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We Do A Little Dream Lab World Premiere 🎥
Recorded: Dec. 19, 2025 Duration: 0:43:19Space Recording
Short Summary
In a vibrant discussion, Weesh unveiled his new docuseries 'Dream Lab,' backed by Moonpay, which explores the artistic journeys of creators in the crypto space. This partnership not only marks a significant project launch but also highlights a trend of increasing investment in creative culture within the blockchain community.
Full Transcription
Music Thank you. Thank you. Music Thank you. . Thank you. Are we so back or are we in Limba?
We are so back.
Just the space absolutely crashed for me.
So just give me a second.
This service has only been around for, I think, four years.
So just a new feature on the app.
Give it some time.
We'll figure it out eventually.
But yeah, thank you so much, everyone, for joining.
Thought we'd switch it up a little bit uh from our traditional vibe space
uh appreciate everyone coming and tuning in
Are we rugged or isn't me?
I definitely thought it was me.
I thought it was honest.
Everyone thought it was me.
Yeah.
This one more time?
That's tough.
I 100% thought it was me.
Guys, can we talk about that jazz music?
That was so nice.
Let's just listen to that.
Yeah, what was that?
We switched up the...
Yeah, it's part of the default music settings.
Is it really?
It's so class.
It has the vinyl sound and everything.
Yeah, it's trackly too.
I'm wearing like...
I got some nicer headphones.
I'm like, wow.
That's not an issue with the headphones. That's part of the experience. Yeah, it's trackly too. I'm wearing like, I got some nicer headphones. It's like, wow. That's not an issue with the headphones.
That's part of the experience.
Yeah, it's really textured.
Yeah, no, that was a great one. I'm pretty sure Joanna put the normal song on here,
but it played a wrong one for me.
And then she finally just switched it up to something way better,
which we absolutely love to see. I think this app is working this time. But yeah, good to see some
friends up on stage. Dave, great to see you. We happy, happy you're here. Happy we're doing this.
Joelle, I think you're on stage. If you are, I can't see you, GM. And Deez um been a hell of a week um yeah and couldn't think of a better way
to round it off uh we've had a crazy week with uh with all of our rover stuff um and just uh being
up for an entirely long period of time uh over the past couple weeks so i couldn't think of a
better way to round it off with talking about art and cinema, two of my favorite topics.
And we're joined by this.
We brought this together by Weesh,
who just made an incredible docuseries called Dream Lab,
presented by Moonpay, which is just an incredible cinematic experience.
And for those that do follow me every once in a while,
I do share a lot of, share my love for cinema quite a bit.
And Weesh and I have shared plenty of DMs back and forth.
So it's nice to be able to co-host one of my favorite creators.
And couldn't think of a better way to make this work.
I know Weesh has produced Deez's.
We do a little podcast, the main producer
behind all those episodes. So if you ever are wondering why they look so good and sound so good,
this is the man behind the camera who is doing all the work. So I just want to give a huge
shout out to you, man, and welcome. How are you doing today? Wow, thank you. That was an
introduction. Thank you, Buna. Thank you, Deez. Thank you, Schiller. Thank you, Moonpei. I'm feeling good. I'm honestly a little tired because this is the most I've been on the internet for a long time this week. But yeah, it's a good reason to be tired.
But yeah, it's a good reason to be tired.
I feel like everyone's got a good reason to be tired.
And we were up late on Roger's space.
Unnecessary.
That's also a reason we're tired.
True.
Yeah, that was...
I was up till 6 a.m.
Oh my god, dude.
I was on that till 6 a.m.
And I was like, yeah, if I don't go to bed now,
I'm not going to make this space and this one's important.
So I went to bed at six.
So I'm not going to lie.
When I saw the tweet go out for y'all going live on his show,
I really thought it was 12 p.m.
And so my ass went to bed.
And then I was like, why did I miss it?
And then realized that it was not.
And I completely missed that.
So y'all are absolute champions. Roger is
an absolute beast for doing a show like that. That's just absolute mental illness, but also
just like peak vibes of what he's built. So yeah, I hope y'all are doing well. Dave, how you doing,
man? I'm doing great. I was also up till six in the morning, but I was on a shoot.
