By Lynette Rice
Senior TV Writer/TV Editor, Awards
EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency pioneer Jeff Garzik has launched NextCypher Productions (NxC), a new independent entertainment company that will focus on using the emerging technology of Web3 (NFTs, crypto, blockchain applications) to empower the sci-fi community to turn fantasy into reality.
“NxC is more than just a mere production company. It is a passionate community, defined by the people and projects that it interacts with,” said Garzik, who is best known as one of the pioneers of cryptocurrency, having worked on the Bitcoin Core project – the first blockchain node – as well as Bitcoin mining projects and the Linux operating system. “One of our core principles is to enable sci-fi and fantasy fans to do more than simply consume content from the worlds we construct, but to allow them to truly participate in beloved properties in ways they never thought possible. Above all, NxC pledges to always put the needs of the audience first as we create consistently great entertainment.”
As part of the launch, Garzik is announcing the company’s first two television projects. The first is a one-hour action-drama series called Deathlands that’s based on the bestselling book series. It’s being developed for television by showrunner/executive producer Mark A. Altman (Pandora, The Librarians, Agent X) and executive producer Thomas P. Vitale (57 Seconds, Slasher, Pandora).
“Deathlands is Mad Max: Fury Road meets Yellowjackets in an epic post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure,” said Garzik. “Deathlands tells the story of a world ravaged by violence, destruction, and death. Now, only the most smart, cunning, and capable survive as they attempt to navigate the new normal of a world turned upside in the hopes of building a new, more just society for the future.”
The other project in the works is Looking Glass that’s based on an original concept from Garzik. He describes it as “an exciting and thought-provoking new sci-fi action/adventure series in which a young woman whose memory was erased goes on a quest to discover her true identity as a gridrunner who must save the outcasts of society from a deadly conspiracy that threatens to destroy the future.”
Looking Glass made its premiere as a graphic novel through the NxC subsidiary Next Cypher Words + Art. The new comic book publisher announced the first issue of the Looking Glass graphic novel at San Diego Comic-Con last week.
NxC will be announcing its next projects soon with production on Deathlands anticipated to begin in early 2023 in Bulgaria and Looking Glass later in the year.
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