Charlotte Star Room’s 3 Biggest Challenge

By Tim Miner

After moving to the Queen City from New York in 2013, Charlotte Star Room founders Levin and Alexis Chaskey got to work. They didn’t wait for invitations. They did the inviting. Or, they invited themselves.

They couldn’t help it. They were excited by what they saw.

“What drew us here was opportunity, family, an easy plane ride to anywhere in the world and a change of pace,” said Levin. “But, what sealed the deal are the creative people we met right off the bat.”

Music, Video, Streaming … Oh My!

It was the prowess of Charlotte’s creative community that drew Levin and Alexis here and made them feel at home. They weren’t content just to be a part of it. They wanted to help it grow.

“We immediately saw so much potential here,” said Alexis. “But, the community didn’t seem to be recognizing it. We wanted to be a part of turning that around and helping creatives recognize what Charlotte could be for them.”

Alexis used her experience in the recording industry to get to know the Charlotte music scene, offering music development and artist consulting and organizing in-studio vocal lessons. As she got to know the music community better, she developed a passion for advocacy. She helped to found the Fair Play Music Equity Initiative last year under the motto “What makes us different is what makes the difference.”

Charlotte Star Room’s Levin & Alexis Chaskey.

Levin built the video business, shooting and editing concept-to-completion media productions for organizations including OrthoCarolina, NASCAR Illustrated and Red Ventures, as well as music videos for local artists. Star Room collaborated with Charlotte Water to create the award-winning campaign “Pipes Hate Wipes” campaign.

Ahead of the COVID Curve

Like any creative business, Charlotte Star Room had to adapt because of COVID-19. While live music events have taken an immense blow, the need for streaming content has blossomed. So, Star Room has added live-event streaming and production services (handy during COVID-19) and podcast production to their list of services.

But, it hasn’t been easy. Charlotte Star Room is putting a great deal of creative energy to stay ahead of the learning curve, especially as the COVID-curve rages on.

Here are Charlotte Star Room’s Three Biggest Creative Challenges on November 20, 2020.

CHALLENGE ONE: KEEPING THE MUSIC ALIVE

“Through our work at Star Room and then with the Fair Plair Music Equity Initiative, we moved here to help advance Charlotte’s music community. This year, musicians have been unduly affected by the lack of live event opportunities. It’s looked a bit hopeless at times. Despite it all, we’re guiding them to use this time productively and creatively so they create new opportunities now and are ready when venues eventually reopen.”

CHALLENGE TWO: CHUGGING COFFEE … SAFELY

“Getting in sips of coffee on shoots, while wearing a mask. While COVID’S been raging, so has the need for companies to create and use video in new and interesting ways. And, while some parts of our business have slowed down, other parts have grown. To keep up, it’s nearly impossible to understate our insatiable need for coffee. But. you’ll always catch us masked up — safety first!”

CHALLENGE 3 – GETTING BACK TO THE FUTURE

“Planning proactively for next year, three years from now, five years from now — while not being positive what the next month will look like — is a real challenge. As technology and media rapidly advance, we’re always looking to up our game, but COVID’s also required us to be very focused on what’s immediately in front of us.”