Charles Finch says luxury brands are “naturally evolving” towards feature film production.

Exclusive: Luxury labels are “naturally evolving” toward developing and producing their own indie feature films, said Charles Finch, founder and chief executive of Finch & Partners, a consulting firm that is a major proponent of enabling “content convergence” in entertainment. The crème de la crème of sectors and brands.

For 25 years, Finch told Deadline, “We’ve either represented studios to help promote their programming or we’ve brought in huge luxury deals for artists and we continue to do those deals. …But, of course, what we hope is that sooner or later One of these super-brands will commit to producing feature film programming.”

He added, “Not only are they their clothes, but they’re supporting their causes, and I’m trying to push the luxury groups to go a step further.” For example, the short films championed by Prada’s creative director Miuccia Prada label.

Worked with various brand top executives to shoot content for advertisements and commercials. Finch says he remembers three minutes Film No. 5 The short Baz Luhrmann shot for Chanel nearly two decades ago. “It was a game-changer. Features are next,” Finch said.

“That’s the future of it, and that’s what they naturally evolve into,” Finch believes. And some of the brands they work with — Chanel, Dior, Hermès, Gucci and Zegna — are moving in that direction, though for now he has no idea of ​​a timeline for when the luxury houses will start creating their own properties. “The conversation is happening, though, with our encouragement.”

Claire Ingle-Finch, the group’s managing partner, notes that labels want to be at the intersection of “investing in and supporting emerging filmmaker talent” and that “because we’re at the intersection of luxury brands and entertainment, we’re helping to make that happen.”

Two Finch & Partners executives say the “public face” of what they do is the famous pre-BAFTA and pre-Oscar parties they co-host with Chanel in London and Beverly Hills, and the annual filmmakers dinner held at the Hotel du Caps. Eden Rock during the Cannes Film Festival.

Indeed, speaking to Deadline, their office is a hive of activity as they prepare for Saturday night’s glitzy Chanel shindig at Mayfair’s exclusive private club 5 Hereford Street.

“But there are other 360-odd days of the year,” Ingle-Finch argues, where they engage in a wide range of activities involving brands, studios and artists that come together to further interest the film industry.

One example is the two-day Power of Film Symposium on March 1 and 2 organized by Finch’s Magazine. A rabbit’s foot In collaboration with Armani. It’s “a series of conversations and confessions,” says Finch, about film, art and culture at the Royal Institution in central London.

Confirmed speakers include BAFTA- and Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake; Barley shakes that air) in conversation with critics Jason Solomons and Asif Kapadia (Diego Maradona, AmyTalk to choreographer Akram Khan. Other participants include actor Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, Full metal jacket); Documentarian Nick Broomfield (Kurt and Courtney, fighting for Hadita); Famous costume designer Sandy Powell (Alive, dear, far from heaven), who will be honored with a BAFTA Fellowship on Sunday; Screenwriter, playwright and director Sir Christopher Hampton (Father, atonement); and filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver)

Importantly, Finch said, Power of Film events are open to the public, and he emphasized that public participation is vital “because they are the people who see the film in the theater and need to continue that experience.” He added that the Power of Film conference will conclude with a special screening of Nicholas Ray’s 1955 classic. Rebel without a cause.

“Focusing on the filmmakers is at the heart of everything we do,” Finch said.

Then Finch, Ingle-Finch and the Chanel team traveled to the West Coast for a pre-Oscar show at the Polo Lounge. “It’s also a unique gathering because you have both filmmakers, film stars and also the financiers of these films,” he says. “It’s a real celebration of world cinema in many ways.”

To that end, it brings films like Edward Berger’s Netflix movies All is quiet on the Western FrontRuben Ostlunds The triangle of sorrow and Park Chan-wooks decision to quit “To have as many great filmmakers as possible” and “to shine a light on them,” says Ingle-Finch.

They have encouraged streamers to show selected films in theaters before their release on their platforms. “The theatrical window lends great gravitas and makes something very clear to the public,” Finch tells us.

Finch says he and his colleagues are in constant conversations with Netflix, Warner Bros, A24, Mubi, Lionsgate and others about how premieres — “which are an art form in themselves” — are handled.

“They’ve become kind of a necessary obligation and an expensive necessary obligation for the studios instead of a real tool where they can really promote a movie and an evening with the stars,” he says, adding that galas should be a true “festival.” of the craft of cinema.”

And that’s where luxury brands matter because they sell glamour. For starters, he thinks stars can be intelligent.

“When Kevin Costner or Denzel Washington are at the Oscars, on that stage presenting or accepting an award, in their tuxedos, speaking eloquently and powerfully with great conviction, the way they look draws people in,” he says.

Finch says that “grunge and vulgarity” shouldn’t be part of a movie star’s look.

He added that “obscenity” should not be welcome at the BAFTAs and the Oscars either. He didn’t need to mention Will Smith’s name.

Also, he whispered aloud, “Less is more” and “I think the Oscars and BAFTAs should be much, much smaller and, frankly, what the celebration is, more respectful of the craft.”

Finch observed that “no other agency not only represented and promoted films but also celebrated directors at such a high level and also secured incredible endorsement deals and created content synergies between the entertainment sector and luxury brands.”

And, he claims, “We were there first, and I think it’s generally known.”

From that “synergy” arose “the idea of ​​doing deals by the pool or at a bar because you don’t normally do that in an office. The encounter was a creative encounter,” Finch says, and those encounters grew into a business that spanned the continent.

“And it’s always about working at the highest level possible with the best filmmakers, the best brands, the best cultural institutions, and making sure those relationships are nurtured in the very right way,” he says.