The Sandbox co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget have announced a financing campaign for Hollywood Hills, a cosmic horror film combining audience investment and participation with digital collectibles, an interactive mystery and a real-world Hollywood tour.
The campaign will formally launch for payments on 8th October and run until 31st December 2026. It aims to raise $1 million, with a minimum investment of $200. The offering lists a minimum funding target of $75,000 and a maximum of $5 million.
Madrid and Borget are lead investors and partners in the production, while The Sandbox will support marketing and community development. The film was first announced at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024.
Written and directed by Benjamin Rozovas, Hollywood Hills follows a celebrity-death tour through Los Angeles over a single night. As a dying star hangs above the city, the bus leaves its route and enters an underworld connected to Hollywood’s buried history.
Principal photography is scheduled for the third quarter of 2027 in Spain, with release targeted for 2028.
According to the announcement, the offering gives investors contractual rights to share in the film’s revenue. The proposed arrangement prioritizes repayment of 120% of their investment, after which remaining proceeds are divided equally between investors and producers. Payments depend on available proceeds; the arrangement does not guarantee investors a return.
Alongside the financing campaign, the project introduces Hollywood Hills Villas, a collection of 3,000 digital artworks illustrated by Steve Scott. The first 1,000 investors will receive Villas, which represent houses within the film’s fictional world.
Each contains clues to its mythology, with Rare and Legendary Villas holding pieces of the central mystery. An investigation begins in the campaign video and continues through the collection and a Discord community called the Black Fire Archive. A Villa connected to solving the first puzzle could appear onscreen.
The announcement describes Villas as investment perks, separate from the financial security. It does not identify a blockchain or specify whether the collection will be issued as NFTs.
“The Villas are not simply collectibles. They’re pieces of evidence, carrying clues that invite people to investigate, form theories and become part of the mythology,” Borget said.
The production is also partnering with Los Angeles operator Grave Line Tours to launch a Dead & Famous bus tour in October. Investors will receive access to the first rides, with plans to open the experience to the public around the film’s release.
The tour will visit locations associated with celebrity deaths, including Ramon Novarro, Peg Entwistle and Dorothy Stratten, following the route traveled by the film’s characters. The organizers say experiences on the bus will contribute to the project’s lore.
Find out more at the film’s website.
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