OPC//FamilyStyle Is Content In Its Offering

Since opening its doors in 2006, Toronto-based OPC has been in the business of making commercials. In 2008, FamilyStyle was founded – based in the same George Street office and providing a more 'content' focussed offering. However, realising the natural blurring of lines in the industry, the companies have rebranded as a combined entity - OPC//FamilyStyle – a self-styled group of directors, photographers, designers, animators and digital content creators who share a common vision - to create stuff that intrigues, delights, engages and moves people.

With a creative flexibility that allows them to take on any medium, from digital to film to print, the company delights in producing and creating traditional films, viral shorts, integrated content and just about anything else that will help a brand make an indelible, memorable mark on the world. Their most recent projects bear testament to this – 'The French Exit' being a smart and humorous period short for Stoli extolling the origins of the phenomenon whereby someone leaves a party without saying goodbye (directed by Sean Wainsteim) and the disturbingly amusing 'Competition Crunch' webfilm series for Oatmeal Crisp (helmed again by Wainsteim, joined by director Jono Hunter)

We thought it was about time to chat to OPC//FS Partner Harland Weiss, Executive Producers Donovan Boden and Liz Dussault and Directors Sean Wainsteim and Jono Hunter about the combined company output, the working style and the confidence in content.



FamilyStyle / OPC. What's the difference?

Harland - That's easy, OPC is better.

Liz - Um actually, FamilyStyle is better.

Donovan - The companies are one in the same; we are an open format production company.

Two of the latest works you've put out – 'French Exit' for Stoli and the Competition Crunch series - are very much in the 'content' mould. Is that a form that you like working in? Do you see more work emerging as 'content' in the future?

H - Not at all, we actually think that the internet is on its way out.

Sean - 'Content' is simply shorthand for creating something with an engaging narrative. For film, television and commercials (on TV or the web) the ability to create something memorable that penetrates has been the mark of success for at least the last hundred years.

Jono - Working in the content mould gives us kids more room to play and explore and the process of writing and conceptualizing becomes much more communal. It allows us and the creative team to develop a whole different world rather than a small window into one.



Does it take a particular kind of director to create compelling online content? What do you look for in your roster?

H - An implicitly creative director who understands how content will be viewed and consumed is crucial. It's less about a 'consumer' watching and much more about a 'user' experiencing.

The Competition Crunch films have a deliciously surrealist tone. Do you think audiences are more responsive to that kind of humour nowadays? Does erring on the side of oddity help the content spread?

J - I think people have been interested in seeing an alternative reality from the beginning of time, from the early days of film such as 'A Trip to the Moon ' to Monty Python's stuff and onwards. And to your second question, no, not if it doesn't have a genuine reason for being. In other words oddity has to have a purpose. Comedy has a mathematical equation and if you don't adhere to it regardless of the comedic genre, it won't work.

S - Oddity and surrealism are great to use as tools but they have to be backed up by substance. It can't all just be visual tricks if you want to create a lasting connection in the audience. It's a great first step to get people to pay attention when they see a gingerbread wedding or two identical puppets calling each other out, but people stay tuned in because we've raised a question in the viewers' mind. Where is this going? It's about keeping people on that hook for as long as is sustainable for the piece and the messaging. We want to have people invested in characters and outcomes. The unexpected and the absurd is a great way to do that, but there needs to be some truth in there that people can relate to.
Once we do introduce something as surreal, the challenge becomes holding the viewer. We can achieve that by getting them to embrace this new reality as something they care about. The ultimate payoff (and ultimate success) of the spot lies in creating either something more unexpected or more familiar than they would have suspected.



'French Exit' is the type of narrative tale that couldn't really be done justice in a 30second spot. How does the lack of a definite length of cut help the creative process?

S - Length? Why so many questions about length? Jeez. Layoff, okay? I'm not sure that French Exit couldn't be done in 30 seconds but it would be a different piece. It may also have been successful and engaging as an expanded fifteen minute version. Beyond creating pretty pictures, it's really about finding the sweet spot that works for the story you want to tell, the audience you want to connect with, the right medium for that connection, and the brand's goals. While there is something inherently exciting in creating a piece that works and connects as a strict -30, there is exciting opportunity in the freedom to explore a project in the length that a project wants to be… while keeping in mind the above mentioned audience.

Both sets of films provoke chuckles. Is comedy a good genre for online?

H - Absolutely, but most genres are great for online. The wonderful thing about online is its open door policy.

S - No it's terrible, people want to see sex and violence, cats and babies

J - We didn't think those were comedies, we thought they were very serious.



What sort of work would you like to get involved with in the future?

H - More narrative and experiential work; work that surprises. Lately we have been seeing some incredible promotional stuff on the net, we would love to be a part of that too.

S - Bigger budgets. Making sure everyone is involved, great agencies and brands and directors as co-ownership of the piece.

J - Longer format branded stuff. It's so rewarding when you get approached with a project like this and then sit at the agency and watch as your ideas begin to kick with life.

What's up next for you guys?

H - We'd love to say, but there are a couple of NDAs in the way. We can say we're working on another interactive piece and an online short branded film for a well-known internet magazine. Thank you.