I'm doing an automotive shoot right now and they want all pictures of cars in New York City
at night. And the only way to really do that effectively is to wait till everybody else goes
to sleep. And this is famously the city that doesn't do that. So we've been going out at
midnight every night. And so I'm completely nocturnal,
but really great to be here
and honored to be one of the three artists
featured by Weesh in this series.
It's been a joy.
Awesome, man.
Yeah, I wouldn't expect anything less, dude.
I was not up till 6 a.m.
I was watching Avatar.
My favorite part of the movie was the odyssey trailer so um that's what we were up late doing but yeah uh
glad glad to have you here and joelle how are you doing hi oh my god sorry i'm so distracted i think
my pet wasp wants some water or something i found this this wasp in my apartment. I didn't want to kill
it. So anyway, totally random. I am great. Went on a bit of a tangent here. Yeah, Christmas holiday
in between semesters. So I'd love to say I'm taking it easy, but I'm just taking all my
electronics apart and building shit. So having fun.
Yeah.
How are you guys?
Doing great.
Yeah, I feel like there's this like one, like, I think we all want to love the idea of relaxing
for the holidays, but it usually never happens.
So I've never heard of something having a pet wasp before.
So that's a new one for me.
Yeah. having a pet wasp before so that's that's a new that's a new one for me um yeah sorry that's my 80 my adhd is so bad i literally i found it flying in my apartment and i was like oh if i
put it outside it's gonna die i might as well just keep it and feed it until it's hot enough
i'm just trying to be nice okay you are you are nicer than i would ever be to a losp um in my in my home
uh that's that's all i will say um but down to down to get started here i have absolutely i'm
gonna keep this in the spirit of the vibe space there is absolutely no like concrete agenda just
coming up here hanging out with friends uh you, and really diving into some of the stories that Weish has told here.
So I just want to maybe kick things off.
Starting there, like, Weish, what, you know, this series is called Dream Lab.
Would love to understand kind of why you thought about doing this.
What were maybe some of, like, yeah, just like where this whole thing started?
Yeah, so this whole thing kind of started with, basically since I started in the crypto world, I had this idea of, you know, documenting the extremely talented people that we have unbelievably easy access to on a day-to-day basis. And it started with the desire to kind of have
a documentary about the artistic process. And then over the years kind of just continued to evolve.
And once I finally kind of got the courage and the confidence to try and actually make this.
I decided that instead of specifically thinking about the process and how each person is different,
like how they create is different, I kind of wanted to focus on the personal stories that make us human
and how art has impacted our lives, basically.
So that's kind of like I hope I, you know, created that feeling through every film.
That was the goal. But yeah, obviously, you and you're're speaking to artists we're going to talk about
artistic process some um but yeah i mean i i remember talking to d's and talking to benny
while we were shooting podcasts and ayla really early on um a few years ago about like this idea
and i just feel like i wasn't maybe really ready to dive in until I just decided recently.
Also, I mean, I don't think you were involved in these conversations, Buna,
but I had a lot of conversations with Fungi literally years ago
about trying to get this funded and figuring out how we could potentially make this.
I had a call with Fungie.
I remember he was like really supportive and really liked the idea.
So yeah, I mean, a lot of people in this room right now heard about this for a really long
time before it was actually made.
I feel like that's a lot of, we're seeing a lot of through lines with that.
I know FDOT's recent Cities Collection, speaking of ideas a long time in the making, along
with conversations with Fungie, since we're on that topic.
That was a very, I remember hearing about that quite a while before seeing it come to
fruition.
And you mentioned you decided, until you decided to do it.
What made you just, like, what was the tipping point?
Like, when did you finally feel ready to do that? what what made you just like what was the tipping point like when did
you finally feel ready to do that and what did that look like it was a combination of actually
you just mentioned fdot fdot was honestly one of the reasons why uh i i shot his uh city's video
for for his release um which was actually through you guys i think i think funghi or someone from
shiller told him about me
and then he reached out to me
and then that's how I shot the city's video,
which was really fun to work with him.
