Networks will pay for what sells. SMT's can fund movies these days.
I met Doug Karr from Pie Face Pictures at Steemfest and he did a presentation of a 10 episode miniseries called Hardfork that he's producing funded in part by Steemians on the platform. He's even sourcing some of the screenplay writing and soundtrack from users on the platform.
Someone asked him a good question during the Q and A.
Q Since you're obviously successful at acquiring traditional sources of funding for your film projects, what advantages do you gain by looking to crowdsource funding on the Steem blockchain?
A Verifiable viewers. By having an active, an involved, and invested audience it makes it easier to close the deal through traditional funding sources. We can guarantee and verify a large number of viewers to an investor and through a direct line of communication with that audience, we can shape the story to what they want to watch. Because the audience is invested in the production and shaping of the film they become very loyal viewers which is what any producer wants.