Stephen Fung took center stage in one of the most anticipated web 3.0 events in New York.
(NEW YORK, 20 July 2022) NFTs have become all the rage in technology and investment circles as the newest way to collect unique art, invest, and build communities. But Departed Apes NFT is a cut above the rest as this collection of NFTs comes with a cinematic universe and is developed by renowned international filmmaker and actor Stephen Fung.
Earlier in July, filmmaker Stephen Fung launched the Departed Apes NFT collection at NFT.NYC, an annual NFT event organized in New York City. While Fung is known for his roles in films such as Gen-X Cops, House of Fury, and 2002 as well as directorial projects with AMC’s Into the Badlands and Netflix’s Wu Assassins, he is confidently stepping into this new role as the creative mind behind Departed Apes.
In creating this massive cinematic NFT collection, Stephen Fung teamed up with powerhouses like Media Asia Group and Everest Venture Group. Together, they aim to combine cinematic storytelling with digital assets and blockchain technology on web 3. Their joint collaboration created Grid6 Studios, which will bring the Departed Apes NFT and cinematic universe to life.
Departed Apes is a collection of 8,027 characters living on the Ethereum blockchain. These characters roam the parallel universe of Infernal Affairs, a crime thriller of international acclaim. In the world of Departed Apes, NFT holders have the key to unlock their part in this metaverse and can use their characters to go deep undercover and discover their true identities as cops or criminals.
According to Stephen Fung, the inspiration behind the art style of this NFT collection is the art direction of classic American comics he read as a teenager. He hopes this choice will attract comic book lovers, film aficionados, and other creatives to this collection. To create Departed Apes in the classic comics style, Grid6 Studios brought in Logan Lubera, a Marvel Cover Artist, as their lead artist. “There’s something in this collection for everyone,” Fung shared.
Grid6 Studios is also focused on building its metaverse community. One of the future milestones of this project is a Departed Apes animation feature, and members of this community can participate in the Writer’s Room. This will allow them to shape and be part of the journey of developing the Departed Apes cinematic NFT universe. “Our community is essential to us. And we want to build a platform that aspiring directors, writers, producers, actors, and movie fans will love,” Stephen Fung said. This community will also serve as a platform for distinguished guests to hold AMAs (Ask Me Anything). Their most recent speaker was Daniel Wu, a renowned actor and producer, who spoke at the NFT.NYC afterparty, where over 200 investors, collectors, and movie fans were in attendance.
Filmmaking may be a different art compared to creating NFT collections, but Stephen Fung is eager to bring his two passions together. Before creating Departed Apes, Fung had experience dabbling in cryptocurrencies. After learning more about this new digital sphere, Fung dove into different NFT projects. Seeing what collections were available and in development, he sought to fill a gap and combine NFTs with well-developed storytelling and filmmaking for his own project.
“NFTs may be a new medium for me, but I am eager to commit to this new endeavor. I am in the business of storytelling, art, and emotions, and that is a huge part of what makes an NFT collection stand out. The Departed Apes NFT is an innovative collection, and excited to invite more people on this creative journey,” Stephen Fung shared.
