James Fazio has been a filmmaker by trade for over 10 years and has received acclaimed awards for his documentary work. James started his crypto journey in 2017 and his NFT art journey in late 2019. Having a passion for Storytelling, Art, and Crypto, The Soulless Citadel is a culmination of all the passions that motivate Dr. Jones to create.
Chris: What is the Soulless Citadel?
James: The Soulless Citadel is a cinematic universe created by award-winning filmmakers and supported by unique and verifiable NFTs. After partnering up with Hollywood screenwriters Janet and Lee Batchler, they are now in preproduction of their first Anime screenplay. The Soulless Citadel is building out its universe with supporting Chapters of NFT collections as they go Multi-Blockchain. Each Chapter represents a different part of the Soulless Universe that is deeply connected and intertwined. Chapter 1, The Soulless Citadel, sold out in February, and now is time for Chapter 2, The Rise of the Women Warriors.
Chris: What inspired you to create The Soulless Citadel?
James: I have been in Crypto since 2017 and started my NFT journey in early 2020. I am a filmmaker by trade and have created award-winning documentaries, but during the covid lockdowns, I didn't have much I could make, so I turned to 1/1 NFT art to express creativity. After seeing the potential in NFTs, I couldn't stop thinking about the untapped potential for Story-based NFTs. So Soulless Citadel combines my writing, storytelling, filmmaking, and love for art and NFTs.
Chris: Where do you see the use case that NFTs provide for film or a Cinematic universe?
James: A vastly underestimated advantage in NFTs is the communities built around the collections and projects. When you are creating an NFT collection, especially a collection based on a story, it is incredible the community you can build around that. A community enthralled, a part of the story, holds a supporting NFT to that story and wants to see it succeed– this is incredible. This new way of engaging audiences and communities gives an independent artist/filmmaker/storyteller a massive advantage that they rarely had before and provides the viewer with a real chance to choose what they want to see produced and succeed. Kickstarter and a few others helped get your story out there, but this is much more. You gain a fanbase and supporters involved in its success, directly cutting out any middleman. I think NFTs (whether we continue calling or marketing them with that term) will play a massive role in the filmmaking industry. Can you imagine owning a 1st generation NFT from Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon? A digital Collectible to a whole film franchise, with games, series, an own metaverse, and more! This is what we are working to build at Soulless Citadel.
Chris: How does Chapter 2: Rise of the Women Warriors tie in with your storyline?
James: In Chapter 1: The Soulless Citadel, the legendary warriors of the Light Walker Clan defeated the Dark warlord, Tenebris, but were cursed and cast into The Soulless Citadel, an eternal purgatory stuck in between light and darkness. Now, in Chapter 2, the women have to step up and become the new warriors and protectors of the clan. Not only the protectors, but they need to find a way to break the curse, free the men from the Citadel, and do so before the Dark Ones overcome them all. The screenplay we are creating now for the Soulless Citadel, and I must add, with Janet and Lee Batchler (look them up), is focused on the story of the Women Warriors and their journey to try and break the curse while surviving the Dark One's onslaughts.
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Chris: Where do you see the Soulless Citadel headed in the future?
James: With the Team we have assembled, a world-class developing team, Quinence, combined with our world-class story development and art team at Shibui Labs, we have vast plans for this Cinematic Universe. We have created a whole Universe of diverse people groups and cultures, all with their own stories and history. Yet, they all intertwine through parallel stories that cross paths throughout our different chapters. As we build continual Chapters based on these other peoples within our world and tell their stories, we also plan to go Multi Blockchain. We have launched our Chapter 1 and soon Chapter 2 on the Zilliqa Blockchain. We've created an incredible community there, and now it is time to expand. Expand our story and our chapters, and go multi-chain with a particular purpose for doing so. We have yet to reveal our plans after Chapter 2, but I am excited about what is in store.
Chris: When and where will the sale of Chapter 2 take place?
James: The Rise of the Women Warriors mint will start on September 30th with our presale for everyone holding a Whitelist. Then, after 24hrs of WL minting, we will open up the mint for Public sale.
Collection size: 5555.
WL Mint price: $57 (1750 ZIL)
Public Mint price: $70 (2250 ZIL)
Chris: Lastly, tell us what you have done since your first Chapter mint, what you are creating now, and plan to develop in the future.
James: Since Chapter one, we have signed Janet and Lee Batchler to our story development team and started the creation of our first Series Screenplay, which is currently in development.
We have created a very robust website - with its marketplace and profile system ready to go multi-chain and utilized with different blockchain wallet providers. Our site will be the only place you'll need to go for our Cinematic Universe.
We have brought on Manuel Thomasser, a very reputable 3D artist that has worked on many top films and games in his resume, to help us create 3D Metaverse-ready avatars for our whole collection.
Quinence is near completion of an in-depth Strategic NFT card game to be released for Soulless Citadel in the very near future.
Everything created or developed is done with the intent and purpose of expanding the universe we are making. Whether it be games, 3D, metaverse integration, or an ongoing series, we are in this for the long hull and are excited to keep building!
Also, don't forget to join our Discord and Twitter. It is the best way to stay informed on news and announcements.
