How Netflix’s Massive Paydays, COVID and TikTok Caused ‘Explosion of Comedians’
variety.comAddie Morfoot Contributor Netflix, COVID and social media have been game changers for the comedy business, with the pandemic accelerating shifts already underway across the media landscape.
Where once comedians would rely on comedy clubs, sitcom gigs or specials on channels such as HBO to build their names, now they have other options, including direct access to consumers on multiplying social media platforms.
Netflix began its stand-up comedy shopping spree in 2016, the year Just for Laughs exec Robbie Praw joined the streaming giant as VP of stand-up and comedy formats.
Top-tier performers were offered millions of dollars to perform for Netflix cameras, turning the comedy landscape into a seller’s market and helping to make comedians such as Ali Wong household names. “Netflix was certainly an inflection point when the specials started becoming a thing,” says Independent Artists Media partner Dave Rath, who manages comedians including Adam Ray. “By Netflix paying some literally millions of dollars for their specials, they basically created an imbalance in the marketplace, because before that Comedy Central, HBO and a few other places were doing the long-form specials, but they weren’t paying that kind of money.” COVID also proved to be a paradigm-shifter.
Read more on variety.com