Charles P. Finch (born 15 August 1962) is a British businessman and film producer. Finch is the CEO of the brand development and investment company Finch + Partners, and former global chairman of Dean & DeLuca.

Early life and family

Born Charles Peter George Thomas Ingle Finch, Finch is the son of the actor Peter Finch and grandson of the chemist and mountaineer George Finch. Finch was raised in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and schooled at

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...

, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. His mother was the British-born South African actress and writer Yolande Turner.

Career

Film

Finch wrote and directed the 1988 fantasy film '' Priceless Beauty'', and the 1991 thriller ''

Where Sleeping Dogs Lie ''Where Sleeping Dogs Lie'' is a 1991 American neo noir thriller film directed by Charles Finch and starring Dylan McDermott. The primary location for the film was C.E. Toberman Estate in Hollywood, a large Mediterranean-style, 22-room house b ...

''. He wrote, directed and acted in the 1998 film '' Never Ever.'' Films Finch has produced include '' Bad Girls'' (1994), which starred

Andie MacDowell Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell's known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. MacDowell has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman ...

and

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

and was co-written by his mother Yolande Turner; and ''

Spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

'' (2002), which starred

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

and was directed by David Cronenberg. In 2008 Finch was executive producer on '' Battle for Haditha'', a dramatisation of the

Haditha massacre The Haditha massacre (also called the Haditha killings or the Haditha incident) was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in Haditha, a cit ...

of 2005, in which 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women and children were killed by United States Marines. The film was directed by

Nick Broomfield Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...

and aired on Channel 4. It was awarded the

Grierson Award The Grierson Awards are awards set up by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, created to commemorate the life and work of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The inaugural Awards w ...

for Best Drama Documentary. In 2014, Finch was executive producer on Broomfield's ''

Tales of the Grim Sleeper ''Tales of the Grim Sleeper'' is a 2014 documentary film about the serial killer Lonnie David Franklin Jr., nicknamed the Grim Sleeper. It was produced, directed, and written by Nick Broomfield. Reception The film received positive reviews fro ...

'', which was shortlisted for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

. He was also executive producer on Broomfield's 2017 documentary ''Whitney: Can I Be Me''. Finch was also executive producer on the 2017 documentary ''Love, Cecil'', a portrait of the photographer Cecil Beaton, directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland.

Business

After a 10-year career of writing, directing and producing films, Finch joined the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...

in 1997 as Head of International Operations. He was responsible for working with artists including

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...

, Cate Blanchett and Kristin Scott-Thomas, as well as corporate clients including Granada, BBC, Carlton, Pearson, and Channel 4. In 2005, Finch founded Finch + Partners, a London and Paris-based media company. In 2014, offices of Finch + Partners were opened in Bangkok and Hong Kong. Alongside developing and financing brands that the company owns, Finch + Partners also advises other global brands, entertainment companies, celebrated individuals and philanthropic organisations on brand development, product endorsement, events and marketing. Clients include DIOR, Chanel, Armani, Pernod Ricard, LVMH, PACE, Jaeger-Le Coultre, Cartier, Gucci, and Mulberry, as well as consumer brands such as Kleenex, Aviva, BT and BA. in 2011, Finch started a leisure and swimwear brand, Chucs Dive & Mountain Shop. Chucs Bar and Grill opened in August 2014 on Dover Street. In 2014, Finch sold a majority stake in Chucs to Oakley Capital. He remains a shareholder and on the board of directors of the subsidiary. In the spring of 2015, Finch became a shareholder and vice-chairman of the upscale grocery retailers Dean & DeLuca. Subsequently, in 2016, he became worldwide Chairman, with the aim of further developing and expanding the brand globally. Finch resigned from the board in February 2019. Finch has interests in a number of companies. He is on the board of

Assouline Assouline Publishing is a book publisher and luxury lifestyle company founded in 1994 by Prosper and Martine Assouline. It has published more than 1,700 titles on subjects including architecture, art, design, fashion, gastronomy, lifestyle, phot ...

, a luxury book publisher, and of the fashion house Giles Deacon. He is also a shareholder and on the board of the film-streaming platform

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

Publishing

In 2009, Finch started ''Finch's Quarterly Review'' with Nicholas Foulkes and Tristram Fetherstonhaugh. The quarterly ceased publication in 2012. In 2016, Finch released the book ''The Night Before BAFTA'' in 2016. This coffee table book focused on his annual pre-BAFTA party, and was published by Assouline. Finch established the Finch Publishing group in 2018. The author and columnist

Matthew d'Ancona Matthew Robert Ralph d'Ancona (born 27 January 1968) is an English journalist. A former deputy editor of ''The Sunday Telegraph'', he was appointed editor of ''The Spectator'' in February 2006, a post he retained until August 2009. Early life ...

is its editor-in-chief, and Peter Hoskin is its Deputy Editor. Finch has been a contributing columnist for '' GQ'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' and '' Esquire''. He has been included in '' Vanity Fair''s International Best-Dressed List three times.

Filmography

Producer

* 1991 ''Where Sleeping Dogs Lie'' (co-producer) * 1994 ''Bad Girls'' (producer) * 1995 ''The Maddening'' (executive producer) * 2001 ''Mike Bassett: England Manager'' (executive producer) * 2002 ''Spider'' (executive producer) * 2004 ''Fat Slags'' (producer) * 2006 ''The Interrogation of Leo and Lisa'' (short) (executive producer) * 2006 ''His Big White Shelf'' (television documentary) (executive producer) * 2006 ''Ghosts'' (executive producer) * 2007 ''Battle for Haditha'' (executive producer) * 2007 ''Ruby Blue'' (executive producer) * 2008 ''Camille'' (executive producer) * 2013 ''The Smile Man'' (short) (executive producer) * 2014 ''The Gift'' (short) (executive producer) * 2014 ''Jump!'' (short) (executive producer) * 2014 ''Tales of the Grim Sleeper'' (documentary) (executive producer) * 2016 ''Going Going Gone: Nick Broomfield's Disappearing Britain'' (documentary television series) (executive producer – two episodes) * 2017 ''Whitney: Can I Be Me'' (documentary) (executive producer) * 2017 ''Love, Cecil'' (documentary) (executive producer) *2019 ''Marianne & Leonard - Nick Broomfield Documentary'' (executive producer)

Writer

* 1988 ''Priceless Beauty'' * 1991 ''Where Sleeping Dogs Lie'' * 1994 ''Bad Girls'' (story) * 1996 ''The Dentist'' * 1996 ''Never Ever'' * 1998 ''The Dentist 2''

Actor

* 1986 ''Amazons'' (Timar) * 1991 ''Where Sleeping Dogs Lie'' (Evan Best) * 1995 ''French Exit'' (TV show host) * 1996 ''Never Ever'' (Thomas Murray)

Appearance as self

* 2014 '' Annabel's: A String of Naked Lightbulbs'' (documentary)

Director

* 1988 ''Priceless Beauty'' * 1991 ''

'' * 1996 ''Never Ever''

References

1962 births Living people British chief executives British film producers British male screenwriters {{Improve categories, date=December 2019