But yeah, it was a combination between like feeling
like I was ready emotionally, mentally to take on.
It's honestly like a really, for me at least, a really intense undertaking to
absorb three people's life and construct it into a 10 minute video where they would feel happy
and with it and feel like it best represented them as a person and as an artist. It was like,
it best represented them as a person and as an artist.
It was like, that's like a very heavy emotional burden to carry, I think.
And I just maybe like wasn't ready creatively, emotionally, mentally for all of that.
So it was a combination of me feeling like, okay, I think I can do this now.
And talking to FDOT and he had a relationship with Moonpay for a while.
They were working together and he just kind of told me how supportive Moonpay was.
And I was like, all right, I mean, maybe they are a good partner to try and pitch this to.
So, yeah, I mean, I feel like all of the conversations that I've had with all of the people in this world throughout the time that
I've been here have given me a lot of confidence and helped me create kind of like a livelihood
around video that I'm not sure I would have been able to have if it wasn't for all the connections
that I made through We Do a Little and speaking to you
guys at Shiller and constantly going in spaces and working with this artist and that artist.
It just feels like a bowling ball, honestly, just rolling down the lane. And then I feel like
I'm close to hitting the pins. This documentary feels like I'm close to hitting the pins
where I'm like actually making the things
that I actually want to make and I'm passionate about.
Yeah, I love that answer, dude.
I mean, there's a lot to extrapolate
and there's a couple of tangents we could go on.
But I just always reflect on my own experience experience when when when i think about like what
has ever made me ready to do something you know because there's always there's always a period
where you know the idea may be planted and then it just takes a while to come to fruition and
usually for me it's it's just like discomfort with not doing the thing you know like i'll usually
experience a wave of discomfort uh before I take a big step into anything.
And that's usually the catalyst because the resistance level just does not match the opportunity, the risk of like what's on the other side of that or the fear of like what that could be. you know, like a lot of technical skills, but also, you know, uh, just emotional capacity to
be able to, uh, present, you know, uh, these stories in a way that makes a lot of sense,
but also feels, feels really good. Um, and so I, I'm curious and I'm, I think we'll, uh, again,
I want to, I want to tap in with Dave and Joel here in a bit, but I'd really love to understand,
um, kind of what create, like when you make something like this, how much creative direction do you give?
Is there usually a few certain questions that you ask?
Was there a general kind of through line?
Because I noticed there were some, while there were some similarities and responses,
they were also, you know, some different ones as well.
So I'm just curious kind of like how much direction you give versus how much freedom you like to have during these conversations.
Yeah, so this is also a good question for Dave a lot longer, honestly, than the actual shooting.
The shooting for each episode was three days, three full days, basically.
really diving into the person that I was going to speak to and looking at their work and trying
to understand who they are, having calls with them, you know, just really trying to get the
feel for them and their art before those three days, because, you know, you have three days
and you can't fuck it up, basically. So I wanted to like over prepare for all these episodes. But yeah, so each episode had like two hours
of interview time.
And what you saw was 10 minutes that I just picked
and chose like what I was gonna include.
And so there were some questions that were the same
for every person, but that's kind of the beauty
of making something like this is like,
you're talking to people who are all different people. And so their answers and their art and everything will
naturally be different, even though you're asking them the same question. So I'm sure while you're
watching it, you can kind of tell that this is something that, oh, that that felt like it was a similar tone to the other film. And that was on purpose. But I think
that each film kind of lives on its own and is unique to each artist. And that that was intentional,
I kind of didn't want to put my voice too much into each episode, I kind of wanted the,
the artist to kind of take the lead and i wanted
each episode to feel like that specific person so um yeah but i'm curious to hear like how how it
felt for joel and dave as well also before we continue could we just pin the the uh moon pay
thread here in case like anyone that's in here hasn't watched anything and wants to.
Everything will be in that thread.
I think MoonPay just retweeted it,
so it should be at the top of their feed
if one of you guys can do that
because I have no idea how any of this works.
Totally, yeah.
