Gavin Keilly's reputation as the "Gift Bag King" is actually outdated.

The handy gift bag that the California native used to give to the nominees before the Oscars has long since become a holdall-sized gift.

And they now choose the products that the filmmakers take home with them themselves. Since last year, Keilly has invited them to the “GBK Brand Bar” on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood to choose their products.

"We made a virtue out of necessity," says the fifty-one-year-old, who has been organizing gift suites for celebrities for more than 20 years, referring to the pandemic, lockdown and distance rules.

After the success at the Oscars 2021, the Bar der Marken is also open to the nominees before the 94th Academy Awards on Monday night.

Hundreds of packages are stacked in the back of the GBK Brand Bar, many of which are already unpacked on the shelves: saffron-enriched vegan skin care, skipping ropes with a fitness app, Chardonnay from California's Napa Valley, fashion, art and gold-framed photographs of private Caribbean islands complete with travel vouchers .

The price?

A photo of the celebrity with the brand.

“We have photographers on site who go from shelf to shelf with the nominees.

As soon as they decide on a product, a few pictures are taken,” says Keilly.

The filmmakers later publish the recordings more or less discreetly on social media.

“Celebrity advertising is unaffordable for many brands.

With us, they get the chance to present their product with an Oscar nominee.”

The detour to the Brand Bar or Gift Suite is also worthwhile for the nominees.

This year, those who take it all will go home with around $85,000 worth of freebies.

Almost 80 filmmakers, including the cast of Steven Spielberg's new version of "West Side Story", which was nominated for seven Oscars, have announced their visit - or have already been there.

The Academy Awards aren't just about cinematic flights of fancy, trophies and red-carpet parades.

It's also about a lot of money.

In fact, the annual awards show began with the financial interests of studio boss Louis B. Mayer.

When set builders formed the first unions in Hollywood in the late 1920s, the film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) feared that actors might follow the trend.

In order to bind them to himself, Mayer founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) in early 1927 with filmmakers such as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Cecil B. DeMille.

Two years later, the first Academy Awards of Merit, as the Oscars are officially called, were presented.

"I thought the best way

keeping filmmakers in check is to hang medals on them,” Mayer later recalled.

"As long as I rewarded them with prizes, they would kill themselves to produce what I wanted."