Video production is often heralded as an industrialised, greed-sodden process in which a great number of parasitic corporate fingers dwell. But, one stand-up comic is cooking up something entirely different of late, and breaking the mould of distribution for the better. Louis CK, American stand-up comedian, has produced, edited, directed and distributed his new comedy special himself.

The star took a huge gamble on this new project, which cost around $170,000 to produce. Another $32,000 was needed for the website, which was the keystone of the show’s distribution. Though a large portion of this was paid for by ticket sales, Louis himself had to fork out a hefty chunk to ensure that video production standards were kept.

Selling the show at $5 a download, this is a landmark event which should leave the big television studios shaking in their boots. The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10^th. Since then, he has sold over 110,000 copies for a total which exceeds $500,000. This hints at a very interesting point. Consumers do not inherently wish to steal products and stifle artists. Louis’s method is not only organic, streamlined and highly advantageous to all involved; it also allows more people to see Louis’s work for less, rather than less people seeing it for more. This is accentuated by the lack of regional restrictions, copyright drudgery and general corporate joy-kills which go hand in hand with mainstream means of distribution. Here are some outtakes from the special:

Respect is well deserved by Louis CK for taking a chance on something which epitomises the democratic power of the internet, and if you would like to harness that same power in your web-video content then check out our film studio here.