“What he told me was every artist, no matter how successful they are at any given point, what they really wish they could be is independent. And the problem is you started off 100% independent,” Williams said. “You were the only person that believed in you, and then you auctioned off parts of your independence and let other people take ownership in this thing because they believe in it more than you do and they’ll put up the money and so on and so forth. So already before I had entered, I was determined that I would do a good enough job that if no one was beating down my door for these specials that they would still be worth something.”
Williams explained that financing his own specials also gave him creative control, allowing him to choose the right venue and hire the director and producer he wanted to bring them to life. He would then license the specials to networks such as HBO or Comedy Central.
“They would pay me for it, and I had already shot it. So I already am making a profit, and then they were going to put it on their platform for a month, and after a month it then reverts back to me and I could sell it in DVDs. I was so thankful that no one believed in me. I was so thankful that nobody wanted my product because it gave me the opportunity to have it,” he expressed.