We can do that from the Shiller side.
Awesome. Amazing. Yeah. I'm glad you kind
of picked up on the question that I asked because it's very much a two sides of the coin question.
Obviously, you have the direction that you want to provide. But curious, I'll package up the
question a little bit differently. And maybe starting with Dave.
Dave, I guess you've done a lot of interviews, you know,
and I know we did one a long time ago.
And we've done quite a few scents on spaces.
I'm curious what was different about this interview style
versus all of the other ones that you've done in the past.
That's a great question.
I wanted to, I've been waiting to say something
and then I'll answer your question.
But I want to just first congratulate Wiesh
on this effort.
It's hard to make, it's one thing to have an idea.
It's hard to make ideas real
and it's even harder to make them so well.
So I just want to thank you for seeing it through.
And the other thought that was kind of
tumbling around my head, listening to him speak is like, you know, the difference between something like this existing
and not existing is that effort to make it real. And, you know, you said something earlier about,
you know, once you kind of mustered up the confidence to like, ask the world if they
wanted to see this, and, you know And obviously the answer was a resounding yes
with the support of Moonpay.
I mean, that's what makes this an actual thing in the world
that can ripple outwards
and affect other people's perception of art
and what it means to be an artist in this space.
So just thank you for that.
And then Buna, to you, to your question,
what I really loved about this,
and I think it comes through in all the episodes,
but I will speak about my episode
because I'm closest to it.
Weesh was like very,
it helps to be like a good person
with like good intentions.
Because when someone's asking you questions, like you're able to open your heart more because you know i first of all think of
weesh as a friend um and you know have interacted with him many times and have grown to like trust
him you know a lot through conversations that uh i had with deez on his podcast that Weech was producing. So I just knew that this was a person with a lot of great intentions,
for lack of a better word that I can't so define.
But he was very good at drawing out vulnerability.
I think this is probably the most vulnerable document
that's been created about my process and my feelings and my family and why I do what I do. And, you know, the why is so important for art. And
I think in the world, not to get too off track here, but in the world of like just so much
AI and bots and who's real and what's real. These types of human connections and vulnerable
kind of revelatory content about people
are so important.
And it's actually the thing that makes
this space so special.
I look at NFTs and tokens as a kind of binding force
for relationships.
If I hold a piece of work from somebody,
like it's this anchor and our relationship
is kind of like swirling around that
in a way that strengthens that bond.
That's like one of the reasons I'm so interested
in the tokenization of art
is because it really helps relationships be built.
So just the ability for We Should Draw Out,
and I saw it in all the episodes,
the reality of someone's experience
and just gently prompting and guiding the conversation
and allowing us to reveal
even things we didn't know about ourselves.
So I'll stop there.
I don't want to take up time.
But yeah, really was like,
even releasing this and then re-watching it again,
I was like, damn, like I really, I was like even releasing this and then re-watching it again i was like damn
like i really i was like i really pulled the curtain back on on how i feel about a lot of
this stuff and i'm grateful for the chance to do it so thank you thank you to weesh and i think
that's the difference between uh just interviewing somebody and like really digging down into the
into the core of why somebody's doing what they're doing. Yeah, I got to make a call out on yours.
You know, rewatched a couple of episodes before this chat
just to refresh my memory was,
I think, you know, with like Dave,
you've always been early to things.
And I really loved the element of like,
kind of how that was implemented by your family,
you know, with being early to computers and kind of one step ahead of the curve, which you've kind of like that was implemented by your family, you know, with being early to computers
and kind of one step ahead of the curve, which you've kind of like just continued to be from
what I know about your story and your journey. But I think probably my favorite part was like
how you're like, we're all tangling with this conflict of like, we all, especially in crypto,
I think it's hyper-focused in crypto where it's like, we all have found a home here.
And without technology and without the widespread ideas on the internet and places to call home,
we wouldn't be here.
But also we're realizing that too much of it can be really detrimental.
