Sunday, November 4, 2012

Louis C.K., a Self-Distribution Success Story


Many people know about the hilarious comedian Louis C.K. but did you know he is of Mexican and Hungarian descent? (IMDB Profile) Louis Szekely was born in Washington D.C. but lived in Mexico City, Mexico, until he was 7 years old. He has dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Mexico. He started doing stand-up comedy in 1984 in Boston, MA.  He was so terrible his first time out the gate that he didn’t attempt stand up again for a few years. In addition to being a stand up comic, Louis has worked as a writer on The Chris Rock Show, Saturday Night Live, and his own television shows Lucky Louie (HBO) and Louis (FX). One thing that makes him unique as a comedian is that he discards all of his material every year and starts from scratch in an attempt of always remaining fresh and relevant. 


In December 2011, C.K. released his independently produced comedy special Live at the Beacon Theater via his website. According to the Emmys 2012: Louis C.K.'s Digital Download Experiment Pays Off article by Seth Abramovich from the Hollywood Reporter, the special has grossed over $1 million. I have chosen Louis CK’s success story for this first blog post because he is a great example of what a strong work ethic and dedication to his craft can yield…a successful self-produced, edited, and distributed work that is entirely representative of the comic himself.
The show took place in November 2011 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Louis C.K. not only produced his special but he personally edited the work as well. Four weeks after the taping of the special, he launched it as a digital download on his website for $5. The show was produced for $250,000, and with the $1.1 million in sales as of September 2012, he has shown that it is possible to take the corporation out of the picture. (Abramovitch.)


Thursday, November 1, 2012

Multiracial People? Where are they in the media?


I grew up wondering why families on TV and in movies didn’t look like my family. My parents were different colors and depending on the time of year I either looked yellow like my mom or brown like my dad.  I was too young and didn’t have a way to describe what I was feeling at the time but I really wanted to see movies where people looked like me. We weren’t represented in the media.  This, along with spending countless hours watching Japanese and American movies with my maternal grandmother as a child, is what drove me into film school. I wanted to tell stories about mixed-people.

Let’s flash forward 9 years after film school, it is 2012 and I have yet to make a film about the “mixed experience.” I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I lack the motivation to make my own movie. What I am passionate about, however, is helping other people tell their stories. This summer I had the privilege to work as an Associate Producer on the film The Opus 139 Project: To Hear The Music. I assisted the director, Dennis Lanson, in the beginning stages of a Kickstarter Campaign to finance post-production. While this film is not about multiracial identity, it is in fact about the C.B. Fisk Company and an organ they installed at Harvard Memorial Church, the experience showed me how wonderful it feels to help a filmmaker with their film.