In the 2000s, “Entourage” lifted the lid on the lives of Hollywood insiders. Now one of the show’s stars hopes to dramatize the wild and rarefied world of crypto.
Kevin Connolly made a surprise appearance Thursday at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami to announce his involvement with “Cryptos,” a TV project still in early development. Connolly, who played Eric “E” Murphy in “Entourage,” hopes the show can open up a notoriously complicated subject for the public.
“The thing that scares people about crypto is a lack of understanding,” he told BREAKER following an onstage panel discussion. “People like myself are still learning, but the curiosity is there.”
Like “Entourage,” “Cryptos” centers on a small group of friends as they navigate a cutthroat industry. Unable to finance movies through traditional means, they launch a token and decentralized film studio, challenging the studio establishment.
Connolly, who has signed on for an actor-director role, was joined on stage by producers Jason King and Erik Sords, both true believers in blockchain’s potential. King cofounded the token-funded Academy School of Blockchain and is a self-described “humanitarian hacker.” Sords created L.A.-based Dionysia, the “world’s first decentralized global studio.”
“These guys [Sords and King] want to bring [cryptocurrency] to the mainstream for the better of cryptocurrency. I’m just the filmmaker interested in telling cool stories and exploring cool characters,” Connolly said. “For me, it’s about relationships and friendships. That’s what people tune in to see.”
Connolly admitted the Miami event—which is famous for launching Ethereum as well as for its sleazy after-hours entertainment—was his first direct interaction with the crypto scene. But he seemed keen to learn. Following the panel, he stuck around for the evening’s networking.
"It’s basically about a group of frustrated actors that say 'fuck this, let’s just do it on our own, we know cryptocurrency, we can take on the [Hollywood] system.'"
Sords and King hope Connolly’s addition will help propel the project into production. They claim to be in the process of producing the first 10 episodes, with the hope of being picked up by Netflix, Amazon Prime, or another content-hungry platform.
Connolly says the show’s David and Goliath theme appealed to him. “Initially when I read the script the thing that I was most interested in is how it’s basically about a group of frustrated actors that say ‘fuck this, let’s just do it on our own, we know cryptocurrency, we can take on the [Hollywood] system,’” he said.
“This is the first crypto event I’ve been to, so it’s a learning curve, which is also what the show will try to offer,” he said. “Today was our first big day introducing the project to the community, and we’ll see what the response is.”