So finding the ways to just inject humanity back into your life, whether it's, with your girlfriend, with your phones down, like, I just absolutely love that part, you know, and just like,
finding ways to like, not, like, we're not just going to like log off forever, like,
none of us are going to do that. But like, finding ways to just like, interrupt that flow
was really special to me. So I just wanted to make a quick make a call out to that is probably
one of my favorite parts of that conversation.
So yeah. And speaking of AI, I think it's one of those terms that gets really,
it can get thrown around generally on a wide scale. And it's easy to kind of bucket things and class things as like, this is bad, this is good. But Joel, you've really,
you've transitioned from photographer
to using a lot of creative AI tools in your process
and it's really unlocked a whole lot of doors.
And I really loved kind of to,
obviously your story touched me in a way
that's very different to most,
dealing with drug addiction
and dealing with kind of that low point in the life
and having that be kind of that low point in the life and having that be a big, kind of a big spark
and being able to see really, you know,
really it's a unique perspective
where when you've seen that side of the world
and you kind of have seen that side of humanity
and the emotions, like,
it doesn't really matter how bad things get afterwards.
Like, it's pretty easy to think of it as like, wow.
I mean, it could be, you know,
it could be a lot worse and it has been, and it's really not that bad. So I'm just kind of curious,
you know, with you, like maybe starting back, that was probably obviously for very specific
reasons, my favorite part of your documentary here with Weech and Howie just created the space
for you to bring that out. Have you ever shared that a lot before? Have you gotten that in depth about that part of your story?
Yeah, just really, yeah, would love to know that part.
No, not at all. And I was, I really went back and forth in my head, like, do I do this? I just,
I don't know. I've been reflecting a lot on social media and how it's
changed us throughout the years lately and I just I really hate how everything is so curated it
feels like we're all clones of each other and no one is willing to really be authentic anymore
we're all walking on eggshells and scared that anything bad is going to happen. Like, no, what's that?
We're all like unique individuals.
Why not just embrace it, be yourselves?
And then, you know, some people are not going to like us.
And then we're going to attract people who are the right humans to be around.
So, yeah, but to answer your question, it's a very difficult conversation.
Like it was, that stuff happened like, I don't know, 20 something years ago.
So it was a fairly long time ago.
But it's still something I live with every day.
And, you know, it's causing some struggles here and there.
But I think it's, it takes, I'm just gonna echo what Dave said. It takes someone
very kind and gentle to get that kind of stuff out of me. So I just, I just want to thank Weesh
for being so delicate and patient and understanding and just, yeah, I can tell that your heart is in the right place when it comes to
highlighting people. And yeah, it's like really, really rare that I feel safe enough to share
these things. But I have to say, when I watched the episodes in Miami, when Dave's was showing,
episodes in Miami when Dave's was showing, like I watched I watched my episode before a couple
times and had some feedback from friends and some collectors and I was okay with it. But in person,
it was a different story. It was very uncomfortable for me, especially being surrounded by,
you know, male colleagues and friends and collectors. Yeah, it was a different experience. And then I saw Dave's
video and it was all happy and positive. And I was like, oh, shit, did I miss the mark? Mine was
kind of sad and a bit dark and chaotic. But, you know, it is what it is. Like, I didn't have Dave's
life. You know, mine was different. And this is what I experienced. And I don't, I don't see why
I would feel ashamed of some mistakes I made when I was really young. I experienced and I don't I don't see why I would feel ashamed of
some mistakes I made when I was really young I mean I don't want to say mistakes like I kind of got
forced into making bad decisions because I didn't have anything else to um hold on to but um yeah
it's um it's probably the first time I I did, I did know. Okay. Actually, I did make a post, which is why we reached out, um, a while back. Uh, and that was the first time I spoke about it. I didn't really go into details. Um, but yeah, I, I don't know how many other times I'm going to be talking about this. So maybe this will be the only time.
I don't know.
I'm trying to figure it out, see what feels good.
I was hoping to feel a little bit more liberated and share some struggles that made me a lot stronger today, I guess. Yeah, I really, it's not an easy thing to
talk about. You know, so it's, again, shout out to Weesh for creating that space. It's, yeah,
it can be really strange and challenging to talk about that. But I also think, especially with something of that depth,
it really informs people of the person behind the work
and how they see the world.
