Peter Odiorne of Sleeping Tree Films

Transitional Skills

Professionally speaking, director Peter Odiorne is a product of his environment.  Fifteen years in the filmmaking trenches of Madison Avenue, the editor-turned-director is now creatively balancing commerce and art as he takes the reins not only behind the camera, but as the master of his own shop, Sleeping Tree Films.

With an editorial background serving as an edge as well as a selling point, it is more than understandable why advertisers are seeking Odiorne out.  “I was an editor for a long time, and thus have great connections around the country.  I find I can frequently package up jobs, which makes me a viable resource as I can do more than the regular director.”  With budgets getting smaller, Odiorne’s attention to detail and comprehensive knowledge of his footage gives him an advantage to get in the mix and win.  “I transitioned from editing to directing four years ago,” says Odiorne.  “And I am only now firmly grasping the process.  For me, my pre-production and post-production are more important than the actual shooting.”  It is this breadth that enables the director to sit down with an agency and foretell, at least somewhat, the future outcome of the project.

Candid about the all-encompassing, competitive future of this medium, Odiorne points to always having ‘one’s ducks in a row.’  “Production companies need to be really buttoned up for the onset of 360-degree advertising,” says the director.  ”I’m finding the long-format viral projects, the internet films, are what agencies are recognizing as a way to drive consumers to websites.  They have much more to do with entertainment than the succinct :30-second television commercial.”  The advent of this type of advertising is not for the weak at heart.  Brutal is more the norm here with advertising budgets merely a fraction of the already tight constraints around the more traditional commercial.  But it is exactly the type of challenge that Odiorne welcomes.  “Sleeping Tree films is a small, intimate boutique.  We’re very much a family – and with that aspect in mind, we are much more focused on the project at hand.  We feel that our passion and dedication for the work shines through when the production company is smaller.”

That may very well be true.  His calendar continues to be diverse, let alone busy, with such notable clients as the NFL, Reebok, Campbell’s Soup, The San Francisco Examiner, Aleve, YMCA, The Sundance Channel, Yakima, The Lodge, Target, SmartBargains.com and AOL, to name but a few.  His skills compliment his very wide-ranging reel, even if it is difficult to attach any one genre to the director.  “I think of my skills as still being a diamond in the rough.  They shine through differently depending on the product.  But one this is for sure, I definitely have a good eye.”  Take for example, Odiorne’s spot for The San Francisco Examiner.  Originally shot as a short film, the piece was cut down and sold to the agency.  Although directing a long format and cutting it down is not necessarily the route to take, it was, in this case, a testament to the director’s uncanny eye and his ability to manipulate the visual.  “I excel at this kind of work,” muses Odiorne, “simply because I see things a lot of people don’t.  I know what’s good for the cut.”

A voyeur at heart (his editorial expertise has only enhanced this tendency), Odiorne is frank when stating that he is ‘much better at seeing and identifying the message rather than conveying it through speech.’  “That’s not to say I can’t talk – but it does say that I understand the visual that must accompany the verbal message.”  Fascinated by the human condition, it is his ability to merge the two senses into a cohesive whole.  “Planning is key,” states Odiorne, “and we all know that nothing replaces experience.  I know that I’m a relatively ‘new’ director, but in this profession, the learning process never ceases.  Even with all my experience as an editor I don’t think I ever sat in an editorial suite and not said, ‘shit, I didn’t do that right.’”

So what’s next for Odiorne?  “I’d say definitely more commercials.  We’re already working fast and furious on a package for Dick’s Sporting Goods, a project for Reebok, a new viral product launch with the Brooklyn Brothers and another round of Pennsylvania Lottery spots via MARC/USA.  Lastly, we’re diligently developing a feature project that has me very excited.   I mean, I’m having a good time – hell, I’m having a blast!  There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not amazed by what I do on a daily basis...”