Today, Part Deux of the interview with Kai Soremekun of Chick.
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OFM: What benefits are there in creating your own web show?
Kai: I think the biggest benefit of creating your own web show is you have complete creative control over what you’re doing. I can do whatever I want and no one tells me no. I love that. I’ve got a very clear vision of what this project is and where I’d like it to go and in order to do that I feel I need to hold onto complete creative control, at least for now.
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OFM: Where do you see yourself in the next year? In the next five years?
Kai: In the next year I hope to be producing and getting out the second season of CHICK. In the next five years I hope that CHICK is a successful franchise and I’d like my planned social entertainment site chickspirit.com to be a successful presence in the online world filling a void for quality entertainment for women that I don’t see enough of online yet. Chickspirit.com will be the online home for CHICK and other web shows I have in development.
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OFM: What advice would you give to other actors who are interestedin taking more control of their career or launching a venture similar to yours?
Kai: Oooh! This is my passion subject. Almost every aspiring actor wants the Hollywood dream. To be discovered and become a big star. My advice is to act like you’re a star now! Start developing projects as starring vehicles for yourself, even if they’re just small short films. A web series is definitely doable if you’re on a limited budget too. Develop projects that tie into how you want to be seen in Hollywood. If you’re a comedic actor develop a comedy web series to star in. If you want to be in dramatic feature films, do something more visually artistic and dramatic. Because actors are, for the most part, at the mercy of whatever role gets offered to them, creating your own projects is where you have the chance to really shine and show what you’re best at. With technology and the equipment available these days, there’s no excuse for not creating your own library of work while you wait for that big Hollywood break.
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OFM: How do you juggle your business responsibilities with your personal life?
Kai: Oh this question pains me. Sadly I am not very good at this. CHICK has taken over my life for the last year and really gotten crazy in the last couple of months when I was shooting, editing and distributing an episode every week. I have come to realize that I need to pace myself based on the amount of support I have. So if I can only pump out an episode every two weeks in order to have some down time I need to do that. If I don’t, I know pretty soon I will be burnt out and have to stop all together. Putting a web show up is like starting a business so it’s going to take a lot of your time, there’s no way around that, but I now realize you should always be making choices to get you to the point where your business doesn’t need you 24/7. That’s my goal for season two.
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OFM: What is an average day like for you in creating Chick?
Kai: It depends what part of the season we’re in. The only thing that’s really consistent is every day is crazy and filled to the max.
I decided to just pick what I did yesterday as an example.
I got up and started working around 7am.
I signed up for Script Frenzy which is a yearly event where you sign up and commit to write 100 pages of a script or comic book or something during the month of April. I decided to sign-up and use the extra support from others doing it as a way to brainstorm ideas for season two of CHICK. So I outlined a bit and wrote for a few hours in the morning. Didn’t pump out my three pages I had planned but at least got it going.
Then started working on the edit for the next episode. Logging footage. Picking takes placing them roughly in the timeline.
Ran out to print up CHICK business cards for a networking event I planned to go to that evening.
Came back had a skype call with one of my social media mavens helping with marketing and social media for CHICK to discuss the CHICK party we’re having to celebrate the end of season one and also to discuss a press pitch we want to send out to some specific web sites.
Then I started working on a blog post for a friends web site Brains of Minerva on my passionate subject of how to be a star when you’re an actor. I had written part one of this post a couple of months ago and it was long overdue to get her part two so started drafting that as well as a testimonial about the site she asked I write. I consider doing guest appearances on other people’s blogs as marketing opportunities for CHICK.
Then headed off to the women’s networking event for a couple of hours. Made some great contacts, handed out at least twenty of those business cards I made. 
Came back finished the testimonial for my friends site. Sent that off.
Drafted and posted a blog entry on the CHICK website for our end of Season cyber party. Sent off an email to my social media mavens and producers letting them know they could start spreading the word about the party now that the post was up.
Finished writing my four pages for Script Frenzy and then plopped into bed around 2AM.
Whew! I’m exhausted just writing that. But to be honest, it’s not uncommon in the web content creator world. A lot of people just do what needs to get done. In fact, it’s probably best not to write it out like that too often as it can overwhelm you make you see how crazy it really is.
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OFM: How do you motivate yourself?
Kai: It’s easy to stay motivated because I love what I’m doing. On days when I’m tired and want to take a break the passion for this project is usually what keeps me going. Plus I have endless conversations with the Universe for support. They usually go like this… Kai: Universe I am seriously struggling today. Can you please send me a sign that I’m on the right path and should keep doing this? Universe: Don’t worry everything will be alright. Then inevitably, by the end of the day or first thing the next day I get a sign or a note of encouragement, something usually shows up.
I also have a few go to friends who help remind me of all I’ve done. It’s so easy to forget when your up in it just trying to get through each day. I also think motivation is a learned thing. The more you push yourself the easier it is to keep it going. My focus and ability to stay on track is so much stronger than it was a year and a half ago when I started this crazy journey. I made a conscious choice to be committed to what I was doing.
Lastly I use challenging times that I made it through as motivation. I ran a marathon in 2000 which was really hard in terms of the amount of training you have to do. And the last five or six miles of the actual race were grueling. I didn’t think I could make it, my muscles started having spasms very close to the finish line. But I did make it and every time I am having a really hard day or a long day and I’m crazy tired I just remember that I did that marathon. I should add, that I hate running long distance which is why this is always a great go to experience for me to remember when I’m struggling.
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OFM: What has been the biggest disappointment in your life and how has it fueled you?
Kai: I think the biggest disappointment in my life was the relationship I was in with my ex-boyfriend for three years. It was emotionally and mentally abusive and culminated with him holding me at knifepoint for a night. It took a long time to forgive myself for staying in that relationship as long as I did. It was painful to deal with how he hurt me and come to terms with that. It was even more challenging to take responsibility for my part in it. But it fueled the artist in me and inspired me to use my creative expression as a way to heal and grow. And since the result is CHICK I have to say I am convinced that even the hardest of times we go through can be used for ultimate brilliance in our lives. We just have to be willing to open ourselves up to see it.
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CHICK’S HAVING A CYBER PARTY!
We wanted to celebrate a successful season one with you, our awesome fans. So we’re inviting you to come party with CHICK!
When: Tuesday April 13th 6pm – 7pm (pst) / 9pm – 10pm (est)
+ Chat with the producers and star
+Find out what the future holds for CHICK
+Win fun prizes and CHICK swag!
Winners will be announced at the party.
IN ORDER TO WIN YOU MUST:
+Visit whoischick.com and sign-up for the CHICK mailing list by Monday April 12th at 11:59pm (pst) (if you’re already on our mailing list you’re good to go)
+Be present at the CHICK cyber party.
+Live in the U.S. or Canada
One prize per person.
(A big thank you to GirlPROPS.com and Kate Mucci for some of our cool prizes. The CHICK cyber party is sponsored by Acornhost.)
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Thanks for the interview, Kai. You’re such a great Chick!
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