make it more affordable and accessible to both creators and consumers. Historically, the industry has been highly pyramidal where those at the top could earn a lot of money while the vast majority of creators at the bottom of the pyramid found it difficult to sustain themselves. Record labels, which had the power to catapult artists to the top, held a lot of power and could extract an arm and a leg from creators. Blockchain and NFTs offer creators a new distribution channel to present and market their work, and also engage with their community of fans. Just like how the internet and e-commerce have enabled a new wave of direct-to-consumer (DTC) CPG brands to be built, bypassing traditional large-format offline retailers, blockchain and NFTs could similarly usher in a new wave of DTC creator brands, enabling creators to go direct to fans.
EY: What are you most excited about regarding this convergence?
The increased affordability and accessibility to both creators and consumers leading to greater diversity of film and musical creation. Also, a bigger pie that is sliced in a more equitable fashion!
LdC: Why do you think it's important for the tech/innovation industry to be represented at Tribeca Film Fest like this and what new additions of categories would you like to see?
EY: The Tribeca Film Festival started in 2002, in response to the September 11 attacks and subsequent decline in vibrance of the Tribeca neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. The festival was the fruit of months of planning by more than a thousand volunteers and was attended by more than one hundred thousand people. Its mission was to revitalize Lower Manhattan through a celebration of culture, film, and music, by bringing independent film and music to the world. Fast forward ten years, having recently come out of the pandemic and right now living through a bear market, we need this revitalization, celebration of culture, and coming together, more than ever. New innovations and technology such as blockchain, through decentralizing power and increasing accessibility to both creators and consumers, are in a great position to supercharge Tribeca Film Festival’s mission to distribute independent film and music to the widest possible audience.
LdC: What's your favorite cocktail? :-)
EY: Frozen mango margarita
Edwina Yeo of Supermomos, courtesy of Edwina Yeo