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Now its jumping in with both feet, planning one live event over each of eight consecutive nights.
What is this person going to say?
Experiencing that live I think really plusses up the entire experience and really works well for the genre.
It doesnt negate the other ways that people like watching stand-up comedy.
And I think that this is a little bit of recognition that different folks like different stand-up specials.
So I mean, sure, we will have some learnings.
But this is really about how the tastes of our audiences are varied.
I mean, its calledEverybodys in L.A.because everyones here for the festival.
So we thought it made a lot of sense to have John kick off the festival.
For people in L.A., you cant miss that this festival is happening.
Were in so many venues and theres so much publicity for it in Los Angeles.
You havent given out too many details about what the show will be.
His fingerprints are all over it.
But I think the episodes will be somewhere between 40 and 60 minutes, something like that.
Its really about exploring L.A. in a week when the funniest people are here.
He truly has amassed a treasure trove of the biggest comedy stars in the world.
I mean, as somebody who is starting to get bald, I actually have hair envy.
I dont agree with your notes.
Whatever makes him happy is fine.
But thats still just a fraction of the hundreds of events youre doing.
Were taping Ali Wong.
Were taping Deon Cole.
Were taping another program of up-and-coming comedians that well be putting on the Netflix Is A Joke YouTube.
But I think its pretty similar to last time.
I mean fundamentally this is about celebrating comedy.
That is our north star here.
They truly need to film and launch their specials at a time when they are done touring that material.
It doesnt work for comedy in the same way because you would know all the material.
What about making money from the festival is that also a goal at this point?
But yeah, thats not our goal.
Were highlighting the fact that Netflix is a great place for comedy.
Its such an important festival and so unbelievably important for emerging comedians.
But no, I wouldnt say that.
I dont really correlate what were doing here versus what has happened there.
I think that events like this are very important.
Were going to have over 500 shows.
Were at the Hollywood Bowl, in the Forum, and Crypto Arena.
We take the responsibility of having this footprint seriously, but were seeing festivals flourish all around the world.
Netflixs stand-up business has also grown very quickly over the last decade.
Youre correct: We have licensed some things.
But generally its pretty similar to when I started.
And Im not just talking about the other networks.
Im talking about comedians flourishing on TikTok or YouTube or in some cases their own podcast.
It was like an Andrew Dice Clay or maybe a Blue Collar or Kings of Comedy tour.
The comedy world is completely different now, and thats a good thing.
Its a signal that we made the right bet when we started to invest heavily in the space.
I know you said youve always done some licensing, but is there more of it going on now?
Is the model changing?Theres been a little more of that.
I think theres been some awareness that some artists like shooting their specials and owning it.
But in terms of our volume, its been fairly steady.
Obviously this year because of the festival, were doing a ton of stand-up.
But I dont think that there is a big shift.
I think maybe theres an awareness that there are different deals to be done to appeal to different artists.
We just want the best comedians to be available for our members in a pretty competitive landscape.
Would you say youre writing fewer seven- and eight-figure checks than you did a few years ago?No.
I think it goes up and down, but I wouldnt say that.
I think its pretty similar.
In terms of the output, its similar.
But those comedians came out over a three- or four-year span.
Its not like they came out all at the same time.
And some of those big numbers seem to come out of nowhere.
But if you look at the profile of Matt Rife there are very few comedians that are young.
He has come into this marketplace and is speaking to an audience that most other comedians arent speaking to.
Well, Matt Rife is speaking to a lot of people who are younger.
Hes just sold out this massive tour.
Two other examples: Andrew Schulz and Shane Gillis.
And again, he appeals to different tastes and different audiences.
Thats really what its about for us.
How are you looking to spotlight and build up those newer acts?
Is the festival designed to do that?Weve had a steady stream of multi-comic specials.
There were six comedians, but the first person was Nate Bargatze.
The next person was Deon Cole, and were shooting a special with him during the festival.
So weve been using these multi-comic shows as a way of elevating voices.
Were also now doing it sometimes with these licensed deals.
A few years ago we did a show calledThe Comedy Lineup.
One of the stars of that show was Michelle Buteau, who we now have a series with.
Another star was Taylor Tomlinson, whos now one of our biggest acts.
So I think weve been doing that fairly consistently.
Dave Chappelle is the most notable example, of course.
And you talked about this with Vulturetwo years ago.
But at the end of the day, we want to give people options.
And we dont want to block those choices for our members.
We want to give them the option.
Our members have the ability of clicking on something; they have the ability to shut off something.
You could buy a ticket, or you dont need to buy a ticket.
But we certainly understand if then not everything is for everybody.
Tell me more about what you know about Netflixs stand-up audience today versus five years ago.
You have a lot more data than you used to.
Has anything changed about who watches what in the stand-up space?
That happens sometimes outside of Netflix.
I think thats what Ive been seeing.
In terms of the art of standup, its pretty similar to what its always been.
And I would say theres more standups.
So in that way itsnotsimilar.
So theres certainly more of that.
But I think the big change and were part of this flywheel is how people speak directly to audiences.
We think its a pretty good proposition that you get to see that person on Netflix.
So I think the fandom of it is what has changed fundamentally in the last 10 years.
Do you see stand-up at Netflix as connected to other areas of programming on the platform?
Is part of your mission to find talent that could do other projects for other divisions?Yeah.
Were really interested in taking the talent that we work with and for folks to see them across Netflix.
And were doing more and more of that.But its very, very collaborative.
Remember, comedians often used to do stand-up as a way to get [cast in TV] shows.
That dynamic has changed now that stand-up comedians are so successful on the road.
Were really interested in taking the talent that we work with and for folks to see them across Netflix.
And were doing more and more of that.But its very, very collaborative.
Remember, comedians often used to do stand-up as a way to get [cast in TV] shows.
That dynamic has changed now that stand-up comedians are so successful on the road.
It wouldnt necessarily have to be live from New York, but you get what Im saying here SNL.
I think anyone would love to be doing something like that.
