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Why Hollywood’s Old Model Is Breaking—And How You Can Profit from the New · Entrepreneur Odyssey

• Tejneet Selhi: Hello and welcome to the On today's show I'm really excited to have Sharif Bennett, from Cine Block Films and is of the co-founders. Welcome the podcast. How are you today? Sharif Bennett: I am good. Thank you so much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure to be here today. Tejneet Selhi: Well, we're really excited to dig in a little bit deeper in your journey with Cinebloc. So can we start a little bit about, start a little bit, start in terms of why you created this business? I know you've got a couple of co-founders as well. Sharif Bennett: our... first off, it all comes from passion, right? We were all people who were... involved at some point in our lives in media and entertainment, just in different varieties. Our chief legal officer is an entertainment lawyer. I myself, I love to say I'm a failed improv actor and stand-up comedian. ⁓ And my other co-founder was a producer in indie films. And we tried to break into the industry individually, right? And obviously fell into some of the pitfalls that can happen, right? Because it's a very difficult industry to break into and have continued success. ⁓ when one of my co-founders, the CEO, approached me with this idea of saying, hey, let's bring our resources together to build something that can fundamentally democratize how films and entertainment overall are made, I immediately sat and was willing to listen to the conversation. But it all stems from our passion for films and filmmaking. Tejneet Selhi: Amazing. And I bet you weren't that bad as a standup. I bet you were pretty funny. ⁓ Absolutely, absolutely. However, I love the concept of the business. Do you want to explain a little bit about the platform and how it works? Sharif Bennett: I thought I was pretty good. I thought I was okay. Thank you for your vote of confidence without seeing me perform. But yeah, it's a very tough industry. Sure, we are an equity crowdfunding platform that specializes in entertainment media. So let's break that down into a few pieces, right? So let's start from backwards. What is entertainment ⁓ IP, right? That's films, that's television, that's gaming, that's VR, anything that falls under the umbrella of entertainment. Our platform allows for a person to generate money. ⁓ vis-a-vis crowdfunding. But unlike some of the other platforms, like a Kickstarter or a GoFundMe, and no disrespect to them, they're great platforms, those are donation-based. So when ⁓ someone gives their $25 to $50 or something, they sign up, they're someone who they know or someone who they believe in, and... ⁓ maybe they get a t-shirt or a coffee mug. With our equity crowdfunding platform specifically for entertainment, someone invests in an entertainment project in hopes of getting a return of some sort, right? So it's this combination of entertainment and equity ownership that really differentiates us from some of the other players that are currently in this space. And that's, in a nutshell, we are entertainment, IP, investment platform for retail investors. And when I say retail investors, that also means regular sort of everyday people, right? Historically, ⁓ film and television investment has been exclusively for the uber wealthy. So a filmmaker or an aspiring filmmaker would approach an accredited investor, someone with a net worth of a million dollars or more, and they try and pitch their story and get that person to invest. ⁓ This is extraordinarily difficult in part because one, there's very few millionaires out there in the world. And secondly, there's very few millionaires who invest in film and entertainment. So the concept behind this is that we fractionalize the investment, making it cheaper. So instead of asking one person for a million dollars, you ask a couple thousand people for a couple hundred bucks. And that's what crowdfunding essentially did. But we put a nice spin on it and saying, instead of ⁓ trying to get back maybe a t-shirt or a coffee mug, you now have equity in a passion project that you care about. Tejneet Selhi: I absolutely love this concept because it means that us ordinary folk can invest in a blockbuster, right, whether it's a movie or a TV series. I think that's incredible. Sharif Bennett: Yes. Absolutely. And not only invest in it, help put out films that we care about. So much of the complaints I think that so many of us who are, most people are fans of films. It's very rare to meet someone who doesn't like movies or TV shows or entertainment period. And I think it's fair to say that there's a lot of disgruntledness. amongst fans out there, they don't necessarily want to see the 15th iteration of a Marvel flick. They want to see something different, right? But because of the way the Hollywood paradigm exists, it's making it a little bit more difficult for different types of films to be put out there. So what we're doing is not only allowing people to invest in films, but what we're fundamentally doing is facilitating