Today we’d like to introduce you to John O’Callaghan.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in New York, on the south shore of Long Island. As soon as I could walk, my parents threw me into the ocean. Since then, the ocean has lead my life on an interesting course.
Currently, I am a Creative Director, a custom knife maker, a fabricator, a photographer & a motion designer, to name a few. I’m a pure bread New Yorker, splitting my time between SoCal and New York. The majority of my work currently is creating content for digital media, mostly social media, marketing campaigns. My work for this type of content can be seen on my website.
To get here, I have worked on fishing boats, wrenched as a marine mechanic, lived in the Dominican Republic, moved boats up the east coast, live in an R&D facility in Texas for two years, and worked as a crane rigger in NYC to put myself through art school at SVA. I have always had a creative eye, regardless of the situations I am in. I enjoy working with my hands, getting down and dirty and also showing the beauty in that.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Anything worth doing takes hard work. I learned that at an early age from my father. But I also have fun what I am doing, no matter the situation, which I learned from my mother. The journey has been full of ups and downs, but luckily I haven’t noticed the downs when I am in the middle of them. Keeping a positive mental attitude throughout has enabled me to flourish in a variety of different situations.
In this day and age, there are plenty of people who can do any job, but being someone who others enjoy working with goes a long way. I work a lot, so I like to surround myself with people who are fun to work with. It keeps it creative and reminds me to be a good person to work with in return.
Please tell us about OC Studios.
For lack of a better term, I am a creative gun for hire. Every job is different. Some projects I am working on VR 360 video, some I am photographing Hollywood’s elite. In the past 6 months alone I have shot and edited a marketing campaign for 1620 workwear, spent weeks in the studio shooting campaigns for Lifeproof, shot stock photography in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, shot stock drone video on a road trip between Colorado through every National Park I could and fabricated and shot inside a mobile video studio for the NAACP Image Awards.
I am known for being a jack of all trades. I keep it fresh and enjoy staying on the cutting edge of creative avenues. I enjoy mixing new technologies with old-school concepts and subject manor and displaying them on the ever-changing digital platforms.
The creative for marketing campaigns is my main business, but I also make custom one-off knives. I learned how to make fixed blade knives from Andrew Arrabito who runs Half Face Blades out of San Diego. Andy is a Navy Seal who makes some of the best knives in the world and I am ever grateful that he taught me this craft. I make knives from recycled surfboard resin.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood is probably learning how to surf in Montauk. My parents were huge campers growing up and we would spend months every summer camping in Montauk where my parents were park rangers.
My father taught me how to surf on a boogie board one summer in my early teens and from there I was obsessed. Those camping trips then turned surf trips shaped my future more than anything else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.johntocallaghan.com/
- Phone: 5165281287
- Email: johnt.ocallaghan@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johntocallaghan/?hl=en
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