How KevOnStage can help build a stronger entertainment industry
"I consider the best method to explain how I got here is just one person at a or one clip at a time," is comedian and creator Kevin Fredericks - better known as his online name KevOnStage. Kev speaks in his workspace and studio located in Los Angeles, the epicenter of his biggest creative endeavor so far: KevOnStage Studios. But the digital creator didn't land Hollywood-level production digs overnight. Kev's grew from side hustle to full-time gig over nearly a decade in the digital grind.
"Before, a comic's path was to move into L.A., get on the Tonight Show, and try to convince an agent," he says. "Now thanks to the growth of the internet it is possible to reach an audience of your own and create yourself into a superstar." Since 2011, KevOnStage has slowly but steadily amassed more than 1M Instagram followers and 800K+ YouTube subscribers, by sharing candid bits of comedy to his loyal online followers who affectionately call him"the Stage Crew.
"I believe that charting your own path, in my opinion, is so vital," adds Kev. "Right moment, I'm putting together my own show, which I created and directed and funded that no one in Hollywood needed to accept. I'm able create everything and present it directly to my audience."
Learn the ropes
Kev has been building his online community over a decade ago, but he says things took a while to take off. "I didn't find any real success with the name KevOnStage until probably 2017," states Kev. "Before it I had been working very hard and not getting many views as many other people do."
In that period, he had to find his ultimate north star in the process of creating content that was authentic to himself and his sensibilities. "When people don't create from their core, the results are draining" states Kev. "I have always been content not blowing up every now and then however, I was able to create content I loved. It's due to that I've seen more success instead of doing what did the trick."
As his career began to grow in a rapid manner, Kev took to touring throughout the United States with other comics, but the pandemic brought the in-person gatherings to a grinding halt. Keen to come up with new methods to maintain the momentum the brother of Kev came to him with a new idea that was streaming.
Taking the power back
Kev is the first to acknowledge that an OTT service was not in his plans as the next step in his business. "We initially tried to make independent movies, and my brother suggested"I've found a way we might be able to make this happen on our own platform,'" Kev says. "I was not even considering it as an option."
Kev called business partner and producer Brennon Edwards. He offered to collaborate the direction of launching an OTT application. "It was an obvious choice," says Brennon, who is now the President of KevOnStage Studios, because it allowed them to create (and earn money through) the content they create according to their own rules. "We live in an age in which the barriers to access to the ability to become an artist is much lower. It has changed our game."
"We were able to step beyond what we had been expecting Hollywood to provide for us and instead to do it ourself," he says. "We collaborate directly with our audience, which we have. They're the ones who give us the cash that allows us to create whatever we like. They give us our ability to create again, and we are creators."
Empowering fellow creators
Since the launch of KOSS Brennon Kev and Co-Founder and co-CEO Melissa Fredericks have consciously created a supportive and creative environment to encourage others Black creators to try their work. "I simply am thankful for this place and that there are people working in this place, and that they are able to pursue their goals at KOSS," says Kev.
The beautiful thing about this particular journey is that we are going beyond the conventional wisdom of Hollywood suggests, into our own hands," adds Melissa. "We're having an influence on the people around us. We're not waiting around for Hollywood to do it for the apron of your success. This is the moment to decide, we made this decision ourselves. Period. This is something we can handle ourselves. Period. We can also provide people with chances that they would not get. Period."