Firm exec partners at rival

Keshishian ankles agency for Brillstein-Grey partnership

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Aleen Keshishian, a manager at the Firm and co-head of its talent department, has left to become a partner at Brillstein-Grey Management.

Keshishian is expected to bring with her Orlando Bloom, Natalie Portman and at least some of a client list that includes Laura Linney, Julianna Margulies, Paul Rudd, Freddie Prinze Jr., Emily Mortimer, Jared Leto, Bobby Cannavale, Rodrigo Santoro, Jay Rodan and directors Jesse Peretz and Frank E. Flowers.

While rep raiding is habitual among agencies, management is less predatory, and moves are executed with more civility. Keshishian is making the switch with the blessing of the Firm brain trust. Her contract had expired, and when the management company was unable to meet her desire to move up to partnership level, it didn't contest when a revamping Brillstein-Grey was able to make that a reality.

"We are glad Aleen's wishes to be made an owner and partner of a company can be met somewhere else, and we are confident she will find the success she seeks," said a spokesman for the Firm. "We wish her well."

A Harvard grad, Keshishian began her career as a casting assistant and served a six-year stint as an ICM agent before becoming a manager at AMG, the precursor to the Firm. She exec produced the Flowers-directed drama "Haven," which starred Bloom.