So I just want to say thank you for sharing that
and that it probably has more of an impact on people
than you probably realize.
So, yeah, really, really, really appreciate you sharing that.
And I guess like, yeah, you touched on a really good point of like this being presented in person.
So I want to just like, obviously, this would have not been possible without Moonpay.
So I just want to give a huge shout out to Moonpay for handling the distribution and production and making this into a spectacle.
I wish I could have been there in Miami, but sadly wasn't able to make it this time.
But I want to tap back in with you, Wish.
How did it feel seeing something you made on a silver screen?
man before before i answer that question i just want to say like joel we spoke about this a little
bit uh texting each other and everything and but since you brought it up i'm going to tell you here
too that um i think that um being vulnerable whether people tell you or not will really pay off in the long term for you as an artist, because
I think it helps humanize and break down the wall that you're talking about when we are
on online all the time.
There's kind of like this this wall where like you're talking to people and you're you're
discussing things with everyone and you're tweeting and, oh, this is great art or whatever.
But I think one of the reasons why I wanted to make this
is to really tap into our experiences.
And I understand how something like that
could be uncomfortable watching it in the theater or whatever,
but I don't think you should feel that way
because I think it's shaped you
into a great artist and a great person and um
i think that regardless if people say that to you or not i know that it's in their head to say like
this person is uh is is incredible and um it makes me want to connect to their art more so
i just wanted to say that i think people are afraid of vulnerability. And I think you, Dave and Mark all did a great job of opening up and like,
I think I did very little. I just kind of asked the questions and you guys were kind of brave
enough to open up. So yeah, that's all I wanted to say. But yeah, the actual event in Miami was crazy.
That was the first time I've ever seen anything that I've made in person on a screen on a big
screen before. And it was crazy. Like, it was a very stressful week. I almost lost my mind the
day before because I was like, I hope that everything is perfect. And it doesn't look like
shit. I didn't even sit
down to watch it. I was standing next to Sean from Moonpay the whole time. I was just like an
absolute disaster, honestly. But what when everything did go well, technically, and I was
able to watch it, it was a very unique experience to kind of see people reacting to the films in real time,
which is something that I've never experienced other than like showing it to my friends or my
family. But these are like people I did not know at all reacting to what I made. So it was a very
unique experience. And it kind of like, it felt like a little bit of a high, honestly, to, you know, I could almost feel, and then we did the
Q&A with Shikai, I could almost feel the emotion in the room when various parts of the film were
going on. And, you know, for someone like me who has watched them hundreds of hours, literally, because I'm editing them. After a while, I'm like, okay,
is this even good? I have no idea if it's even good anymore, because I've spent so many hours
just watching the same shit over and over and over and over and over again. So it's kind of
like validating, I think, to see people react so positively while it was on the screen.
so positively while it was on the screen.
Can I just say thank you for what,
I didn't want to interrupt you,
but for your comment on vulnerability,
I really appreciate that.
This is really not something I do a whole lot.
So yeah, thank you for the reminder
and for the opportunity.
I guess I'm thanking you and MoonPay
and the Shiller team for having us now.
But yeah, it was a great experience.
Like you did such an awesome job.
Like he was, I don't know how you did, but he edited the video so quickly.
I didn't even have time to send the additional photos.
He was just like, okay, I'm done.
You know why?
Because I'm mentally ill.
That's why.
Oh, join the party yes it's severe mental illness wait all of us this is why we're here in this little niche of the internet yeah
because we all are severely mentally definitely unfortunately true i have a question I didn't ask you last night. I don't think we should, or maybe I did and I was delirious and forgot.
But how did you end up collaborating with Moonpe?
Did you pitch it to them or did you have a connection there?
Yeah, so my connection was actually someone named Jamie Del Pizzo.
