Johanna Marciano, In Finé: “We’re a cooperative of artists”

By Mark Tungate

The Paris production company founder describes how forging close relationships with clients and creatives helps her elevate luxury brands.

Luxury brands occasionally work with big, traditional agencies. But they are also naturally attracted to a more boutique approach, infused as they are with craft, precision and refinement. In Finé, the creative and production studio based in Paris, fits the bill perfectly.

I last spoke to Johanna Marciano, the founder and chief creative officer of In Finé, back in 2019, when it was a relatively new operation, launched as an arm of the production company Quad. At that time, I think it’s fair to say, while its mission was clear, In Finé was still trying to find its footing. Today the offering is much sharper.

Johanna puts it this way: “We are production company that centres exclusively on the visual representation of high end luxury products, accessories and now services. This could be anything from cosmetics to bags, jewellery or hotels. My specialty is making the audience want to reach out, touch and obtain these objects. To desire what’s in front of them – what I do is very sensorial.”

She collaborates with talent – CG artists, photographers, directors, illustrators – and her work is centred on the products themselves; their beauty and sensuality. The studio’s motto is “elevate the product, elevate the brand.” You may have seen In Finé’s mesmerising visuals on social media, but also in store and on digital billboards in airports.

Speaking the creative language

Johanna is not a producer by training, she reminds me. She’s a creative director, who learned her art in the US and worked at a number of studios there. Her position as a creative at the head of a production studio is the key to In Finé’s operating philosophy, which is that it works directly with brands. Luxury brands, she observes, tend to have their own in-house creative teams, so there’s a meeting of minds. Friendships are made.

“For me, there’s no line any more between my work and and the friendships I develop. Because we’re cut from the same cloth: creatives are creatives, and we speak the same language. We have affinities. You’re always really interested in what the other person does, in what they have to say, and it becomes effortless.”

A major step forward for the studio came during the Covid lockdown, when nobody could shoot live action – so In Finé’s digitally created images became even more desirable. It helps that they look exactly like the real thing. Luxury brands are extremely particular about texture and authenticity.

The pandemic year also saw the start of the studio’s long-running collaboration with Clé de Peau Beauté. “They’re so welcoming of ideas and open to creative conversations. They also really understand the meaning of a partnership, which is that you grow and learn together.”

Like a number of production studio bosses I’ve spoken to recently, Johanna is convinced that the future is one of brands working directly with producers. “Brands are conscious that they have the power and that they can choose to spend their money as they wish. They’re incredibly educated and deeply interested in the creative process.”

The art of getting noticed

A more recent client is Cartier. Although Johanna is Franco-American – she was born in Paris – she admits that her efficient US-style approach tends to make her studio more appealing to clients in the States or Asia than in France. Having said that, while the Cartier work initiated in the US, she ended up working with the French team too.

“We started having the most interesting conversations, because nobody knows the brand better than the brand itself. They told us exactly what they were looking for, where they wanted to go, how far they were willing to go. Every piece of creative was developed in a collaborative manner.”

In Finé won the project after a pitch – something it rarely takes part in. The task was to create short object-centric narratives in CGI. The studio got the job, Johanna says, because of its capacity to surprise and to expand on the initial task.

“Obviously a brand has codes: you can’t do whatever you like. But you want to provoke them a little at the beginning. To say, ‘Look, if you don’t create something people aren’t used to seeing, it’s going to get lost.’ When people are scrolling on Instagram and TikTok, you need to stand out.”

The final iteration, she explains, was a subtle branding device that acts as a mnemonic at the end of each animation. Elevating the brand, once again.

Bespoke teams

The skills required to conceptualise and create these kind of images are rare. Johanna says she “forages” for talented individuals, then brings them together for projects. “You might have small studios of only two or three people. I look at their strengths or specialities – for instance, some CG guys are great at camera direction, others are fantastic at liquids – and I create custom teams. It’s extremely unorthodox to have studios come together like that to make something, but it’s what works for me.”

She also seeks out live action directors who specialise in “the beauty of the object”, who are also not so easy to find. All these creative virtuosos are brought together under Johanna’s watch to form “a cooperative of artists who are willing to collaborate with one another.”

She mentions a photographer who uses AI to animate her pictures. Of course AI is changing the game for In Finé, as it is for everyone, particularly when it comes to demonstrating an idea before the more precise CG or live action work is done. But AI is still not yet equal to the heightened realism luxury clients demand. “And AI still needs directing. It’s nothing without human expertise and input.”

Human collaboration is the beating heart of In Finé, she concludes. “You know, the main model of most production companies is quantity: working on lots of different projects. For us, it’s more about long term relationships with clients. Evolving with the brand hand in hand.”