films that people want to see make it to the forefront. Tejneet Selhi: Amazing, amazing. And as you said, for it's films that we're passionate about and that resonate with us. ⁓ And it allows filmmakers to hopefully ⁓ get the funds that they need to create their vision. It's wonderful. And do you wanna tell our viewers how they can potentially invest in some of the films and some of the projects that you've got? Sharif Bennett: Absolutely, absolutely. Sure. Absolutely, all they need to do is go to our website. We've tried to make it as simple as possible. As my friend often says, I want it so simple my grandmother can do it. So they can literally log onto our website, CineBlockFilms.com and see the different campaigns that is that we have going. Research each campaign, see what the different terms are that are available for investment, and then decide if they want to make an investment. all it really requires is for that user to create a profile on our page. Tejneet Selhi: Have a good night. Thank Sharif Bennett: answer a few simple questions and then with either a credit card or a wire transfer in a matter of three minutes they can make an investment in a film right on our platform and verification of that will immediately be sent to them. We try to make it as easy as something like a Robin Hood. Tejneet Selhi: Amazing. Fantastic. So I'm excited. I've definitely seen, I've seen a few projects that are out there at the moment and yeah, go to Cinebloc Films and do have a look at the projects that are there. I wanted to now move track slightly and talk about perhaps some of the trends that you're seeing in the industry at the moment. Sharif Bennett: Yeah, yeah, there's a lot. mean, I think the elephant in the room for everyone, not just the entertainment industry, but pretty much the entire world now is AI. There's no escaping it, right? I think for many of us... Even three, four years ago, AI seemed to be this far off concept that no one really, you know, sort of talked about, but there's no getting around it in 2026 and beyond. It is here to stay. It's only going to get more advanced. And so what we're seeing is a lot more content creation that has integrated ⁓ AI tools and aspects of it. What it's going to do is facilitate content creation. I don't know if the viewer saw there's an app called Seed Dance 2.0, which literally dropped two weeks ago, which up to this point is one of the most advanced AI tools ever and created a firestorm throughout Hollywood. Because with a few snaps of a finger and a few touches, people were able to generate what looks to be real life content right then and there. So what that tells us is that the future of movie making and content creation will absolutely have AI components to it. And in fact, the first film on our platform, a film called Awake, is a majority AI based film, right? ⁓ And so that is a major trend that isn't going anywhere. So what I'd say to the audience and the listeners out there is expect more AI-generated content. It's not going anywhere. Whether you like it or not, it's here to stay. And that's probably the major trend that's happening right now. Tejneet Selhi: Absolutely, and I think it's affecting every industry, but how would you say it's affecting filmmakers ⁓ in particular? Sharif Bennett: ⁓ yeah, one, it's speeding up the process to be able to make content, right? So think of all the things that go into making a film, right? You have not only the people who write films, you have not only the actors, but you have the set coordinators, you have the stunt doubles, you have all these people that play these niche roles, people that handle clothing and costumes and all that. ⁓ The reality is that AI is going to reduce a lot of the necessity for those things. So people who specialize in that industry are beginning to look elsewhere for employment. Because with a few inputs on your keyboard, you can make an entire world. You can create an entire background. You can change an entire costume. So for filmmakers, it makes it easier and it makes it cheaper. to produce content, right? But now what requires you have a basic level of understanding of how to use these AI tools, which at this point is becoming easier and easier and easier to do. So what that means is that content is gonna be made quicker and there's gonna be a lot more content out there for people to invest in potentially. Tejneet Selhi: Yes absolutely, absolutely and like you say it's going to impact lots of different roles suppose ⁓ but there's opportunity right ⁓ there's lots opportunity as well. ⁓ Sharif Bennett: Absolutely. Wherever there's transformation, there's opportunity is what I tell people. But the reality is, is it may be rough for a few years, right? You know, the reality is, for there may be a 10 year window where all the people who were involved in the filmmaking process essentially have to redefine themselves and their roles within filmmaking, right? So if you were a set designer, you may now want to say, Hey, I'm going to specialize in this component of AI for set design, right? I may not necessarily have to go