PARIS — As global interest in Thailand’s entertainment scene heats up, with stars signing deals with the likes of Dior or creating major buzz at Paris Fashion Week, a new talent agency aims to become the connector between Thai talent and Western brands.
London and Bangkok-based editor and luxury brand consultant Nichapat Suphap is launching The Venture Management, a boutique talent consultancy that she aims to build into a key resource for brands looking to find a face fit for their needs.
Her goal is to become “a go-to contact for anything [around] Thailand right now,” especially when it comes to choosing talent.
In the opening roster of The Venture Management are Phakphum Romsaithong (“Mile”), who was named Dior Men’s amabassador in June along with “KinnPorsche” costar Nattawin Wattanagitiphat (“Apo”), who has become a friend of the house for Piaget; Vachirawit Chivaaree, nicknamed “Bright” and a face of Burberry; “Gulf” Kanawut Traipipattanapong, “Bible” Wichapas Sumettikul and Davika Hoorne, also known as Mai.
Suphap’s criteria for the talents she works with are “the ones that really drive conversion,” she told WWD, pointing out data that emerged from the spring 2024 round of shows.
Thailand ranked first in celebrity-generated media impact value, with Apo and Mile, respectively scoring three of the week’s top placements and the third position among celebrities, according to Launchmetrics.
The pair were also among the top five influencers of the spring 2024 season globally, according to tallies by marketing agency Lefty, with the former bringing $9.7 million and $7.3 million of earned media value. Meanwhile, Bright ranked among the top 10 for Southeast Asia and netted $2.4 million for Burberry — the second highest individual EMV for the brand.
While talents will continue to work with their existing management companies and agents, Suphap and her company will focus on international projects, one they could “occupy in the most viral [yet] organic way,” according to Suphap.
A corporate communications graduate, she cut her teeth in the executive training program at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s in the 2010s before scouting brands with the Central retail group for six years on a freelance basis. In parallel, she also made her first steps as a contributor for the Thai editions of glossies including Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
On the social scene, Suphap made a mark by becoming the first Thai to attend the Met Gala in 2018, and has attended every edition since, wearing the likes of Schiaparelli, Tomo Koizumi and Louis Vuitton.
Launching a talent consultancy was an idea she had been kicking about for a few years, as Western industry contacts would often come to her for insights on talent. But she “didn’t think at the time Thailand was going to become the ‘new Korea’ for entertainment,” recalled Suphap.
She worked as image consultant and personal manager for actress and model Praya Lundberg in 2017 and collaborated with Raline Shah and Luna Maya from Indonesia, Yubin Shin from Cambodia and Huang Shengyi from China over the years.
In the near future The Venture Management will develop a production arm to facilitate all the necessary local logistics and permits for international companies, since the agency founder feels being a forerunner would allow her to “really want to occupy and own the entertainment space.”
Naming the fledgling company The Venture is also a way of signaling the start of “a new exciting venture — and not just for [her], for these boys and girls, too.” With the Red Sea International Film Festival, slated between Nov. 30 and Dec. 9 in Saudi Arabia, as the next destination for her and her talents, “that’s what we’re going to have — a lot of fun adventures together,” said Suphap.
