An update on Louis CK’s online special. I wrote about the special earlier this week and the worries about torrenting (basically a form of downloading files illegally) cutting into the profits.
That doesn’t seem to have affected Louis CK too greatly; he announced on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show (clip above) that the special has made over $1 million. That is over 200,000 people paying $5 through Paypal to watch his special. This is after Louis CK paid for the production of the special (he produced this entirely by himself through his production company Pig Newton) with the money he made from the two shows where the special was taped at the Beacon Theater in New York City.
Louis CK then gave the people in his company a bonus and donated a bunch of other money to charities.
Looks like this online experiment worked for Louis CK and I wonder if any other big-time stand up comedians will follow his model. One thing, though — in every interview I’ve heard with Louis CK (and I’ve heard a lot) since he finished the special, he has mentioned how he was heavily involved in the process from start to finish.
Not that this is unusual for Louis CK — he directs, produces, stars and even edits his show Louie on FX (which will be featured prominently in my top-ten TV shows of the year post which I plan on writing this week).
It took a lot of work for Louis CK to get such a large reward and other comedians who want to emulate Louis CK should know this and plan accordingly.
Oh, one last thing — I downloaded it (after paying $5) and watched it a few nights ago and it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I can’t recommend it enough.