out and do it physically, but I'll become a specialist with these tools and make it and be better than the regular filmmaker and so I'll be then incorporated into into the process itself just visa via different Avenue but it's fundamentally changing our everyday world Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, absolutely. It's like you say, it's reimagining your skill set in the new world, which I think we're all sort of trying to figure out and stumble our way through at the moment. ⁓ Sharif Bennett: Yes. Yes, it's kind of like learning a new language, right? It's terrible at first, right? For those of us who sat in middle school and high school the first day of class when it was a new language and you were just like, what? Right? But as time progresses, you should be able to get better. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, absolutely. And actually that moves us nicely onto what are your current, what's the current state of the business and how are you, ⁓ are you getting the investment needed? you, ⁓ how have you found sort of, yeah, I guess what is the current state? Let's just. Sharif Bennett: Yeah, great question. So we launched in January, so we're still a month in, so we're still brand brand spanking new is what I tell people, right? We've worked on it for years. Essentially, we had the software build completed three years ago in order to do this, but we had to go through regulatory approval. We wanted to ensure that we were ⁓ SEC and FINRA accredited. For those who don't know, FINRA stands for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that Overseas Crowdfunding Platforms because we are dealing in equity and that was a multi-year process, right? So now that we've gone through that hurdle, Tejneet Selhi: ⁓ wow, amazing, okay. Yeah. Why? Sharif Bennett: have gotten that accreditation, it's now really about scaling the business. So where are we now is we're in the midst of onboarding a number of films and filmmakers, right? And a lot of it, because it's so new, there's an education component that has to come into this for not just the person who's running the campaign, but also the people looking to fund them, right? And so, and here's sort of that dance that we as an organization have to do. We have to inform people who want want to do crowdfunding campaigns like, this is a new platform, this is a new vehicle, but the rules of crowdfunding still apply, right? You still have to spend a certain amount of money on your side. I can't magically wave a wand and have investors flocking to your film, right? You're still going to have to get your pitch decks together. You're still going to have to get enough content out there for people to think about you. I look at it like, look, your film is basically going through an IPO is how I of liken it. And if anyone is thinking about investing in a company, the first thing they're going to do is Google that company. They may want to see who the CEOs are, the CEO is, ⁓ what it is they do, et cetera, et cetera. So for the people running those campaigns, they have to make that public. They have to make that transparent about themselves. They have to put enough content out there so that someone says, all right, this film seems interesting. Let me Google this director, this Tejneet Selhi: that's the good analogy. Sharif Bennett: filmmaker. Let me go onto YouTube and see what content it is that they have up there. I want to know more about their story. Do they have interviews? Do they have podcasts like this, etc, etc. So we're educating filmmakers that all those things still need to happen if you're looking to garner investment because no one's gonna invest in someone just with an idea, right? It doesn't work like that, right? On the flip side, Tejneet Selhi: Bye. Sharif Bennett: ⁓ It's also educating the potential funders of these films and letting them know that there's an entirely new asset class that's available to them. mean, think of the ways that people can spend money in 2026, right? And when we talk investment, typically people will think real estate, stocks, bonds, right? But this is also a new class. But then again, we're also completing with people who might be degenerate gamblers, right? Because gambling has now taken off because it's just so easy. So the thing that I always say to filmmakers is, Tejneet Selhi: Right, exactly. Yeah. Sharif Bennett: You're not just competing with other filmmakers for dollars. You're competing with every other investable asset that's out there in the world and you have to make yourself marketable to that. Why should someone invest in your campaign? And to potential funders, you've got a plethora of things. This is why investing in these projects makes sense. If you are passionate about films, if you are passionate about television programs and there's something that resonates with you, then it would make sense for you then to Tejneet Selhi: in. Absolutely. Sharif Bennett: get actively involved in the process and helping bring these projects to life. