Zcash Media 2023

[ryan.taylor]

@ambimorph

at least five months

I see. 19 December 2023. Six months after the original milestone deadline.

[aquietinvestor]

@silentZcollector

@aquietinvestor one video a month is not enough to build up the excitement that we need, please give this a second thought.

I agree. Zcash Media’s strategy involves releasing one long-form video monthly, supplemented by a continuous stream of short videos and promotional material to complement the main video. Their goal is to maintain momentum and ensure the community has a regular flow of content to engage with.

The community will also support ZM’s video releases with additional content. For example, the Decentralizing Digital Task Force, which I am a member, plans to promote the videos via the @zcash Twitter and z.cash website. We’re hoping ZecHub, Ambassadors, and other community members will play a role as well.

[cryptomuncher]

I think the bigger problem is the tonal shifts that happened over many months especially when it became clear that 37L wouldn’t hit the deadlines from the approved grant. Zcash doesn’t have the benefit of time anymore, that has come and gone. But when you make statements around shifting staff away from this project to other priorities when the project is already behind schedule, it paints the wrong picture. Couple that with a drip-drip release schedule at a point where time is critical to the Zcash project and ecosystem as a whole.

I hope for Zcash’s sake that the videos are amazing AND that they generate interest from people outside of the current ecosystem. That combination is what we’ve been missing for way too long.

[ambimorph]

Just for posterity, here is the verbiage on substituting some shorts in place of longs from the original grant documents you can find in the gallery from the original proposal.

[earthrise]

FWIW, I held Zcash Media in high regard for the quality of their work, but the lack of communication eventually made me feel like they ran away with the money, as is the common opinion on these forums. Whenever I heard those opinions, I didn’t want to believe it because I understood Zcash Media to be high-quality and trustworthy, but I kept checking their twitter and youtube, and the last post was always from the end of 2022. Maybe I missed some posts on this forum that said otherwise, but it really looked like they disappeared and weren’t working on anything. I’m excited to see the content they’ve made, but if a grant-funded project is going to publish nothing for that long, there needs to be better communication, especially through that project’s official channels.

[zkcroc]

Can you please explain the hedging process?

[ryan.taylor]

In the original proposal, which was for 8 videos that were due 30 June 2023, that 9th example on their “menu”, reads as supplemental content.

at least 9 clips per one “video”,

This says, to me, that the clips come from the 8 deliverable videos that are committed to in that document. I keep my own copy, in case the one online changes, like the proposal on the ZCG website did. Zcash_Media_2023_Proposal_Final.pdf (2.0 MB)

To a veteran video creator, who has worked in internet media for 10+ years (crypto media for 10+ years) and the Hollywood Film Industry for several prior to that, this replacement math (9 shorts = 1 “video”) is a nonsense escape hatch.

This grant is full of holes and excuses. I’ve heard enough.

The only saving grace, at this point, is the content itself. Release one “video” or “short” here, in the forum, now. Stop wasting our time and the time of our colleagues. Let the community see a real sample of your new product and let the quality speak for itself.

@dodger What is our process to audit the grant and recall the committee members who signed off on payment for an incomplete and unreasonably late grant milestone?

[ZcashRabbi]

So we paid for 8 videos + at least 9 shorts per video

“Deliver 8 videos for review” tells me that this is the main body of the work. The short clips are not new/different content that need reviewing because they are from the 8 videos

The purpose of the at least 9 short clips per video is to make them accessible in other forms like YouTube shorts, instagram reels and TikTok. That’s all

In summary !!!

We paid for 8 long videos and a total of 72 short clips.

What we’re getting is 6 long videos and 18 short clips (+ a 1 year delay).

@Dodger @ambimorph @aquietinvestor @GGuy @wobbzz @BrunchTime am I reading this wrong or missing something?

[zerodartz]

this topic is getting too heated…

btw what does community input mean in original proposal?
“during pre-production, Zcash Media
will decide which 20 videos to make, with active
community input.”

we are getting 18 shorts also instead of 72

wat if Zcash media made paid contests like AV club just did for the remaining shorts with big prize pool?
i know it will never happen but throwing it out there.

the shorts should always have been part community could do imo looking back.

[GGuy]

The example shows 2+3+2+2+3+2+3+1+2=20. In the example it was 2, so 18 shorts.

[ryan.taylor]

20 videos, 9 clips per video …

Then, there’s the random numbers in the left margin …

Why is everything surrounding this grant so convoluted and confusing?

@GGuy Why was payment made for an incomplete and unreasonably late grant milestone?

What was agreed upon:

• 8 videos
• Delivered by 30 June 2023
• Community engagement; content and skill sharing

What we’re getting:

• 6 “videos” + some “Short Clips”
• No delivery until 30 June 2024
• Zero communication; no content nor skill sharing

[GGuy]

Despite not being on the committee when grant was approved it was always my understanding we’d be receiving < 8 long videos. It was my understanding that in January 2023 the community was encouraged by the shorts options provided by Zcash Media as they thought it could have a significant impact. Therefore the 6 long videos and 18 short videos fits my understanding of requirements for milestone 1.

