Netflix announced a multiyear deal with Druski on Monday, and the first show out of it is the character the internet already made famous. “Collect & Praise,” his megachurch pastor comedy with Mike Epps riding along as his deacon, premieres December 1.
Druski and his company, 4LIFERS Entertainment, will develop and produce several original series under the deal. Netflix is also bringing his existing catalog with it, licensing “Coulda Been Love,” “Coulda Been Daddy,” “Coulda Been Records Auditions” and his skits.
“I’ve built my platform by creating characters and comedy that resonate with people. This partnership with Netflix will give me the resources to build on that comedy foundation and bring my work to a new global audience.”
Druski, on the Netflix deal
The pastor started as a single skit back in January and pulled more than 43 million views in its first 24 hours. By Druski’s own telling on “The Diary of a CEO,” Netflix was one of the streamers that passed on the show when he pitched it, so he put up his own money, reportedly six figures, to shoot the skit himself and prove the concept worked.
The timing is the fun part. The deal lands the same week Druski hosts “Saturday Night Live” on November 7, making him the first internet creator to ever host the show. The streamers passed the first time around. Now Netflix has him locked in for years, and the pastor gets his own series.