If the warm vibes between Keke Palmer and Amazon Studio’s Global Head of DEIA Latasha Gillespie continue, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
The pair came together at a Cannes Lions panel this afternoon and Palmer – a growing force in the industry, as podcaster, actress, musician and now CEO of her own KeyTV production company – demonstrated her passion to make inclusion a cornerstone of her work.
She explained to Gillespie one of her focuses with KeyTV: “Not only do we obviously want to give entertainment, but we really want to democratize the industry. And also let people, especially young people, know that there are other jobs. And people of color. That you don’t have to just be the person in front of the camera. We need more people behind the camera. These are good jobs a lot of kids don’t have the resources to understand, so we try to lift the veil. And give them opportunities they would not otherwise have.
She went on to describe Key TV as “not for people who’ve been doing it for years,” adding: “This is for kids coming out of school. We want to hold their hand and give them opportunities.” Palmer appeared on The View yesterday to talk about her achievements and becoming a media mogul.
Gillespie, who recently recruited Palmer to support Amazon Prime’s Black Business Accelerator – championing mainly women-owned small businesses – expressed her interest in partnering with Palmer.
“I want to partner with you on that,” she told Palmer. “We can create spaces and opportunities to change these kids’ lives.”
Gillespie referred to Amazon’s 2021 policy shift, explaining: “We launched an inclusion policy playbook because we thought the industry has always said we need to do better, but no one is talking about what better actually looks like.”
Palmer added of her own brand across her multiple platforms: “The Keke Palmer brand is to spread joy, love and creativity. I want to connect to my generation, get out there. Your art is your medium to tell a greater story for your community, to encourage. So that they know that whatever you have accomplished, they can do that and then some. That’s the backbone of the brand.”
Palmer is already a signed-up member of the Amazon family, with her podcast about recent motherhood available on Wondery.
From Child Star To Adult Entertainer
Palmer reflected on the challenge of moving from child star to adult entertainer, a move so many have struggled to make.
“I just knew I loved to perform, I knew I loved acting and singing and I just wanted to keep on doing it,” she added.
“It is really difficult. Just in life, it’s hard to go from being a kid to being an adult, so when you think about trying to evolve a brand, a lot of people want you to stay the same. I remember different periods of my career when people did want me to stay the same, and didn’t understand some of the choices I was making.”
“I had a really good support system around me,” she added. “I wasn’t afraid to take chances and sometimes go against what other people wanted for me.”
With a big grin to the appreciative audience, she added: “But at the end of the day, people don’t remember that anyway, they just remember that you always were awesome.”
The Cannes Lions ad market is taking place this week, featuring talks from the likes of Kevin Hart and Spike Lee.