The Luka Press Club, Democratizing Storytelling Through NFTs

Billy Buntin and I created the Luka Press Club @thelukaPC before the Crypto Crash and The NFT wipeout. Ouch. That really hurt me. What I loved was thinking of new ways to do storytelling and Billy and I created the Luka Press Club. A way for everyone to own an NFT of a cute dog who is a field reporter, and have a say within a small credible community on a story they want reported. We had big plans. Then the markets crashed. We've pressed pause for now, but recognize the ideas for the future of storytelling may lie in NFTs and Blockchain technology. We have not nailed it yet, but the kernels are here. PS. Luka is a cavalier king Charles spaniel. He is an English gentleman, and is really a pig disguised as a dog. He is the inspiration for this collection on Open Sea.

What is the Problem We Are Trying to Solve?

• Legacy media are polarized in ideologies and are perceived to advocate a particular agenda.
• That leads to low levels of trust with audiences and high levels of popular hostility and attrition between audiences.
• Facts are questioned constantly and false information spreads like wildfire.
• Large media companies and news organizations often tend to move slowly, as in snails pace, and adapt to technological changes late in the game.

The Opportunities

• Explore new technologies that allow storytellers to to see and hear stories they are interested in, and want to engage with.
• Explore new blockchain technologies that decentralize media.
• Leverage the NFT space within the creator economy and offer storytelling opportunities that can be monetized, and NFTs that can be traded for profit, and offer utilities.
• Explore oracles alongside blockchain technologies that can check facts.
• Create a rewards-based storytelling community, that can participate in the business success of the project.
• New narratives and voices will get heard, particularly from emerging markets.

The Solution

A storytelling ecosystem where stories are democratized, stories are trusted, storytellers are rewarded and an engaging, entertained community is created. We at TLPC are calling this our ‘mediaverse’ and claiming this term. (Unless someone has done so already but we’ve not seen it!) A starting point to this vision resides in the NFT space where each cool reporter NFT will have the ability to tell stories that are deemed important by the community.

What is the Luka Press Club (TLPC)

It is an NFT collection of reporters.

In the physical world, reporters gather at real press clubs to connect, share ideas, comment on the news of the day and er, have a few (a lot) of dirty martinis, old fashions or beers. They are exclusive. The Luka Press Club will be the virtual space that exists that creates the same vibe, and has a goal of creating a new media ecosystem in both the metaverse and the real world.

Tell me about the Luka NFT?

Luka is a cool international correspondent who travels the world and breaks news. He reports from red carpets to civil wars to climate action to tech. He works hard and plays hard. Each Luka NFT is made with love and is carefully hand crafted by artist @billy.buntin. Each Luka has a slight movement. That good old reporter head twist to the camera. You know the one we mean… You’ve seen it. There are some other special and rare traits we have developed in this collection.

What is the Utility of TLPC NFT?

To start, owning a Luka, gets you into the exclusive Press Club Community. This will evolve over time as we develop it, and ensure it’s a space where speakers, reporters and storytellers will hang out. Later, they will get to vote on a story they care about, that will be funded and aired.

These are only initial and relatively minimal utilities. We know that. As the community grows and more Lukas are introduced from all over the newsroom ecosystem, the utilities will rise.

What More Can You Share About the NFTs?

We have an initial genesis drop of 40 Lukas. All are field reporters on assignment. It takes time to hand draw each one, and we have prioritized quality over quantity. W

What Will You Do With The Money From NFT Sales?

We intend to use 20% of the funds from our community wallet to support creators who tell stories the Press Club wants to see out there. We will retain the rest of the fund in the community wallet to build out and stress test our ideas. We know the funds we receive from the genesis drop will be small because the collection is small so we will take some baby steps, but always keep adding value.

Mint Info

We minted the project ourselves directly on Open Sea.

What Does Your Road Map Look Like ?

We are not going to design a fixed road map right now. Why? Because a lot of best laid plans in this space tend to go out the window. We know we will need to roll with the fast and loose punches so we want to promise only what we know we can deliver. That said we do have a vision and are taking steps towards understanding, partnering with the right players, and beta testing each of our ideas.