Aleks Paunovic Talks GenZeroes and Snowpiercer Season 4 [Interview]

NFTs are on the fast track to becoming power sources for more than we’d imagined with the first-ever NFT live-action television series.

I recently spoke with actor Aleks Paunovic about his connection with the first-ever NFT-generated live-action series, GenZeroes, and his full-time return to Snowpiercer for Season 4.

GenZeroes is a product of the Covid-19 pandemic. Paunovic joined the project during the downtime and isolation, helping create it from the ground up. However, the idea initially came from his longtime friend, Neil Stevenson-Moore.

“He was part of a company called House of Kiba and a project called Gen X, which generated 10,000 robots. They then dropped them as the NFTs, and in about 40 minutes, they made approximately $7 million. So, he knew of me doing Zero Contact, which was an Anthony Hopkins film that started as an NFT film,” Paunovic said.

“He came to me and asked if I could put this TV show together, and the very first thing I said was, ‘Yeah, I can do this.’ I never put a TV show together before in my life,” Paunovic laughed. “I just kind of said, I know what I’m doing, with doing five years of Van Helsing with an amazing team.”

Stevenson-Moore pitched the idea, and within a week, Matt Venables and Jeremy Smith, writers for the series, had a substantial storyline created for Paunovic to go off of.

“There was no history about the robots. It was just images. And so it gave us carte blanche to be as creative as possible with this IP. Matt and Jeremy wrote GenZeroes, and it became this amazing project that I was so happy to be a part of, and not only starring in it, playing Bishop Kane, but also getting all my friends involved,” Paunovic said.

GenZeroes is a story that revolves around ten different factions, with four revealed in Season 1.

“The main story is told by Aurora and everything kind of springboards off the bat of telling the GenZero story. We did the first four chapters, and there’s another six to be seen,” Paunovic said.

He said that while the series may be the first NFT-generated, one of their key objectives was ensuring the content was superb first.

“It started as an NFT project, but we wanted to give the community the eyes to see this without purchasing anything. We wanted it to stand on its own, get fans on its own, with the new tech in the new world of NFTs and that whole thing as a side component.”

“It has to start with the content. ‘Is the story good? Is this story something that fans want to follow?” Paunovic continued. “This is something that is growing more than we thought it would. So, that’s why we haven’t expanded on it yet and given it to the public. Some really cool things are happening right now with how the story can be told.”

One of the notable highlights of GenZeroes is the multitude of exceptional actors attached to the series. And the best part? Paunovic shares a connection with everyone connected to the project.

“Everybody that was a part of that project is people I’ve worked with and known before. And to me, being able to hire them and bring them aboard has been a dream come true,” Paunovic said.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this and get my friends involved and be able to pay them as opposed to indie or a short film. So many amazing talented actors were a part of this.”

“It was one of those things where we just said, ‘what about so and so? And all of us in the room go yes.’ And we didn’t have anybody that said, ‘no, thanks.’ And honestly, it’s just the coolest feeling to be part of a solid, ethical team that wants to put out good work and energy. It was an amazing experience,” Paunovic continued.

Paunovic said fan engagement since Season 1’s premiere in March has been overwhelming and unexpected. “The supporters have been amazing. We went to San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest Comic-Con in the world, and decided to put a booth up and make it very interactive. To our pleasant surprise, many people knew about the show and already followed the show.”

“It was a pleasant surprise to see that kind of turnout. We had autograph sessions that were supposed to be a specific time. The con said, ‘You guys have a 60-minute autograph session.’ And then it ended up being 120 minutes,” Paunovic laughed. “It was so great that we just kept it rolling; no one wanted to leave the signing desk because it was just so fun talking to everybody.”

One additional perk that stood out to Paunovic when creating the series is how easy it is for the crew to have input on the overall project turnout.

“I liked the idea of the fractional ownership, not only with the fans, and not only with the actors, but also the crew. The crew can have a say on what we can put out there,” Paunovic said.

“I think cast and crew having a portion of fractional ownership, with whatever part of the show, and it being verifiable in a blockchain, is exciting and is just going to grow. It enhances the artistry to me,” Paunovic said.

While no definitive date has been set yet for GenZeroes Season 2, Paunovic and the writers are currently in the works of developing it.

Paunovic also gave a little preview of what to expect from his character, Boki, in Snowpiercer Season 4, which recently finished filming. He also clarified that he will be present for more episodes this season.

“It was an amazing journey. I love that TNT allowed us to wrap up the show after four seasons so the fans can have an ending. I can say that Boki plays a huge part in the season. It’s probably one of my proudest moments; how the show ended, what the creators did, and what they gifted me with. I think the Boki fans out there are really going to enjoy Season 4,” Paunovic said.

As well as giving the series a proper goodbye, TNT allowed Paunovic to film Hawkeye simultaneously.

“At that same time, I booked Hawkeye. So, I had to do that, and Snowpiercer was gracious enough to let me do that and still come back. I was very fortunate. I give so many thanks to the Snowpiercer team for having me come back because I love the show and being part of it.”

GenZeroes Season 1 is available to stream exclusively on their site.

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