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Can Hulu Crack Stand-up Comedy Specials?
A look inside how the streamer views curation, moderation, money, and “giving comedians their flowers.”
While the streamer had considered delving into stand-up in the past, Furutani says discussions about it seriously picked up traction a little over a year ago, after which point she’s “thought about it every single day.” Between curating a lineup of original and licensed specials, devising a strategy to stand out in the market, and making decisions about what kind of content Hulu is willing to platform, there were lots of questions for Furutani and her team to consider. What that took was a road show of sorts to a bunch of Disney brands — ESPN, Marvel, FX, Disney+, Nat Geo, ABC, Searchlight, Lucasfilm, 20th TV Studios, you name them — to explain to them who we’re working with and why so they could get excited about it. When you’re sitting down with comedians like Jim Gaffigan or Bill Burr, who can take their specials anywhere they want, what does the pitch look like to bring them over to Hulu?
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