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Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

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Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#71

Post by JoeAltmaier »

snarkyturtle wrote: post #13

Except people don't do Comedy Central specials for the money, they do it to get exposure. Heralding C.K's success is like how people praised Radiohead for releasing their album independently. He already has a rabid and loyal fan base, but that's after working the comedy scene, writing for big shows, having stand-up specials on HBO. This article makes it seem like anybody can generate their own material, promote it an…

What a sweet deal for Comedy Central! They've convinced everybody that somehow there's no money to pay them, they'll just have to do it for free. That sounds suspiciously convenient.

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#73

Post by kbutler »

danso wrote: post #48
scythe wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And I'd argue stripping DRM (no matter how easy it is) is, is in fact harder than not bothering. But it's never, ever, necessary, not when gazillions of scene groups strip DRM from a work and upload it as soon as it hits the market, if not before; sometimes they just get hold of the studio version. It might make some obscure video games harder to pirate, since it's much harder to strip DRM from code than from data,…

You may be correct that DRM makes it "no harder to pirate that same content"...but it DOES make it harder for people to transfer files to each other through email/CDs/USB keys. To you, it may seem trivial to load up a torrent program and spend some of the day browsing the trackers, but this is not at all trivial to the average person. Think about it...DRM can be circumvented on iTunes music by burning it to a CD, giv…

> Yet iTunes has been a huge success because people either do not realize this or because the few extra steps is not worth the effort.

Please be careful attributing the success of iTunes to DRM.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay:

- Steve Jobs said that Apple didn't want to use DRM but was forced to by the music labels, who wouldn't provide the music w/o DRM.

- Apple announced in Jan 2009 iTunes was moving to DRM-free music.

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#74

Post by ChuckMcM »

aspir wrote: post #3

This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.

Actually he said, "...And I've got the money back already. I broke even — and then some."

So not only did he break even, he has earned some additional money. And his initial statement ""I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special," says that doing comedy specials the 'regular' way earned him nothing.

Now I expect it is a bit more nuanced than that, in that he was no doubt paid an appearance fee for being in a comedy special, and he didn't put up the money to produce those specials So his "net" was the fee and opportunity cost of the time he didn't spend producing the special.

Contrast that with the one he put up on the web, he paid all the costs (although I assume the 'audience' in the special also paid to attend). The and it took some time no doubt to do the post production work and to put it up for streaming, etc. Which went up on the 10th of December and here 3 days later has broken even "plus a bit more."

Over the course of the year, more people will watch it, and while the volume goes down, the tail stretches out for literally years. He's got this material that has paid for itself and he can license it to Netflix for their streaming service, picking up a bit of change when people watch it there. He can put it up on iTunes or Amazon's video service and pick up some cash when it rolls there. And the killer?

Is he makes another 'special', and now that folks are coming to the web page he puts up for the first one, he can list them both.

Eventually (sooner rather than later) he's got a catalog of comedy bits, several distribution channels and a stready revenue stream and there isn't a 'media company' (like a Viacom or Sony) anywhere in sight.

Now someone else says "Hey man, that rocks how can I do that?" and they convert over. And two, maybe five, years from now "suddenly" everyone seems to be their own production/distribution company and a new ecosystem sprouts that helps those companies get their content to market and Netflix/Amazon/Apple are cutting deals with them directly and you and I win because we get better quality stuff and not so much of the hassles and the media companies lose.

Can't wait.

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#75

Post by shadowfiend »

danso wrote: post #48
scythe wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And I'd argue stripping DRM (no matter how easy it is) is, is in fact harder than not bothering. But it's never, ever, necessary, not when gazillions of scene groups strip DRM from a work and upload it as soon as it hits the market, if not before; sometimes they just get hold of the studio version. It might make some obscure video games harder to pirate, since it's much harder to strip DRM from code than from data,…

You may be correct that DRM makes it "no harder to pirate that same content"...but it DOES make it harder for people to transfer files to each other through email/CDs/USB keys. To you, it may seem trivial to load up a torrent program and spend some of the day browsing the trackers, but this is not at all trivial to the average person. Think about it...DRM can be circumvented on iTunes music by burning it to a CD, giv…

iTunes music hasn't been DRMed in about two and a half years now, I think. And honestly, things have moved quickly. When iTunes music was still DRMed, I think we were still in the process of transitioning away from CDs as a playback medium.

