Purrr!! Viral series Shopcats has become an undeniable mainstay on the feeds of the Internet’s feline fans, due in no small part to host Michelladana’s charm, sass, and journalistic commitment to feature the cats of New York City’s bodegas. The show now boasts over 1 million followers across platforms and countless views from devoted digital cat lovers.
During a break from chasing cats between aisles of a grocery, Michelladonna shared her perspective as a creator, cat-lover, and unapologetic New Yorker with our team. Here’s what the Webby-winning, certified-cat-lady had to say.
What creative risk helped you find your voice?
Honestly, being okay with being a clown. I love that I’m a comedian. The whole point is to make people laugh and make people feel good. And once you let go of that ego and you just dive into it, it’s so much more fun for everyone.
How do you keep evolving while staying true to what people love about your work?
I keep evolving by making sure that I’m pushing myself to see other art and take in new content that I haven’t before. I also make sure I’m going back to my younger self and making sure I’m having fun for myself— that’s why not only am I a comedian and I do content, I’m also a director and getting into film. And that has been so beautiful to just put all these different parts together.
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What made your Webby-winning work stand out?
The people. New York City, the community, the immigrants that make it run, that’s what made our win stand out, and our content is so juicy and lovely and really shining a light on the people that run New York City, which are the immigrants (!) and the bodegas (!) and the kitties!
Well, obviously serving in every video, but also the community behind every single kitty cat, and the love behind the editing. Like, editing is real, and so is what we’re doing on set, so both of those, loving each other makes fabulous work. And we got a Webby for it, yay. Shout out to Drew, [my] editor who also created the idea for Shopcats.
What did winning a Webby mean to you personally?
It was just a great way to understand that the Internet had welcomed me and that what I was doing and pouring my time and energy into, people were receiving with open arms. Just knowing that we were spreading joy into the internet a little bit more than it had before we got to the scene.
Winning a Webby meant that I was in the room with so many amazing content creators, and so many people just really creating their own story online, and it just gave me hope. Like, not only for the series we already have, but other things I’m doing, and my community, and the future is, like, we can do it. Let’s keep making art, y’all. Let’s keep doing it. Don’t let them stop us. They’re gonna try. They really are.
What do you hope to see more of on the Internet?
I hope to see more joy and light and laughter. If we wanna talk about how to mobilize and do the stuff, then let’s see how to have a plan of action instead of like sharing sad stuff that’s not a vibe. I would just love to see more just laughter. And you know, we’re on our phone so much— having something that’s light and fun on your phone can bring you a good sigh of relief when you’re just taking a little break from the world.
Beyond the numbers, what do you want to be remembered for?
I wanna be remembered for being a diva [strikes a pose] from New York, as well as spreading joy. Yesss, we need some more of that!
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This interview has been edited for clarity.
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