Clo and Charles Cohen apparently are among those lucky couples who enjoy a serene yet stimulating marriage.
“We don’t fight a lot,” she said. “We’re always on the same page.”
They both love film, art and everything French, and have similar tastes in furnishings. She likes to cook. He likes to eat.
The Cohens are among four Palm Beach power couples featured in the conversation series Culture & Cocktails, which opens Monday with Sue and James Patterson at The Colony’s pavilion. Others are Wilber and Hilary Ross, who will be joined by Wellington residents Harry and Gigi Benson; and Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan. The series, which is organized by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, concludes with show-biz icon Tommy Tune.
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“We knew this was our 10th anniversary season, so we wanted to do something special and make each one a must-see event,” said Gary Schweikhart, one of the series’ organizers. Last season’s event featuring Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks and his artist wife Melinda was such a hit that couples seemed to be just the ticket, he said.
Charles Cohen heads Cohen Brothers Realty and Cohen Design Centers, which owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of office and showroom space in New York, California, Texas and Florida. He also is the top dog at Cohen Media Group, which produces and distributes theatrical films.
Clo Cohen is a former model and advertising and marketing executive who worked with designers Tom Ford, Gucci and Jimmy Choo.
The couple, who married in 2004, have two sons, ages 6 and 8. They spend most of the fall and winter in Palm Beach, although Charles Cohen visits more frequently, as one of his properties is the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach.
Charles Cohen been interested in film since he was a child. He made short films in high school and college but went into the family business instead of pursuing a career in film. In the mid-1980s, he wrote a movie quiz book.
He started his film company to produce the 2008 feature Frozen River, which was a critical and box-office success and nominated for two Oscars. A couple of years later, he began distributing French films.
“The more I got into the business, the more interested I became,” he said.
His company has released more than 30 films, and he’s produced about a half-dozen of those. His films include the new Israel Horovitz-helmed My Old Lady, starring Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.
Cohen now is the largest distributor of French film in the United States. His company also is a major force in classic film restoration, distribution and overseas sales.
Clo Cohen enjoys film, too, but she’s not the indefatigable devotee her husband is. “I become emotionally attached to a film and need time to process it,” she said. “He can compartmentalize and see one film after another.”
In addition to Palm Beach, the couple resides in New York City; West Hollywood, Calif., and Connecticut, where they have a home theater modeled on a 1930s theater in Times Square. They decorate their homes in Palm Beach and California with contemporary art and their residences in Connecticut and New York with 19th-century European art.
Clo Cohen is hard-pressed to think of something she enjoys that her husband does not. Charles Cohen says his wife is more interested in women’s fashions than he is.
She demurs. “My husband has a better eye for that than anyone,” she said.