Danny Laker: Where Web3 Meets Hollywood—How She's Building a Better System for Creatives
The actress-turned-founder rewriting the script on entertainment, tech, and ownership.
I’ve had five coffee chats in the last seven days.
Four with people I’d never met before, one with someone I already knew. And while I wouldn’t consider myself the most extroverted person in the room. Lately, I’ve been actively putting myself out there. Especially here in Paris, where I’m slowly building my own little network.
It’s wild how one introduction leads to the next. A friend of a friend. A “you two should definitely meet.” Suddenly, you find yourself with someone whose story changes your view, sparks an idea, or reminds you why you started this journey.
I won’t lie—sometimes it feels like a whole lot of peopleing.
But honestly? It’s worth it.
Networking can feel like a loaded word. But at its core, it’s fundamentally about curiosity. About showing up, learning from others, and creating the kind of momentum you can’t always build alone.
So that’s what I’m sitting with this week: the beauty of connection. The chain reaction of showing up.
And now, let me introduce you to someone who is building new systems for connection on a much bigger scale.
Meet Danny Laker
Let’s be honest—there aren’t many people who can jump from consulting to film, from acting to tech, and still have the energy to build a new company from scratch. But Danny Laker does it all—and then some.
When we spoke, I could feel the velocity behind her words. Danny isn’t just bridging many industries—she’s fusing them together. She’s not trying to fit into the system. She’s redesigning it.
A former Accenture consultant turned producer, actress, and now founder of CinVest. Danny aims to revolutionize the financing and creation of film projects. She's helping creators—especially those left out of the traditional model-own their work, fund their art, and build revenue models that last. And Web3? It's not the buzzword in the background. It’s the engine under the hood.
From Lotus Notes to Film Sets: A Creative’s Unlikely Path to Tech
Danny’s tech roots run deep, revealing a surprising history. Long before Web3, NFTs, or even cloud collaboration, she was sitting beside her grandfather, helping him figure out his first computer after retirement. It was hands-on, unfiltered learning. And it sparked something.
“I was grandad’s girl,” she said. “He was this traditional corporate executive with a secretary and a board seat. But when he retired, he had to learn tech himself. So we figured it out together.”
That experience unlocked a new world. Danny soon found herself exploring Lotus Notes (an early groupware platform that predated tools like Slack and Google Docs). She learned to build basic databases. She created custom interfaces and connected servers on her own. Before long, she was managing networks and setting up LAN parties.
“I was the only girl invited to those offline gaming sessions,” she said. “I’d connect the cables, troubleshoot the network, and then hop in and play. It made me feel like I belonged in that world.”
This wasn’t just a hobby—it became the beginning of her professional life. Danny transitioned from a commercial education into early tech roles. She was offered the chance to work in either SAP or Lotus Notes at Siemens Healthcare. She chose the latter—not because it was the obvious choice, but because it fed her creative side.
“Lotus Notes was visual. It let you build little apps and tweak the design. I didn’t realize it then, but I was experimenting with user experience and systems thinking.”
Even then, she wasn’t content to stay in one lane. Her curiosity helped her learn about servers and enterprise architecture. She also discovered how various departments and industries connect. That became a theme throughout her consulting career at Accenture and Axel Springer. She helped develop innovation practices. She also worked on corporate transformation and venture creation.
“I’ve always wanted to know how things work—whether it's an IT system, a business model, or a film production schedule. It’s all systems. And we can redesign systems.”
Her mix of tech skills and human instincts took her to film. There, she used the same analytical approach: why is this system still broken? Why are creatives still gatekept out of their own industry?
What started as a curiosity about cables became a career in connectivity—and now, a company built on it.
Why Film Financing Needs a Rethink
You don’t have to work in Hollywood to know it’s hard to get a film made. But Danny went deeper—she studied the inefficiencies, the gatekeeping, the creative limitations. It wasn’t just hard. It was broken.
“I was constantly frustrated with how hard it was to get something greenlit. Even if it had real artistic merit,” she said.
And that’s where the idea for CinVest was born.
At its core, CinVest is a film trust fund incubator powered by Web3. But that description barely scratches the surface. Here’s what it actually means:
Tokenized Funding: Filmmakers can raise capital through transparent, blockchain-backed investments.
Smart Royalties: Everyone—from investors to talent—can track where the money goes.
Creative Autonomy: No more selling out to gatekeepers. Artists keep ownership.
Audience involvement: Fans become stakeholders, not just spectators.
“I don’t want to just tell stories,” Danny said. “I want to build systems that let stories thrive.”
But here’s what sets her apart: she’s not using blockchain jargon. Her goal is to make tech invisible. This way, creators can focus on their art and still enjoy the benefits of decentralization.
Leadership, Identity, and Owning the Unknown
One of the most powerful parts of our conversation? Danny’s take on leadership—not just in business, but in life.
Danny doesn’t speak about leadership from the safety of theory. She’s lived through the kind of hard resets most people avoid. She’s built businesses—and she’s shut them down. She has faced times when nothing worked. Clients left, and her life changed in an instant.
“I closed three businesses last year. Not because I failed—but because they had run their course,” she shared. “That’s the part no one wants to hear. "Sometimes, even when you meditate, journal, or manifest, the old world must collapse for something new to rise."
