American Masters
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Marlee Matlin, the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award, looks back on her remarkable life, career, and the complexities of being the “first.”
Minted
A pioneering group of artists gain global recognition after embracing NFTs, but they must reckon with the controversies that threaten to undermine this powerful new technology.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- January 6, 2025
- Length
- 80 minutes
Director/ Writer/ Producer
Nicholas Bruckman
Nicholas Bruckman is an Emmy Award-nominated director who previously directed the critically acclaimed documentaries Not Going Quietly (Hulu, PBS POV, and Vice Media) and La Americana (Nat Geo, PBS America Reframed). He's the founder of People’s Television, a New York and D.C.-based creative studio producing films and content for global brands.
Producer/ Executive Producer
Rahilla Zafar
Rahilla Zafar is currently on the advisory board of Wave Financial and Fourth Revolution Capital. She was an early Consensys Software employee, working closely with governments including Smart Dubai, the first city to have a blockchain mandate. She was previously an aid worker and journalist working in the Middle East and North Africa.
Writer/ Producer
Shawn Hazelett
Shawn Hazelett writes, produces, and directs documentaries, commercials, and narrative films, having collaborated with TED, Marvel, Disney, Facebook, Microsoft, and other global brands. He has led film projects across 19 countries and 4 continents, with work featured in Bloomberg, The New Yorker, and Al Jazeera, among others.
We fund untold stories for public media.
Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.
The Film
Minted provides an insider’s look at the rise and fall of the NFT (non-fungible token) phenomenon and how technology has transformed the traditional art world. Through a combination of vérité footage, candid interviews, and archival film, director Nicholas Bruckman delves into the complex world of the $40 billion dollar NFT digital art market. The film focuses on a collective of artists who found unprecedented success in this new landscape, including Beeple, the creator of a record-breaking $69 million artwork, whose rise to fame has become symbolic of the NFT boom. The documentary also features emerging artists from across the U.S., Cuba, and Africa whose careers have been impacted by the opportunities provided by NFTs.
Spanning the full arc of the NFT craze, the documentary traces its origins in digital art through the explosive 2021 boom to its crash in 2022 and 2023. Critique is provided from both within and outside the art world around the social implications, viability, and ethics of NFTs, while questions emerge about the sustainability of the market, the impact of blockchain technology, and the commodification of art in the digital age.
Minted reflects on the future of art—its ever-evolving value, its role in society, and its relationship to the transformative potential of technology. As artists seek new forms of expression, the film offers insight into the essence of human creativity.