Regarding the deadline it was my understanding that in December the community still largely supported Zcash Media despite the delays. On 9th of February ZCG received access to most of the deliverables. While the committee considered accepting the deliverables received we decided to request some changes which 37L were happy to make. It took another 2 months (April) for 37L to deliver the final video. Despite the longer then expected timelines I was encouraged by their willingness to make the changes we requested which included recording new footage etc.

I was unable to find any milestone 1 deliverable regarding the community. I encourage you to look at the proposal submitted and the grants page.

@David_Heisenberg

Also, here is the link to our proposal on the Zcash Grants platform: Gallery View: Zcash Community Grants Program .

[ryan.taylor]

The community engagement part of their proposal is in the Q+A section, as described here:

Zcash Media 2023

imo, if the first milestone of this grant is to be paid, the videos must be released and the grant reviewed. Before any future work or payment is discussed. This delay of delivery has gone on far too long and has already left a stain on the Zcash grant system, Zcash community funding and Zcash content creators, broadly. There is no excuse for the lack of community communication and collaboration that the Zcash Media (37L) team has shown us. In this way, their behavior in execution of the gran…

Zcash Community engagement must be a requirement for all Zcash Community Grant recipients. idk if it is in zip-1014 but, if it’s missing, that’s a mistake.

[GGuy]

I don’t believe it’s in ZCG’s/Zcash’s best interests to withhold payments to grantee’s due to words like explore. I understand your concerns but am unable to find any strong arguments that Zcash Media didn’t deliver what they had promised in the grant for milestone 1.

[cryptomuncher]

I would not withhold payment for Milestone 1. They completed the requirements outlined and discussed and approved with ZCG. What I do think it is important is two-fold:

1. Halt any future work with this grant until such time as a full and complete review can occur to determine what kind of return was achieved with the first phase (and yes, that might mean a longer pause on future work).

2. ZCG reviews and implements more stringent accountability for grantees (especially for large grants) to require more frequent communications, smaller gate checks on progress and penalties for failure to meet agreed and approved timelines.

[ryan.taylor]

@GGuy

in ZCG’s best interests

What about the best interests of Zcash?

[Dodger]

Before I address some of the specific questions raised here, I want to say a few things.

I suggest that everyone takes a breath. As @zerodartz pointed out, this topic is getting too heated. That’s perfectly understandable, given the passion and strength of feeling that we all hold for the Zcash project. It’s worth remembering that we all want the same thing.

There is always an element of risk involved in any grant. Things don’t always work out perfectly. There may be unforeseen problems or obstacles that need to be overcome, delays, misunderstandings, all sorts of issues that can cause problems and delays for a project. There needs to be flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances to avoid projects getting derailed. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I encourage everyone to carefully read @BrunchTime’s post about the challenges of being on a decision-making body like ZCG.

@ryan.taylor

What actions and resources does the Zcash community have with which to hold ZCG accountable..

ZCG committee members are elected by the Zcash community (with a term of one year), so they are directly accountable to the community in the sense that the community can choose to not re-elect an existing member when their term is up.

@ryan.taylor

and, can you please explain the ZEC value in the spreadsheet @ambimorph? it’s the one on the far right. Looks like really old price. Just want to clarify all the fine points here.

Here’s a view with the column headers included.

The “Paid Out” column shows the date the milestone was paid out. In this instance, the milestone was split into three separate payouts that were paid on 30th April, 6th May and 9th May. The “ZEC Disbursed” column shows the number of ZEC that were paid out, and reflects the ZECUSD price on that day (which you can check by dividing the Amount (USD) by ZEC Disbursed - i.e. $21.03, $23.22 and $23.51, respectively).

@zkcroc

Can you please explain the hedging process?

Put simply, the hedging process ensures that ZCG’s treasury is always capable of covering its grant liabilities. It’s carried out by ZF, in consultation with the ZCG committee.

When a grant is approved, we sell ZEC for USD, when is then held in the ZCG treasury. When a milestone is paid out, the USD can then be used to buy back the ZEC needed to make the payout (completed milestones are typically paid out in shielded ZEC).

In practise, the reduction in liabilities that results from a milestone payout is often offset by an increase in liabilities resulting from the approval of new grants, so we take into account upcoming milestone payouts and likely grant approvals, and consult with the ZCG committee if we feel that it may be better to run a significant deficit, or hold surplus USD pending upcoming milestone payouts or new grant approvals.

[zkcroc]

Thanks @Dodger that was always something I always pondered RE the price flucuations of ZEC in relation to grants being paid out. Cheers for the clarity.

[ryan.taylor]

One more quick question for @David_Heisenberg and @37L: Under which license are you releasing these “videos”?

If this has already been discussed, and I missed it, can someone plz provide a link with details?