Whalar launches Lighthouse Studios to help creators build TV-style entertainment franchises

Talent company Whalar Group has launched Lighthouse Studios, a new production venture designed to help creators build TV-style programming franchises and long-term entertainment businesses.

The studio will provide funding, production support and strategic partnerships to help creators develop regular shows across platforms, starting with YouTube.

“Our vision has always been bigger: helping creators build the kind of consistent, high-quality programming audiences return to week after week,” Whalar co-founder Neil Waller said in a LinkedIn post announcing the launch.

Lighthouse Studios builds on The Lighthouse, a network of physical creator campuses run by Whalar in Venice Beach and Brooklyn. The campuses offer creators access to professional studio and production facilities on a membership basis.

The studio’s first partnership will be with Lyrical Lemonade, the digital media brand founded by music video director Cole Bennett. The YouTube channel has more than 24 million subscribers and is best known for its music videos featuring artists including Eminem and Juice WRLD.

The partnership will expand Lyrical Lemonade’s output into a slate of recurring shows focused on music and culture.

Joseph Rocha, chief executive of Lyrical Lemonade TV, said on LinkedIn that the goal is to “build something that audiences come back to consistently.”

Variety first reported the launch, describing Lighthouse Studios as part of Whalar’s effort to build a TV-style schedule of creator-led programming.

Akshay Mehta, who will lead Lighthouse Studios, said the company aims to help creators scale beyond individual channels.

“Lighthouse Studios has been created to provide creators with the capital, infrastructure and strategic partnership needed to build scalable media networks and own their original IP,” Mehta said.

The launch comes as creators increasingly move beyond social media content into structured entertainment businesses. In January, creator collective The Sidemen launched their own production company to develop television-style formats, including their Netflix reality series “Inside”.

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