She's a photographer who I'm sure some of you guys
know she is within our world. She was working with Moonpay Social at the time. And I kind of just like,
threw her a DM, I think I think I was one of her first collectors in 2021, as far as like buying
art. So I kind of just like threw her a DMm and i said like i have this idea tell me if
you think it's shit and if you think moon pay would want nothing to do with me um but if you
think that they might be interested i'd love to to discuss more and then um yeah i just put a
pitch deck together and kind of had a call with with her Sean. So that's how it went. And then they, yeah, we went forward from there.
I just want to say one thing too,
just quickly about Moonpay.
So I think what's really important,
especially for the artists and creative side here,
is like if the goal of a company like Moonpay
or any company that has a huge influence
in this space of digital assets,
like if their goal is to increase adoption,
the number one thing that you, in my opinion,
besides like the infrastructure that is obviously important,
but like the number one thing you should do is invest in creative culture
because the adoption of kind of like all technology depends on people using it
in creative ways and like using it to change the world in creative ways. Like think about the
success of Apple is a great like obvious example where, you know, Steve Jobs was extremely
interested in supporting the arts
and supporting creative's ability to use technology to make new things.
And that embracing of creative culture,
not only in the marketing, but in the actual structure of the products,
putting a camera on every phone,
these are things that we take for granted now,
but that have completely changed the world
and led to a degree of adoption for technology
that turned these companies
into some of the biggest companies in the world.
If you just build tech and you don't build culture,
like you're just a B2B company.
It's not as interesting and not as impactful
as it could be if you include creative people
in your business plan.
And so like these investments into creative ideas
and creative projects are not only generous,
but they're also, I think, essential for the world
that we want to build for creatives on chain.
So I was like, this doesn't have to be done.
I mean, I think it should be done,
but it takes a leap on the business side
to make the case to your company that this is a
worthwhile investment when the return on that investment is a lot more abstract than other
investments you might be making. So big shout out to Moonpay and companies that throw the weight
behind creative ideas like this because it's like a leap of faith and the dividends won't pay off as quickly as other investments might.
But they're absolutely, I think, the core reason why this space will succeed in the future is because of the creative people using the technology stacks.
Yeah, couldn't agree more.
And I'm going to low-key put you kind of on the spot, whoever's
behind the Moonpay account. I'm curious, like, for y'all, like, when y'all decided to do
this, you know, was there, like, yeah, I guess, like, how long has this idea been percolating?
What was, what is one of the main goals on y'all's end with this? Because I just got
to give a huge shout out.
Whoever's running MoonPay socials on a day-to-day,
whether it's reply guy or quote tweeting
or just general tweets that I see,
absolute 10 out of 10.
So just have to make that comment.
I don't think I ever have.
But I want to pass the mic over to you guys
since we're doing a little ad hoc.
Wow.
Well, I appreciate it.
Thank you very much, Buna.
Truly grateful for that compliment.
It's been a fun year.
Why did we do it?
For the culture, man.
Like straight up, you know, transparently, I have a budget.
I get to spend that budget.
spend that budget. I could use that budget to achieve different goals, drive downloads, whatever
I could use that budget to achieve different goals, drive downloads, whatever the case.
the case. But I very much believe that like investing in cool, unique things that help our
brand is very important, whether that be art or content. And, you know, when I met Weish,
I saw a wall full of DVDs and a wall full of Pokemon cards and baseball cards.
And I think we probably spoke about movies for like 25 minutes before we even talked about business.
And I saw the vision and I understood what he was asking for me.
And I said, listen, man, I have the budget.
This aligns with my goals culturally, you know, for content as much as that's a dirty word, but like, I'd rather fund a filmmaker to make original movies about people in our community than just,
you know, slap our logo on somebody else's podcast. No offense to anyone that has a podcast,
obviously. But that to me felt like a no brainer. And I, you know, I know we should work through
we do a little and everything else
that he's kind of touched in the landscape and the ecosystem.
And it was a matter of trust and it was a matter of, you know, respect.
And, um, you know, there were no like KPIs, there were no metrics of success.
There was no product integration.
There was no anything.
It's like, here's the money, man.
Go make the thing you've always dreamed of making and do your best job.
Um, and I can't wait to watch it.
We can't wait to watch it.
And that was it.
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