How KevOnStage helps to build a more successful entertainment industry
"I consider the best method to tell the story of how I got here is just one person at a and one film at a go," tells comedian and creator Kevin Fredericks - better known by his online moniker KevOnStage. Kev is speaking to us from his office and studio space located in Los Angeles, the epicenter of his largest creative project so far: KevOnStage Studios. But the digital creator did not get Hollywood-sized production space in a matter of hours. Kev's venture grew from an occasional side job into a full-time career in 10 years of digital grind.
"Before the path of a comedian was to move into L.A., get on the Tonight Show, and try to convince an agent," he says. "Now due to the evolution of social media and social media, you'll be able to find an audience of your own and create yourself into a superstar." Since the year 2011, KevOnStage has slowly but surely amassed over 1M+ followers on Instagram and more than 800K YouTube subscribers, by posting candid comedy clips and his dedicated online audience and is affectionately referred to as"the Stage Crew.
"I think charting your own future is very vital," adds Kev. "Right moment, I'm putting together my own show that I shot and produced and financed that nobody in Hollywood had to okay. I'm able to create everything and present it directly to my audience."
The basics of HTML0
Kev began building his online community over a decade ago, but he says things took a time to get going. "I haven't seen any genuine success as KevOnStage up to probably 2017" says Kev. "Before it, I was just working hard, not getting many views, like many people."
In that period, he had to find his north star in order to create content that was true to him and his values. "When individuals don't make content out of their heart, the achievement is exhausting," states Kev. "I had always felt comfortable with never blowing up however, I was able to make content that I was passionate about. It's this is why I've seen more success instead of doing what did the trick."
In the beginning, as his career began to take off in earnest, Kev took to touring across the nation with his fellow comics - but the pandemic brought the events in person to a stuttering stop. Keen to discover new strategies to sustain the momentum, Kev's brother came to him with a new idea: streaming.
Giving back the power
Kev is the only one to acknowledge that an OTT service wasn't not considered by him as a next business move. "We initially tried to create independent films, and my brother suggested"Yo, I've got a way that we might be able make this happen on our own app in the future,'" Kev shares. "I wasn't even thinking about this as possibility."
Kev approached the producer and business associate Brennon Edwards, and offered to collaborate on launching an OTT application. "It was a no brainer," says Brennon, now President of KevOnStage Studios, because it provided them with the ability to create (and generate revenue through) the content they create according to their own rules. "We have a world that the bar of access to becoming a creator is so much smaller. It has changed the game for us."
"We were able to step over what we'd been expecting Hollywood to provide for us, and get the job done ourselves," he says. "We collaborate directly with the audience that we've got. They are the ones giving us the funds that allows us to create the things we'd like to do. This gives us the ability to create again, and we are creators."
Empowering fellow creators
Since launching KOSS Brennon Kev, and Co-Founder and Co-CEO Melissa Fredericks have consciously created a supportive and creative environment for the other Black creators to try their ideas. "I just I am grateful for this place in the first place, that people work there, that we allow people to pursue their goals here," says Kev.
What's so wonderful about this journey, is that we're doing things regardless of what conventional Hollywood suggests, in our own hands." adds Melissa. "We're creating a positive impact on people. That is not waiting for Hollywood to anoint the apron of your success. This is the moment to decide, we have done this by ourselves. Period. And we can do this by ourselves. Period. In addition, we are able to provide chances that they would not get. Period."