T.J. Miller, Jon Heder to Star in Web3 Animated Comedy Inspired by Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX

Abbey White
·3 min read
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T.J. Miller and Jon Heder will lead a new animated, interactive social comedy based on Sam Bankman-Fried and the implosion of FTX.

The latest series from Web3 story studio Toonstar FORTUN3 will see comedian and Silicon Valley actor Miller portray a character inspired by Bankman-Fried, the alleged fraudster and founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the Alameda Research trading firm. Both companies collapsed in 2022 and filed for bankruptcy before its CEO faced more than 12 criminal charges related to fraud and conspiracy.

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Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Monster House) — a partner at Web3 agency Verified Labs — will also voice star alongside Amber Rose, who appears as a recurring guest star.

Toonstar, which is hosting the “Audience is King” San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday featuring Miller, Heder and company executives, is also set to release an A.I.-powered companion game of the same name alongside the series. In what the company calls an “industry first,” this cross between Sims and Game of Life will see players develop characters through a series of life decisions and moral dilemmas.

As storylines advance in FORTUN3, the game’s corresponding chapters will be impacted. A.I. will fuel the development of original characters as well as digital comic books based on gameplay. Players will also have the opportunity for their characters to earn a role in the animated series. The companion material is the latest example of how the company is focusing in on audience participation as part of its content development process.

“Today’s entertainment consumers expect more than one-sided, passive entertainment. They want to participate in the storytelling and engage with other fans in a way that begins to resemble gaming models,” said John Attanasio, co-founder and CEO of Toonstar. “In addition to greater fan engagement, our interactive form of storytelling can serve as a model for Hollywood to uncover new entertainment franchises and unlock new revenue streams.”

The series, which is set to release sometime late this fall or early winter, is a meta-project of sorts for Toonstar, which utilizes A.I. and blockchain (the foundation of cryptocurrency) technologies and has previously produced The Gimmicks, House of Chico and Space Junk. (The latter features a character voiced by artificial-intelligence technology.)

“They gave me the opportunity to join such an original project and a timely story playing a version of the greatest crypto villain of all time… Yes!” T. J. Miller said in a statement. “FORTUN3 is a groundbreaking way for fans to participate, enjoy and actually be in the show. I can’t wait to see it blow people’s actual minds.”

Last December, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas before being extradited to the U.S. and indicted, charged with an initial eight offenses, including wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance law violations. An additional four charges were handed down in February by the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The former crypto hedge-fund owner, who has pled not guilty and was released on a $250 million bail agreement ahead of an October court date, allegedly stole billions in FTX customer funds as a way to address losses at Alameda Research. He has also been accused of conspiring to make more than 300 illegal political donations.

Toonstar was founded in 2015 by John Attanasio, a vp and marketing veteran with ties to DreamWorks Animation and Warner Bros., and Luisa Huang, who worked as an analyst in strategy and business development before moving to consumer products at Disney.

The series is arriving in the midst of the first double-strike in Hollywood since 1960, in which members of both the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA are at odds with the AMPTP’s studios and streamers on a number of new technology issues, particularly the role of artificial intelligence in respect to writing and TV and film performance.

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