One of the things that we like doing with Selena
and our other clients is producing projects they are
both in and not in, so we’re really proud of her work
with Netflix as a producer on Living Undocumented,
a docuseries that she really related to and felt
she could bring something to, and 13 Reasons
Why. There’s another new exciting project
we haven’t announced yet with Jordan Peele,
which will be at Amazon.
How did you get involved in the Billie Eilish
documentary deal?
We have a long-standing relationship with
Darkroom and Interscope. They and Billie’s
co-managers, Danny Rukasin and Brandon
Goodman, wanted to make a doc, so we
helped produce it. We found the right direc-
tor [R.J. Cutler] and acted as the sales agent
for the film. So in conjunction with Darkroom,
Interscope and Danny and Brandon, we bro-
kered the largest sale in music documentary
history, which is obviously exciting, but
the fact that we had such long-standing
relationships with these companies — Sony,
Paramount, Warner, Apple, Netflix — puts us in a
position where we can speak to the heads of these
companies. That’s probably why we can be helpful.
Most of your clients have been career-long
relationships. What is the biggest asset in
building longevity with them? An intimacy?
It’s definitely that. I remember meeting
Gwyneth Paltrow when I was an intern on a
Broadway play. She was about 16 and hadn’t
really acted yet. It’s incredibly fun when you
get to meet people in the very, very begin-
ning of their career, and you get to see the
growth. I also represent Billy Crudup, who
is one of the stars of Apple TV’s The Morn-
ing Show. I remember being a casting assis-
tant and seeing him in his first play when he
graduated from drama school and just being
overwhelmed by his talent. The fact that I get
to work with him now and that I get to see the
evolution of his talent and artists that have
that longevity is truly gratifying.
Ahead of Lighthouse’s fourth full year in operation,
Keshishian talks Gomez’s Rare rollout and the value
of client longevity.
Selena earned her first Hot 100 No. 1 with “Lose You
to Love Me.” What helped push it over the edge?
We did a lot to amplify the success of this album. We
launched the album on Dec. 12 — just when
we were peaking on radio with “Lose You
to Love Me” — and came up with a separate
strategy for each [digital service provider].
We created specific video content for
YouTube to drive streams — an alternative
music video of her playing the piano, verti-
cal videos and interviews with her frequent
collaborators, like Justin Tranter and Julia
Michaels, so that they could really discuss
the writing process. When we were in
Times Square during release week, we had
five billboards from every partner — Ama-
zon, Spotify, Apple, YouTube and MTV.
How did you strategize internationally for
the Rare rollout?
In China specifically, my partner Zack
[Morgenroth] met with various partners in
the region — Weibo; Douyin, the Chinese
TikTok; Tencent/QQ [instant messaging
software]; and NetEase, all of these compa-
nies — to identify opportunities for Light-
house’s business clients. We relaunched Selena’s
social media there and geared it toward their market
by translating all of her assets. In the music space,
we couldn’t really look at other artists who had done
this, so we were really trying to be disruptive and
focus on branding in the Asian market, which we’ve
been doing for decades for other clients as well,
people like Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd, whose films
have been successful there.
Brand deals are a big part of your business. How do
you know if something will be a good fit for a client?
For all of our clients, we’re really searching for
brand partnerships that are authentic and organic
to each artist and their lifestyle. Consumers right
now are so sophisticated that they can spot inau-
thentic partnerships, and something that is really
important to us is to only approach brands that are
the right fit. With Selena, Coca-Cola was her favor-
ite drink, so it seemed like an obvious partnership
when we approached them. Everything we do with
Selena in music, the brands we work with closely
help us amplify each project.
Gomez has been in film and TV almost her whole life.
What are your future plans there?
There are several film/TV projects we’re working on
now that will be announced in the next few months.
1. In 2017, Billboard honored Keshishian at Women in Music and Gomez as Woman of the Year. “To be part of this group of talented and
inspiring women, I just felt lucky,” she says. 2. “Part of a Christmas gift from Jennifer Aniston,” she says of the photo, taken at the actress’ 50th
birthday party with Courteney Cox, Katy Perry, Derek Blasberg, Amanda Anka and Orlando Bloom. 3. Ernest J. Bellocq’s Storyville portrait, a
wedding gift from client Natalie Portman, whom Keshishian signed at age 12. 4. A gift from Katy Perry. 5. Figurine of Washington Capitals star
Alex Ovechkin. Her family, she says, is “obsessed” with ice hockey, and her husband is a D.C. native.
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“ CONSUMERS RIGHT NOW ARE
SO SOPHISTICATED THAT
THEY CAN SPOT INAUTHENTIC
PARTNERSHIPS.” —KESHISHIAN
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5
TOURING INDUSTRY VETERAN TODD WALKER LAUNCHED BOOKING AGENCY OUTER/MOST. LATIN PRODUCER RUDY PÉREZ SIGNED A JOINT VENTURE WITH SPIRIT MUSIC GROUP.
44 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020