‘Distribution Is Free’: ‘Claynosaurz’ Boss Nic Cabana Says The Future Of Entertainment Belongs To Creators

At Italy’s View Conference, Claynosaurz co-founder and creative director Nic Cabana issued a challenge to the entertainment industry: the future belongs to creators and their communities. “Entertainment’s nonlinear,” he told attendees. “Distribution is free.”

During the panel Claynosaurz: Rise of the Interactive Franchises – Why the Future Belongs to Creators (covered by Variety), Cabana outlined how his team is reimagining audience engagement by merging user-generated worlds, collectible-driven funding, and constant fan collaboration. The approach has turned his dinosaur-themed universe into a fast-growing global franchise.

What began as a self-funded short has evolved into a multi-platform phenomenon with billions of views and a passionate fanbase. Claynosaurz’s social clips regularly attract tens of millions of views, and its digital collectibles sell out instantly; one recent drop generated $223,000 in under 30 seconds. The franchise’s collectible ecosystem now circulates about $40 million, transforming what was once a small project into one of the internet’s most successful creator-led IPs.

Cabana credits a decentralized model that thrives on short-form storytelling, social media virality, and digital collectibles, rather than traditional distribution. Every medium, from GIFs to games, serves as part of a larger, interconnected property.

Founded by veterans of DreamWorks, Illumination, Disney, and Sony, the Claynosaurz team initially self-funded before expanding through a 10,000-piece collectible launch that financed further content. Today, the ecosystem includes a Gameloft mobile game, live fan events, merchandise lines, and a 40-episode YouTube series co-produced with Mediawan.

According to Cabana, fans play an active, creative, and necessary role in the franchise’s development. Their avatars appear in shorts, their contributions become canon, and the studio releases free animation rigs at festivals like Annecy to encourage remixing and collaboration.

The model is working. Claynosaurz earned $3 million in its first year and $11 million by its third, without studio backing. “You do not need the studio system,” Cabana said.

For him, the entertainment landscape has permanently shifted toward community-built worlds and audience-driven innovation. The company’s mantra, he says, is “We’re going to meet the audiences where they’re at, which is everywhere. Entertainment is clearly nonlinear now.”