Bitcoin and basketball, together at last in “Lynchpin.” This short film by director Mike Nicoll, of “At All Costs” fame, was supposed to be a TV show. The Compton Magic program was on the verge of a breakthrough and Nicoll was in the eye of the storm, documenting it all. But then, darkness. The pandemic stopped everything on its tracks, and the aspiring TV show was no exception. Who came to save the day? You know who. Bitcoin, the open network that doesn’t care or stop.
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Compton Magic’s Etop Udo-Ema, “America’s most recognized basketball powerbroker,” is “Lynchpin’s” star. Before Covid hit, this charismatic man receives an offer that he can’t refuse. The whole short film follows him trying to change sponsors and create a league. That carries Etop to Roc Nation and its boss Jay Z, who happens to be Puma’s creative director. The whole enterprise seems to be on its right track. No one could predict the monkey wrench that hit the world’s engines.
What Does “Lynchpin” Have To Do With Bitcoin?
Well, the movie’s production team is Zack Weiner and Joe Gallagher of The Bitcoin Movie Club in conjunction with Gabriel Merkin and Doug Matejka. “Lynchpin’s” press release explains the situation:
“The short film follows Etop Udo-Ema and gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the brokering of a power play made by Puma, via Jay-Z’s Roc Nation sports agency, to lure the Compton Magic away from their longtime corporate sponsor, Adidas. Etop is ultimately denied the sponsorship opportunity with Puma and finds a life raft when approached by Swan Bitcoin, where a new opportunity for sponsorship emerges. Traditional means of sponsorship are no longer the only way as Bitcoin makes its grand entrance into the world of basketball.”
A few months ago, Bitcoinist covered the first The Bitcoin Movie Club production, “This Machine Greens” (Part 1, Part 2). Then, we did the same with the “Bitcoin Is Generational Wealth” Short Film. This was Swan Studio’s first feature. Both production houses join forces for “Lynchpin,” their first non-Bitcoin-related film. Further proof that Bitcoin is eating the world and that the network’s gravitational pull is attracting everything and everyone.
“The partnership with BMC & Swan Bitcoin signals the filmmaker’s turn toward a permission-less system of independent film financing and production. “I’m tired of waiting for green-lights,” Nicoll says, “especially with a film like Lynchpin that’s a living, breathing story, evolving in real time.”
BTC price chart for 12/15/2021 on FTX | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Else Do We Need To Know About “Lynchpin”?
First of all, Mike Nicoll is a great director. The film’s look is slick and as professional as it gets. For his previous credits, let’s quote his website, “Mike is best known for writing & directing “At All Costs” – a feature documentary acquired by Netflix in 2017. Hailed as a “modern-day Hoop Dreams” (LA Times), the film explores life inside the shadowy underworld of AAU basketball, profiling the many ways that youth sports in America have been professionalized.”
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So, amateur basketball is Nicoll’s subject of choice. Why is the Amateur Athletic Union important? Well, chances are most of the future NBA stars will begin their career there.
“The film features key NBA and up-and-coming basketball players Evan Mobley, the Rookie of the Year candidate for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mikey Williams, the first ever high school player to sign an NIL deal and Johnny Juzang, the breakout star of UCLA’s Bruins.“
The three players featured in “Lynchpin” are on their way to becoming NBA legends. And Bitcoin is now an integral part of their stories.
Featured Image: Lynchpin's poster from the press release | Charts by TradingView