Agent Provocateur "Eyeball"

Click to watch. 


Director: Patrick Ortman
Writer: Britt Benston
Producer: Kathi Funston
Production Designer: Pam Chien
Visual Effects Supervisor: Greg Anderson


Patrick Ortman:

I'm attracted to story, and this concept – created by Britt Benston, and then honed by myself and my producing partner Kathi Funston – really hooked me. It's perfect for the brand, which is high-quality, but edgy. Of course, Britt's music choice was perfect, too. 

Casting was huge on this one. Britt had a visual effects supervisor look at the script, and he warned me when we first met that it'd be a tough commercial to make. He was right. I ended up firing two visual effects artists over this spot – one of whom told me the 'money shot' in the piece was just not possible to do. Well, they were wrong. I ended up doing the VFX myself, and it turned out just fine. I think it's because I'm better able to think outside the box, sometimes. That's a good thing, since the whole point of this commercial was about making your own way – 'do your thing, whatever it is,' right? 

We shot on RED MX, and I DP'd, Kathi Funston produced, and Pam Chien was our production designer. We shot the whole thing right here in my studio, we just moved out the edit bay and desks, and brought in stuff we bought on Craigslist. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out.


Britt Benston:

I can't believe how well Patrick turned the concept into a story, and on top of that, how he showed the weirdness of it as truth. 

The money shot was done perfectly. It's funny – a couple of years prior another director had seen that script and approached me about making the spot. After looking into producing it, that director sought out a simpler spot instead; a more known quantity. 

Then a year ago, Patrick came around and approached "Eyeball" fearlessly. He called me and requested a meeting, and after a chat, I knew he had the breadth of skills to take it on. Patrick is an artist and a production/post-production polymath. Then I had few more conversations, first with Vis Effects Director Greg Anderson and then with Patrick, who plunged head-first into production. This was all while he was in various stages of completion in his own short film and two other spots. An amazing feat!

In the end, the gorgeous spot is made for either TV or the digital age. It deserves to be spread around and it really could sell the Agent Provocateur brand and its lingerie in appropriate (and inappropriate) style.