RightInTwo
Power Member
- Feb 23, 2010
- 744
- 388
Interesting read from Mashable. Sometimes you just gotta do things yourself!
Story source: http://mashable.com/2011/12/14/louis-ck-200000-standup-video/
Comedian Louis Szekely, better known as Louis C.K., is profiting handsomely from a $5 video of his latest standup routine, which he produced and distributed himself.
Instead of partnering with a studio, Szekely hired a team with six cameras to tape two of his performances at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. He distributed the video through a website specially built for that purpose. Within 12 hours of going on sale Saturday, 50,000 people purchased the video, covering all of costs incurred for its production (around $170,000) and creation of the website ($32,000). By day four, he had sold 110,000 copies, making an additional $200,000 off the venture.
Szekely admits that $200,000 is less than what a ?big company? would have paid him for rights to create the video, but the added value for the fans makes up for the difference. Had another company produced it, they would have charged $20 for a video that would have been encrypted and regionally restricted, and fans would have had to fork over their personal details for the company?s own use.
?This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again,? Szekely posted on his website Tuesday.
Szekely was also pleased to note that most people paid $5 to download the video instead of bittorrenting it, which was presumably a problem with his earlier, pricier videos. He added that he would ?certainly do it again,? and if sales of this video remain strong, he?ll ?continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, and keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.?
Although Szekely has gone on the record against social media in the past, it?s difficult to imagine this venture would have been a success without it. The comedian mentioned the video many times on Twitter leading up to and following the video?s release, and he promoted it as part of an ?Ask Me Anything? special on reddit on Monday, which attracted more than 9,500 comments.
Instead of partnering with a studio, Szekely hired a team with six cameras to tape two of his performances at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. He distributed the video through a website specially built for that purpose. Within 12 hours of going on sale Saturday, 50,000 people purchased the video, covering all of costs incurred for its production (around $170,000) and creation of the website ($32,000). By day four, he had sold 110,000 copies, making an additional $200,000 off the venture.
Szekely admits that $200,000 is less than what a ?big company? would have paid him for rights to create the video, but the added value for the fans makes up for the difference. Had another company produced it, they would have charged $20 for a video that would have been encrypted and regionally restricted, and fans would have had to fork over their personal details for the company?s own use.
?This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again,? Szekely posted on his website Tuesday.
Szekely was also pleased to note that most people paid $5 to download the video instead of bittorrenting it, which was presumably a problem with his earlier, pricier videos. He added that he would ?certainly do it again,? and if sales of this video remain strong, he?ll ?continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, and keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.?
Although Szekely has gone on the record against social media in the past, it?s difficult to imagine this venture would have been a success without it. The comedian mentioned the video many times on Twitter leading up to and following the video?s release, and he promoted it as part of an ?Ask Me Anything? special on reddit on Monday, which attracted more than 9,500 comments.
Story source: http://mashable.com/2011/12/14/louis-ck-200000-standup-video/