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. And what would be, ⁓ I guess for the viewers again, what would be the returns then? What would they look like in terms of like, let's say I invested a thousand pounds in or dollars into the next project. What would be the returns? Sharif Bennett: Yeah. Great question. Just like with anything, if you invest a thousand dollars in Google or a thousand dollars in widget making, what do you get? Right? It all depends on the term term sheet that that, ⁓ issuer, the person running the campaign decides. So there are generally three types on a platform. There's going to be an equity based investment, which means that person running the campaign is saying, this is my project and I'm selling equity in this project. So an investor has to look at that and say, all right, I understand this is going to be an equity ploy for this investment. Or someone could say, no, I'm going to keep the equity on this project. But what I'll do then instead is what's called a rev gen split. That's short for revenue generation split. And I'll give you an example of what that looks like. That could be something along the lines of, hey, for every person who invests $100, I'll give you $125 back and you receive X percentage of streaming. credits. So if the movie then is picked up on 2B, ⁓ Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, et cetera, et cetera, you could see then see that sort of return over time. And then the third option would be a hybrid between equity and RevGen. So it all depends on the type of deal structure that the person issuing the campaign wants or is offering. Tejneet Selhi: Okay, yeah. So essentially, it's a form of passive income for the viewer. Right, amazing. Sharif Bennett: Yes, absolutely. And in this world of AI, hate to break it to people, passive income is going to become a normality for people because that's just the way the industry is going. There's going to be a lot, like we said, these first couple of years with AI, there's going to be a lot of people looking continually for work. Tejneet Selhi: Absolutely, absolutely. look, diversity of assets is a big thing at the moment. So I think this is a really great new and innovative project to be part of. ⁓ What would you say is working well right now? mean, you're still obviously a very new business, but what have you found the most challenging? Now that you're up and running, now you've got the accreditations in place, what are you finding the most challenging now? Sharif Bennett: Mm-hmm. Great question. ⁓ I'd say once again, it's the education component of fundraisers and, excuse me, filmmakers and people looking to fund those films and educating both parties, right? I tell people, you know, when we were coming up with this platform, I had no idea that I would essentially be a chaperone at a middle school dance with guys on one side of the room, know, girls on one side of the room and playing the right song to get them to come together, right? Like that's sort of what it is. But I'd say, you know, getting the word out. Because once again, this is such a different concept, right? People, when they think of crowdfunding, are just accustomed to Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, right? Those type of platforms. Which, in 30 minutes, you can be up and running with the campaign, right? Like, you can be, and if I start, if I go on Kickstarter at 10.30, I can have a campaign running by 11.15. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah. Sharif Bennett: and be up and running and mail it out to people. Our platform is very, very different. There is a lot of more upfront work because we're dealing with equity, right? And we're dealing with passion projects, right? So there's a different sort of ⁓ nuance to it. Right? So when we talk about upfront work, that means your LLC has to be in place. So filmmakers already have to have LLCs in place. That LLC then is going to have to be reviewed by the SEC, et cetera. Right? And that process is going to have to happen. And then, you know, then they need to get their materials ready. So we're a platform for serious filmmakers. ⁓ You know, and it's not that we're, you know, necessarily going to turn people away, but not everyone might be the best mix for this. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, absolutely. Sharif Bennett: Right? You know, Kickstarter, you know, for early, for people very, very early on in the process, Kickstarter might be a better thing for them if they don't have an LLC, if they don't have scripts ready, if they don't have PDFs and ready to pitch it right now. Another platform might be what's best for you at that moment. And then you can come back to us after you have basically worked through that process. So I'd say it's really all about educating and getting the word out to people is is the toughest part with any with any brand new company Tejneet Selhi: Yeah. Of course, of course. ⁓ And then let me ask you this, where would you like to be, let's say six months from now, a year from now? Sharif Bennett: Great question. We would love to be that incubator for indie films. Right? So what I would love is for on the