Images by: Doodles
Words by: Joseph Genest

Holguin has laid the blueprint for Doodles to become a media powerhouse.

Founded by Jordan Castro, Evan Keast, and Scott Martin (aka BurntToast: the artist behind the Doodles), Holguin was brought on as CEO a few months after launch, previously serving as President of Billboard. For its first major production towards the brand’s goal, it recently announced Dullsville and The Doodleverse, introducing what the Doodles’ universe is about.

“We’ve always had the ambition to turn the brand into a character universe, taking these collectibles and giving them a name and stories,” Holguin recalls. Starting as an NFT collection of 10,000 unique PFPs, Doodles transformed into a blue-chip success story in Web3, providing some of the first instances of high-level rewards (like IRL parties and events). After the initial buzz, the company doubled down on transforming this IP into something bigger. 

One of the first challenges Holguin mentioned in building out this world was “How do we bring these characters to life?”. With a heavy emphasis on short videos for social, Doodles acquired the animation studio Golden Wolf in June 2023. In addition to Golden Wolf, Doodles also built Doodles 2, an avatar builder. Although the OG Doodles collection of 10,000 NFTs has similar characteristics, the team wanted the avatar builder to be an accessible way for people to join the brand.

“Avatars are social utility. How can you use an avatar as a communication tool where you spend most of your time? That’s texting, messaging, and other social environments.” Holguin feels avatars will become more popular “community conversation” touchpoints, a big reason why the Doodles’ builder is as simple as possible.

“If you have music videos going with film, television, and other big brand activations but you need Ethereum and a MetaMask to get your hands on it, you lose people before you even have a chance.” Holguin remarks on leaning away from the more technical aspects of Web3. Instead, the avatar builder has enabled people to recreate original characters, as well as expand into user-created content via memes and even fan fiction.

The hub for someone’s Doodle is The Studio, which showcases new content, merch, events, and other add-ons. For the rollout of Dullsville and The Doodleverse, the team will be featuring music videos and other content here that coincide with the series' first episode. 

Slated to debut Dullsville and The Doodleverse in September, Holguin says the team brought on Jesse Moynihan as the lead writer for the series, whose credits include Adventure Time and Midnight Gospel. Working with Burnt Toast, Moynihan has been helping “build the stories, world, and laws of the Doodles universe.”

Holguin promises Dullsville and The Doodleverse is a “first of its kind narrative, with all the linear and non-linear storytelling that we do.” Following the story of a character named Hap and his feline fellow named Mellow, Holguin dives into how the cat “has its own personality (that’s) an inspiration for discoveries”, hinting that Mellow plays a big role in the story’s plot. Meanwhile, Hap is described as a “tinkerer and inventor, someone that lives in a world which doesn’t appreciate his contributions,” leading to a sense of adventure to discover his purpose.

With Pharrell as Doodles’ Chief Brand Officer, Holguin states that music is going to be a big part of the cultural vision, citing how Metro Boomin’s soundtrack for Spiderman’s Into The Spiderverse brought a layer to the content, characters, and stories in a unique way; a feeling Doodles wants to capture with Dullsville and The Doodleverse. So far, the team has announced Lil Wayne and Coi Leray as two of the first artists who are producing music, as well as voicing characters in the film. 

“There’s a famous holder in our community named Pranksy who holds the NFT that inspired Lil Wayne’s character, Captain Stoke, who’s a space pirate featured in the first episode,” comments Holguin, noting that more OG Doodles holders can expect special rewards along the way like pre-sales, early access, and other perks.

“We have a pretty big thesis that if the brand proliferates in a way that our community thinks it will, and we permeate pop culture, we create a big audience and demand around the things we do,” noting that events, merchandise, and other activations are built to be limited, exclusive experiences. “We didn’t want to just drive people to merch. That’s not a good user experience. We’re different because you can watch this content and enjoy a whole community. There’s a whole social utility that comes with this IP that people are going to love.”

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