We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Patrick Ortman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Patrick below.
Hi Patrick, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
Thanks for having me. I was thinking that sometimes kindness doesn’t feel like kindness when it
happens. Like, I’d just graduated from Georgia Tech and started my first company. I had a couple of significant wins. Then I got a call from this big-time Atlanta attorney- I can’t remember his name. He wanted to have a breakfast meeting with me to “talk about the future”. So I was sitting
in this swanky old rich guy club eating runny eggs and toast with this high-powered attorney and
he’s wearing a ridiculously expensive suit while I’m in an old Star Wars t-shirt and ripped
cutoffs. He explained that he represented powerful interests. And that they were giving me a
choice: sell out to them, or get crushed by them. I chose a third way: I told them to f*ck off, and
that I was moving to LA. And then I made that happen. Life would have been very different if
I’d stayed in Atlanta, so while they thought they were threatening me it actually turned out to be
a life-changing kindness.
Patrick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m the founder at Froth & Fur. In the before times our team was called Pluck. We make videos and other kinds of visual stories that help you stand out. On the brand side our team’s worked with over a dozen Fortune 500s and won more than 30 awards for it. We also make original
entertainment like my 3D animated series “Daddy Robot”.
I do what I do because I love stories. I especially love stories that connect with people. I mean
that intentionally: people, not “audiences” or other agency-speak. And stories, not content. I feel
like today’s world often seems less kind and less fun than it used to be. Many of us feel
disconnected. I think we need more stories that bring us together. Even if that’s just a laugh or a
grunt of recognition of our shared human condition. I fail hard sometimes, and sometimes you
just have to do the job the client wants- one ignores the needs of commerce at one’s own risk.
But it’s good to have something to aspire to and work towards, right? And I think people do their
best work when they have a purpose beyond “how do we make rent this month?”
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I’m producing a feature film right now, and I looked around on set a few days ago and realized:
I’m finally the grown-up. And so one of the most rewarding things to me, as a creative person who’s survived and sometimes thrived is that now I feel like I can help other people on their way up. Don’t get me wrong: if life is kind I’d really like to be like Picasso or maybe Clint Eastwood,
doing cool shit into my 90s. Aim high, right? But it’s very rewarding having been on this journey
long enough that I can see more than now, and others besides myself.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Not gonna lie, change hurts. At the tail end of the pandemic I lost my brother. And there’s a
number of industry people I worked with in Los Angeles and in New York who didn’t make it. I miss them. Meanwhile, on the business side so many production houses and creative agencies closed forever. And then we had the strikes, and now we have AI, and everybody’s already upset
about the elections, and I don’t know what the future will bring.
But I think creative people have always had to master the art of the pivot to stay relevant. Look at Madonna. David Bowie. If you want staying power you need to constantly reinvent yourself.
I am trying to embrace the pivot as a process. Some days it feels like it’s going well. Other days I feel like it’s a disaster in the making. But I’m here. I’m still passionate. Still driven. And I still
have fun telling stories that connect with people. Plus now I have a broader perspective and I’ve
gained some wisdom. I see things I couldn’t in the before times. Meanwhile, the stories are still
here, too. They’re how we make sense of our world. They are magical and they are powerful.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://froth-fur.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickortman/
Image Credits
Photo stylings by Geoffrey Dunne, Patrick Ortman, and various passersby and crew who offered to take a snap for us to remember things by.