Keshet to make shows for Interscope Geffen A&M

The iconic LA music label behind stars such as Eminem and Lady Gaga is getting in on the TV content business through a multi-faceted with Keshet Studios.

Santa Monica-based Interscope Geffen A&M has partnered with the LA-based production arm of Israel’s Keshet International to create music-themed original digital scripted and non-scripted series.

Content coming from the partnership will be targeted at US and international digital platforms. Keshet and Interscope will jointly distribute in the US, with Keshet International taking rights elsewhere.

The first fruit is TRACKS, which is billed as a “unique coming-of-age series mixing edgy, gritty drama with the real-world music scene”. The series will follow twenty-somethings who find “common ground in music”.

Interscope Geffen A&M is one of the US’s biggest music labels, whose roster of artists includes rappers Eminem and Kendrick Lamar; singers Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and Lana del Rey; and bands such as The 1975 and Imagine Dragons.

Interscope Geffen’s CFO and executive VP, Jeremy Erlich, said the firms planned to make both short- and long-form visual content that told Interscope artists’ stories.

“This is part of our broader strategy to create high-value content and provide new and exciting opportunities for our artists,” he added. “TRACKS is truly an exciting new project which blends a scripted drama with live performances in an episodic show.”

“The development of original digital programming that resonates with the cord-cutting millennial audience is at the core of our strategy, and we see music and partnering with some of the hottest names in the record industry through Interscrope Geffen A&M as a key driver to making that happen,” said Keshet International’s senior VP, digital and acquisitions, Sebastian Burkhardt. “With our first joint project, TRACKS, we are well on a path to success.”

Interscope Geffen A&M – which came into being in 1999 as the result of a merger of PolyGram’s A&M Records, Geffen Records and Interscope Records – is ultimately owned by Canal+ parent Vivendi, which itself has made a significant return to the international programming market with Vivendi Entertainment.