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

"I consider the best method to tell the story of how I got to where I am today is one person at a time and one film at a time" is the comedian, creator and actor Kevin Fredericks - better known under the online moniker KevOnStage. Kev is speaking with us from his home office and studio space in Los Angeles, the epicenter of his biggest creative endeavor up to this point: KevOnStage Studios. The digital artist hasn't landed Hollywood-style production spaces immediately. Kev's business grew from a side hustle into a full-time career in a decade of the digital grind.

"Before, a comic's path was to move to L.A., get on The Tonight Show, and hope an agent catches you," he says. "Now, with the proliferation of online platforms and social media, you'll be able to find your own fans and become a celebrity." Since the year 2011, KevOnStage has slowly but surely amassed over 1M+ Instagram followers and 800K+ YouTube followers, sharing candid bits of comedy to his loyal online followers who affectionately call him the Stage Crew.

"I believe that charting your own 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 able create all of it and then present direct access to my viewers."

 Learn the ropes

Kev began building his online community over 10 years ago, however he says things took a time to get going. "I didn't find any real results with the name KevOnStage until probably 2017," states Kev. "Before it I had been working extremely hard, but not getting much views like many others."

At that point, he had to find his ultimate north star in the process of creating content that was authentic to himself and his sensibilities. "When creators don't work from their core, the results are draining" says Kev. "I was always okay with never blowing up, but just being okay to make content that I enjoyed. And I think due to that I've seen more success instead of doing what was working."

As his career began to grow in a rapid manner, Kev took to touring throughout the United States with fellow comics - but the pandemic brought the in-person gatherings to a grinding halt. Keen to find new ways to maintain the momentum, Kev's brother came to Kev with an idea of his own: a streaming service.

 Reclaiming the power

Kev is the first to acknowledge that an OTT service was not considered by him as a next business move. "We started out by trying to create independent films, and my brother said"Yo, I've got a way that we might be able create our own application and that's what I said," he says. "I was not even considering that as possibility."

Kev called the producer and business associate Brennon Edwards. He offered to collaborate on launching an OTT application. "It was a no brainer," says Brennon, currently the president of KevOnStage Studios, because it provided them with the ability to produce (and generate revenue through) the content they create according to their own rules. "We are living in a time that the bar of entry when it comes to the ability to become creative is significantly less. It has changed our game."

"We were able to step beyond what we had been waiting for Hollywood to do for us, and get to do it ourself," he says. "We are in direct contact with the audience that we have. They are the ones giving us the cash for us to accomplish what we want. They give us our power back, as creators."

 Enabling fellow creators

Since the beginning of KOSS Brennon, Kev, and Co-Founder as well as Co-CEO Melissa Fredericks have consciously created an environment that is supportive and inspiring for the other Black creators to try their creative work. "I only feel grateful that the space is there and that there are people working in this place, and that they are able to chase their dreams at KOSS," says Kev.

The most appealing aspect of this journey, is that we are taking things, regardless of what conventional Hollywood suggests, in our own hands." Melissa says. Melissa. "We're having an influence on the people around us. We're not waiting around for Hollywood to anoint you. We made this decision ourselves. Period. This is something we can handle for ourselves. Period. We can also provide people with chances that they would not receive. Period."