For Danny, transformation doesn’t happen when you’re coasting. It happens when you’re cracked open.
“There’s this moment when you have nothing left. No roadmap, no backup plan. It’s terrifying. But it’s also the moment when you realize you don’t need the crutches. You have the muscles. You’ve always had them.”
This mindset shift didn’t just shape her businesses—it shaped her parenting too. Danny became a young mom, juggling motherhood, university, consulting gigs, side hustles, and entrepreneurship. From the outside, it looked like ambition. But for her, it was about love.
“I wanted to give my kids a better life. That was the driver,” she said. “But society doesn’t always see it that way. There’s this constant mom guilt. Like if you care about your work, you’re neglecting your kids.”
Her answer to that? Radical reframing.
“A non-fulfilled parent is worse than one who travels or takes a call during bedtime,” she told me. “Being a mom is more than just being physically present. It’s about showing your kids what it looks like to pursue purpose—even when it’s messy.”
She doesn’t pretend it’s easy. She shares her nights of self-doubt and moments of exhaustion. There’s pressure to be both a visionary and a caregiver. But she also talks about the joy of building, growing, and becoming.
And if there's one throughline in Danny's philosophy, it’s this: True leadership isn’t about control. It’s about honesty. With your team. With your family. And most of all, with yourself.
Why Web3 Isn’t a Replacement—It’s a New Continent
For Danny, Web3 isn’t just about blockchain. It’s not about hype cycles or crypto charts. It’s about possibility—a new kind of space where people can show up differently, create differently, and connect differently.
“It’s not a replacement for the real world—it’s an addition,” she told me. “It’s like discovering a new continent. You’re not leaving your home behind, but you now have this whole new landscape to build something else entirely.”
And in that landscape, the rules are shifting.
Where the traditional world demands permission, Web3 rewards experimentation. Where gatekeepers filter access, Web3 invites participation. Where identity was once fixed, Web3 lets it evolve.
She calls it a space for self-expression—not just for artists, but for anyone navigating multiple versions of themselves.
And that’s where her work in entertainment comes full circle.
Danny envisions a future with XR (extended reality), digital fashion, and immersive story environments. In this future, the audience steps inside the film instead of just watching it. They don’t buy a ticket—they buy into the world.
Think of watching your favorite movie and then stepping into it with a headset. Wearing the characters’ digital outfits, engaging with others in the same space, or owning a piece of the story as a collectible NFT. But it’s not about the tech. It’s about the experience.
“I see movies becoming platforms,” she said. “You’re not just consuming—you’re interacting, co-creating, even healing.”
Danny sees something deeper beyond the glitz: the potential for digital spaces to support real human growth.
“Let’s say you’re dealing with trauma. In real life, you might never talk about it. But in Web3—under an alias, in an immersive space—you might engage with others who’ve experienced the same. That’s powerful.”
She sees people using these spaces for fun, learning, social good, and mental health support. Where anonymity and expression can coexist in ways the physical world often can’t accommodate.
For Danny, Web3 is the connective tissue between art, identity, and empowerment. And in that world, the role of the creator is changing. From isolated storyteller to community builder. From seeking funding to designing ecosystems.
And that’s exactly the kind of world she is building.
Breaking Silos—And Why Hollywood Needs More Cross-Pollination
Danny has a bold theory about why Web3 adoption in entertainment has been slow: too many silos.
“Hollywood has its rules. Tech has its own. And the two rarely talk—let alone collaborate,” she said. “What I’ve tried to do throughout my career is break down those walls.”
Her consulting background gave her a bird' s-eye view of multiple industries. Her creative instincts helped her understand what artists need. CinVest is her way of bringing it all together: a platform, a mindset, and a movement.
And yes—she’s still wondering why no one thought to bring NFTs into the Barbie movie. “That could’ve been massive. But the opportunity was completely missed.”
What She’s Building Next (and Who She’s Looking For)
Danny is also working on several female-led film projects. These projects blend digital fashion, gaming, and Web3 mechanics. These films do more than show strong women. They use the tools that empower them.
She’s looking for tech partners, investors, and brands. Together, they’ll help create a new wave of cinematic storytelling.
The Next Block
At Decoded, we have a fun tradition: each guest leaves a question for the next one without knowing who it will be for. It can be about anything!
This time, the question was: “What do you want to see more of in the space?”
“More women. More community. More accountability.”
Not louder voices. Not more VC money. Not just the next product launch.
What she’s advocating for is deeper: a cultural shift. A redistribution of access. A redefinition of value.
Danny isn’t trying to force her way into outdated rooms. She’s building entirely new ones—and she’s inviting others to do the same. With CinVest, she’s not just supporting filmmakers; she’s handing them the blueprint to claim ownership, raise funds transparently, and build businesses around their creativity—without having to compromise their values.
It’s about more than tokenized royalties or smarter contracts. It’s about creating infrastructure for self-expression and doing it in a way that centers trust, inclusion, and long-term impact.
So whether you’re a filmmaker, a Web3 builder, or someone who’s tired of watching good ideas die in old systems—pay attention to what Danny’s building. Because CinVest isn’t just another creative startup. It’s a challenge. It’s a vision. It’s the next block.
Connect with Danny here!
Check out what Danny is doing with CinVest here!