We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Weston Gonzalez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Weston below.

Weston, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Although I started westhaus in January 2020, right before a global pandemic, I think I started it at the right time. I spent over a decade working in-house as an event executive at studios, networks and streamers which gave me the foundation I needed to not only understand the events industry but also the ever changing landscape of the film and television industry. Working on the inside established my professionalism while nurturing my skillset as an event producer and building my reputation as a creative. To this day, I still fall on the younger side of industry as an owner of an entertainment event production company so had I started any sooner I may not have been taken as seriously and found it harder to land those first few clients. On the contrary, I think if I had waited longer and gone through a global pandemic and seen what it did to the events industry, I may have favored internal job security over the unknown complexities that come along with running a business that is so vulnerable to external factors. Overall, the timing was right and going through those first few years as an entrepreneur only heightened my skillset as a problem solving, agile leader.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Latinx and LGBTQ+ business owner who conquered the world of corporate events and transitioned into high-end event production, where I continue to push the envelope on creativity and shake up the status quo of how to approach entertainment industry events.

I spent over a decade working in-house at studios, networks and streamers, rising to event executive positions at Sony Pictures Television, Starz and Apple TV+ all before the age of 30. At 30, I left the corporate side of entertainment events and launched my own event production company, westhaus, in January 2020. Launching westhaus with a pandemic looming was no easy feat, but I navigated the complexities of owning and operating a new event production company through lockdown, and found creative ways to help my clients eventize content. Impressively, my team produced the first post-lockdown, in-person, non-drive-in television premiere in Los Angeles creating a COVID-safe environment that soon began to be mimicked by other production agencies.

Since launching westhaus in 2020, I have grown my staff to a team of twelve with headquarters in Los Angeles and teams based in London, Austin and New York. Together, we’ve produced hundreds of events since launch, including some high-profile premieres like the Gaslit World Premiere in April 2022 at The Met in New York and the Party Down Season 3 World Premiere in February 2023 at The Bruin + Palazzo di Amore in Los Angeles. Most recently we produced the highly anticipated US premiere of Mary & George.

I am extremely proud to hold two minority business certifications including the Minority Business Enterprise certified by the NMSDC and LGBT Business Enterprise certified by the NGLCC, and prides myself in hiring minority vendors whenever possible.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Recently, I navigated the historic WGA and SAG strikes and worked with clients to curate events that respected the striking artists while still supporting the hard working teams behind the content. We were immediately thrown a curveball when SAG officially went on strike, as we had the season two premiere of Starz’s Minx fully produced and ready to execute. Knowing that a strike was on the horizon, we preemptively worked on a backup plan with Starz to turn the premiere into a below-the-line focused event for different guilds and voting groups. We also worked closely with our clients to find clever ways to garner press and awareness for upcoming films and series, without disrupting the strikes. Some of those included producing fan events in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and working with Netflix to strategize the launch of Rustin by producing a preview screening event in partnership with GLAAD’s first ever Black Queer Creative Summit and the film’s showcase at NewFest in New York. Since the strikes ended, I have been busy producing events for an array of clients.

Any advice for managing a team?

At the end of the day, I think it is incredibly important to have perspective. In our business, we’re producing events and although it is a high-stress environment, I try to instill the importance of having perspective of what we doing. I think this helps elevate some of the pressure which usually allows team members to take a breath and work through things with a clearer mind. Creating a calm and enjoyable environment fosters better attitudes and an overall happier work place. I also do my best to ensure egos do not come into play on the team. I treat everyone with the utmost respect and am grateful for their dedication, loyalty and skills that that bring to westhaus and in turn expect each team member to operate the same way. I’ve found that this style of leadership encourages not only great work ethic but positive attitudes and great results.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.westhausgroup.com
• Instagram: @westhausgroup
• Facebook: @westhausgroup
• Linkedin: @westhaus
• Twitter: @westhausgroup