Thomas Ormonde; the surreal McCoy

What was your route to becoming a director?

Going back in time, I didn’t achieve much at school. I was a time waster, or a big waster of time. I scraped through the necessary academic hoops with as minimal amount of effort as humanly possible. One thing that did penetrate and engage my brain was when I took on media studies. We were essentially given old DV cameras and told to piss off and go make some films. It didn’t feel like work. That planted a seed that not all work had to be cripplingly boring. Not that I knew that the world of film was actually something I would actually have access to work in.

We were essentially given old DV cameras and told to piss off and go make some films. It didn’t feel like work.

Fast-forward to later on in life and, having completed an art foundation in Bristol, I was presented with two routes; a media practice course that was team led, or an animation course where you work alone. Not wanting to be forced to rely on stoner no-shows to complete a project, I chose animation, so I could only have myself to blame if the film doesn’t deliver. 

So, after three years of animation study, I moved to London and, with a bit of luck, found myself working at Fallon, where I quickly got a fast-tracked opportunity to direct adverts for the likes of the BBC and Cadbury. This was a great introduction to the world of commercial directing, but I definitely found myself with a reel that was too broad. Very much a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

Above: Ormonde's work for Ribena, from last year, again plays to his love of the surreal.

Why did you make the move from animation to live-action?

I was always doing live-action projects in tandem with animation. Eventually I got to a point where I was feeling a lack of inspiration to want to make animation. All my ideas for personal work were almost all based in live-action so, naturally, I prioritised that.  

What is it that attracts you to comedic commercials?

I’ve always been a big fan of comedic advertising, especially the more out there stuff that comes out of the US. I distinctly remember sifting through the DVD reels at Fallon with a fellow pitch late-shifter, digging out old Perlorian Brothers work and repeat viewing certain spots again and again whilst we waited for some ECD feedback that wouldn’t come in until 5am. 

I’ve always been a big fan of comedic advertising, especially the more out there stuff that comes out of the US.

That definitely got me excited about the possibilities of making some truly weird stuff in such a corporate environment. 

Above: Ormonde has always been a fan of comedy advertising, especially the work of the Perlorian Brothers. 

Your commercial work is often slightly surreal; is that the type of humour you gravitate towards outside of work? 100%. 

I’m an only child. Growing up, I spent a lot of time alone, deep in my own weird thoughts. This created a pretty natural gravitation to anything out of the ordinary and weird.

Do you have any comedic idols or inspirations that inform how you approach directing?

A lot of my inspiration for work is probably imagining what a certain small group of close friends would find dumb and funny. We grew up on things like Reeves and Mortimer, Lee and Herring’s This Morning with Richard, Not Judy, The Armando Iannucci Show, Jam, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and, later on, things like Tim and Eric, The Eric Andre Show, and Nathan For You to give you a bit of gist of the flavour of comedy. 

I find it’s always best to go with what makes me laugh, otherwise I’m there trying to think of what others find funny. 

I wouldn’t say one thing specifically informs my approach to directing, but all these things have definitely informed my taste in comedy.

Above: An example of Ormonde's brilliantly surreal style.

Does a script you're sent have to be immediately funny, or can there be something in it you think you can make funny/funnier?

I’m always looking for something that I can hook on to, a core central conceit or gag, that I can really see, and I feel fits with my tone of voice. As long as that’s there, then I’m diving in head first. I tend to rework scripts a fair bit (where permitted), to bring my sensibilities to it. 

I’m always looking for something that I can hook on to, a core central conceit or gag.

Sometimes it works well and the agency is after where I want to take it naturally. Other times I might have taken it to a place that is pushed too far for an agency or brand. But I find it’s always best to go with what makes me laugh, otherwise I’m there trying to think of what others find funny. 

Do you think comedy is coming back to the fore in advertising terms?

It definitely feels that way. It seems to be a common theme that, when the important things in the world are serious enough, brands are not reminding us how badly the world is burning around us.