That said, I think the biggest reason iTunes has succeeded is because it's easier to buy the damn song than it is to go hunt it down. I suppose if someone emailed you the song file directly that'd be easier, but only marginally. When it's equally easy/easier to do “the right thing”, I think most people tends toward doing “the right thing”. The problem with DRM is it usually actually makes it harder to do “the right thing”. Oops.

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#77

Post by tptacek »

malvim wrote: post #70
tptacek wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen him live a couple times, and he's gotten up on stage and joked about how much more money he has than everyone in the entire room. I don't think he's hurting.

I understand where you're coming from, but we sometimes seem to forget that pretty much everything these guys say on stage is made-up material. Of course, some might be based on fact, but let's not assume whatever he says happened to him did happen to him, or even happen at all! Did you watch that interview about his "everything is amazing and nobody's happy" bit? He said that the bitchy guy "sitting next to him" in…

This whole subthread is based on "things Louis CK said". Regardless: it's doubtful, given how well his tours seem to do, than Louis CK is anything less than "pretty wealthy".

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#79

Post by JonnieCache »

tptacek wrote: post #31
funkah wrote: post #27

I was surprised that he revealed yesterday in the reddit thing that he has never owned a home or had real financial security. I'm enough of a fan to know that he is definitely not rich from comedy, but I somehow figured he had made enough to own a home outright at least. FTA: "And a friend of mine who does torrent stuff a lot says that when torrent users do buy something, they act like they're doing the greatest thin…

I've seen him live a couple times, and he's gotten up on stage and joked about how much more money he has than everyone in the entire room. I don't think he's hurting.

>joked about how much more money he has than everyone in the entire room

When comedians say things like this, it's almost always about manipulating their perceived status relative to the audience. That's why you'll see him say the opposite in other situations. It's all just playing games with status. To make different bits work, comedians either need to be perceived as higher or lower status than their audience, to garner the sympathy/revulsion needed to make the surrounding material come off properly.

EDIT: came up with a better way to state this: sometimes you need to be the underdog, sometimes you need to be an alpha-asshole.

Here is the superb Stewart Lee talking about this issue in a recent interview about his new series, which is mostly his standup:

What was Chris Morris's input as script editor?

"He really helped fix a particular problem. I noticed reviews saying that I was arrogant and condescending. I thought, 'That's interesting because it doesn't feel like that live'. In the room I'm able to fabricate some kind of struggle whereby the gig isn't quite working. I'm a lower-status character, so when you criticise someone you don't do it from a position of authority or strength - it doesn't seem arrogant."

How did Chris fix that on screen?

"I wanted some sort of device that would lower my status or make me appear to be under pressure. I spent days on end talking to Chris about different ideas to get that to work. We ended up with Armando Iannucci interviewing me throughout the series in a hostile way - criticising all the material and my role in the programme. That's cut in with all the stand-up and it works really well."

Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2-qqtvsNDI

Very few people can manipulate a room like Stewart Lee.

Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

#80

Post by nitrogen »

ColdSnickersBar wrote: post #51
pyre wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It prevents person-to-person sharing for non-technical users of the original content . The real question is: How hard is it for a non-technical user to find and download a pirated version from the Internet? It's the difference between: Hey! This track is awesome lemme email it to you. and Hey! This track is awesome. Google for a pirated version of it!

Almost everyone on the internet doesn't know what a torrent is, and would stop at trying to email it to a friend. The larger share of the market IS being prevented from sharing by DRM.

They don't have to know what a torrent is to search for "How do I watch season 4 episode 2 of MY_FAVORITE_SHOW for free?" and eventually find a torrent or working video stream.
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