What is the process? KevOnStage is building a better entertainment industry

"I believe the most effective way to explain how I got to where I am today is taking one person at a and one film at a time," tells comedy and author Kevin Fredericks - better known as his online name KevOnStage. Kev speaks to us from his workspace and studio in Los Angeles, the epicenter of his most creative venture so far: KevOnStage Studios. The digital artist didn't land Hollywood-level production digs overnight. Kev's business grew from a side hustle into a full-time career in a decade of the digital grind.

"Before the path of a comedian was to go towards L.A., get on the Tonight Show, and try to convince an agent," he says. "Now due to the evolution of online platforms and social media, you'll be able to find your own audience and essentially become a celebrity." Since 2011, KevOnStage has slowly but slowly amassed over 1M+ Instagram followers , and over 800K YouTube followers, posting candid comedy clips and his dedicated online audience, lovingly known as"the Stage Crew.

"I consider that charting your personal destiny, for me, is so crucial," adds Kev. "Right right now, I'm creating my own show which I created and directed and financed that nobody in Hollywood had to okay. I'm in a position to make all of it and then present it directly to my audience."

 The basics of HTML0

Kev started developing his online community more than a decade ago, but Kev says it took a while to take off. "I didn't find any real growth with the name KevOnStage up to probably 2017" states Kev. "Before that I had been working extremely hard, but not getting much 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 his own sensibilities and beliefs. "When creators don't work from their core, the achievement is exhausting," states Kev. "I was always okay with never blowing up, but just being okay creating content that I was passionate about. In my opinion, because of that, I've seen more success instead of doing what was working."

As his career began to gain momentum, Kev took to touring the country with other comics, but the pandemic brought the events in person to a stuttering stop. Keen to find new ways to maintain the momentum his brother approached him with a fresh idea which was to launch a streaming service.

 Reclaiming the power

Kev is the first to admit an OTT service wasn't not in his plans as the next step in his business. "We started out by trying to make independent movies, and then my brother told me"I've come up with a method by which we might be able to do this on our own app in the future,'" Kev says. "I was not even considering it as possibility."

Kev reached out to the producer and business associate Brennon Edwards and asked if he'd go in the direction of 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 make money by selling) their content on their own terms. "We live in an age that the bar of being able to being able to be a creator is so much lower. And changed the game for us."

"We could step past what we were expecting Hollywood to accomplish for us, and get to take on the task ourself," he says. "We work directly with the audience that we have. They're the ones who give us the funds to be able to do whatever we like. They give us our ability to create again, and we are creators."

 Helping other creators become empowered

Since launching KOSS Brennon, Kev, and Co-Founder and Co-CEO Melissa Fredericks have consciously created an environment that is supportive and inspiring to encourage other Black creators to take a chance on their creative work. "I simply am thankful for this place and that there are people working here, that people get to chase their dreams in this space," says Kev.

What's so wonderful about this particular journey is that we're going beyond the conventional wisdom of Hollywood claims, and putting it in our own hands." she adds Melissa. "We're creating a positive effect on people. This isn't waiting for Hollywood to anoint you. This is the moment to decide, we did this ourselves. Period. And we can do this by ourselves. Period. In addition, we are able to provide the opportunities they couldn't get. Period."