filmmaker side, for people to say, Hey, I got this idea. I've been working on it for a little bit. I need to go to Cinebloc. And on the flip side, I would love for people, you know, once those tax returns come in, right. In a few months to say, Hey, I've got some disposable income here. Right. Let me invest in a few passion projects. Cause this is something I've been meaning to do. Right. I would love for us to just be to enter the top of minds for people when it comes to thinking about entertainment, right? And then long term, you know, I would love us to be the uber of Hollywood. know, Hollywood is ripe for disruption. It is not working for most people, right? It's not working for most filmmakers. They're really upset. It's not working for most fans. They're not going to movies and they're complaining, right? So I would love for us to become this alternative platform that people go to to say, hey, let's help change the way movies are made and distributed vis-a-vis the Cinebloc platform. Tejneet Selhi: That's incredible. And I'm super excited because I mean, I think especially since the crisis of the film industry a few years ago ⁓ with the strikes and things like this, I think the industry needs this kind of platform in place. So that's incredibly exciting. ⁓ And are you finding that you're getting a lot of support when you're pitching the idea to ⁓ the industry? Sharif Bennett: Yeah, the response has been positive. So you asked early about my role. So as the chief evangelist officer, so it's my responsibility to go out and publicize the platform, right? So I'm at film festivals. I speak on podcasts. ⁓ I hit the pavement, right, in terms of broadcasting this and the feedback is positive. filmmakers are looking for alternative ways of getting their films financed, right? And like I said, we're not, you for everyone. Right? know, crowdfunding takes a lot of work. There's some people who literally come to me and they're just like, so can you get me $50,000 and like, you know, the next day or so? And it's like, wait, it doesn't work like that. First off, I'm from New York. The only people that could do that were the mafia. Okay? And I certainly don't want to get caught up in a Rico, right? In a Rico trap. So yeah. So the response has been positive. People, but once again, people need to... Tejneet Selhi: Thank you. No. Sharif Bennett: It's an adjustment in terms of how they go about raising those funds. It's a new sort of paradigm. So that education component and high touch is important. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. ⁓ And then in terms of sort of generating those leads and do you have, I guess my question is twofold. One, do you have a pipeline of filmmakers? that are looking to join the platform. ⁓ And then two, I guess, how are you then going about getting investors for those filmmakers or for the project? Sharif Bennett: Great question. So one, do we have a pipeline of filmmakers? Yes. Right. So part of the reason we delayed launching it was that we wanted to be ready with films right from the outset. Right. So in the next month or so. And anyone can go to the website and literally see some of the upcoming projects it is that we have. So we've got a slew of films who are ready to jump off campaigns in the first half of this year. And I'm very, very excited to see them. Some of them are extraordinarily interesting, right? We've got... Tejneet Selhi: Yeah. Sharif Bennett: TV shows, we've got movies, we've got production companies that are looking to raise funds. The projects themselves vary in scope and I'm very excited to see what the appetite is for the variety of these projects. Now how we go about getting ⁓ funders or investors for these projects is... ⁓ We went about building our own internal networks, ⁓ reaching out to people for the past couple of years, engaging their interests on this. Additionally, we've partnered with a lot of marketing partners out there. So the same people who support things like Start Engine, WeFunder, we partner with those people. And so for every new campaign that enters and onboards into our platform, The same people who see WeFundr campaigns, Star Ninja campaigns, et cetera, they get email notification, they get newsletters about what we're doing, they see it automatically. And what I always emphasize to filmmakers is, is now you're selling yourself and your project. And you've got to go about ⁓ really selling yourself to this group of people. But the other component of this, and I think what... was really sort of the thing that we needed to find was people leveraging their existing networks already. This is a fundamental component of crowdfunding, right? Tejneet Selhi: night. Sharif Bennett: So the beauty of Web 2.0, and when I say Web 2.0, I mean LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, was that it allowed content creators to build communities, right? And communities not just of people who were adjacent to them physically, but people who shared a passion for a specific idea across the world, right? And it allowed people to build up this following of people. Right? That was what the beauty of Web 2.0 was. Now as we move into Web 3.0, what will happen is that these communities now will now be leveraged financially amongst each other. So it's important for these filmmakers to utilize the communities it is that they've built and have them actively participate in their campaigns because these are people who you already know share the same passion you do. It's much easier to sell a concept to someone when they share the same passion you do than as opposed to a complete stranger, right? So that's the first part of crowdfunding that people need to grasp in this modern era, right? You've already got a following, utilize them, because then that will help you build momentum from the minute your campaign starts. ⁓ Tejneet Selhi: Thank you. Absolutely. Sharif Bennett: simultaneously gives you a level of legitimacy to potential investors to say, wait, this person already has an existing community. This has potential to go somewhere. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Social networking, it's huge. ⁓ And then, and I presume that this is available sort of internationally, right? Obviously I'm based in the UK. If I wanted to invest in one of the projects, it's the same as somebody in the US, or is there any kind of nuances? Sharif Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. Correct. So there's a few things that need to be done, but it's certainly possible. what is fundamental to it is that all LLCs need to be US-based. So even if you are out in the UK, if you are out in Africa, that's awesome. But the LLC that's doing any level of fundraising has to be a US-based LLC. It's OK then if you're community ⁓ outside of the country, then ⁓ partakes and invests, right? We'll just have, there's just a slight adjustment that needs to happen on our end for the campaign, but it's not a big deal. It's very, very doable. But we operate only with US-based LLCs because we are FINRA, SEC accredited, and they're reviewing all of the campaigns that is that we put on our platform. Tejneet Selhi: Okay, that makes sense, that makes sense. And then last couple of questions from me. One, so obviously there's the AI in the, from the filmmaker's perspective. What about Cinebloc films, like you as a business, what AI technologies are you implementing at the moment? Sharif Bennett: Great question. Great question. ⁓ What we plan on implementing are a few things. One, when someone comes on, first off, there's basic data collection that's gonna happen whenever someone gets onto our site. So what we would like to do is be able to... filter and make recommendations. Just like how someone watches Netflix or Hulu, right? Based on your previous ⁓ viewings, right? We'd love to be able to show you projects that align with what it is you've already invested in and what it is you've already clicked on, right? And not just, hey, these are recommended. Let's really do sort of like an AI rancor. Instead of it popping up and saying these are titles that you might like, we plan on doing something that says, based upon your, you viewings and your clicks, this shares an 80 % score with what it is you like. This shares a 90 % score with what it is you like. This shares a 20 % score with what it is you like, right? So that people then really get a feel, ⁓ or should I say, people that it's much more seamless and easier to navigate for people. Tejneet Selhi: Yeah, that makes sense. And I guess the viewers of TV and film were used to that, right? So I think, yeah, that makes perfect sense. ⁓ Excellent. And then let me just ask you one final question. What would you like to leave your viewers with today? Are there any exciting projects that you want to talk about or anything coming? Sharif Bennett: Yeah. ⁓ I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, as I mentioned earlier, Awake is totally, Awake is available for investment right now, which is an awesome concept. I invite anyone to go onto our platform and look at that trailer. It is extraordinarily unique, right? We've got up and coming projects, a TV series ⁓ based on ⁓ the reemergence of Black Wall Street. We've got... ⁓ More, how should I say, what's the right way to phrase this? a more emotional based film, right? ⁓ coming up as well about love. We've got comedies coming up. We've got an entertainment production company itself. So not even a film or a television project. Like I said, we're for entertainment IP. A production company looking to raise funds. And they are an AI-based production company. So someone will have the opportunity to invest in an actual production company and do things like that. So we are really excited with these upcoming projects. We've got documentaries that are coming out. We really went about collecting a broad range of projects to make available for funders to look at to really say, you know, we're trying to do something different. So for everyone, please keep your eyes open and check out our platform. Absolutely was an absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me. greatly appreciate it to everyone out there. Check us out Cineblockfilms.com