luke o’sullivan

producer, director & content strategist with 10 years’ experience in creative leadership

 
 
 
 

not settling for safe

Thank you for being open to this out-of-the-box application

It felt important to address everything you’ve asked for (and I have a lot to say!).
But rather than add another long cover letter into the pile, I’ve built something that reflects how KBD operates:

bold & blunt
UNIQUELY creative
slightly unhingeD
'a bit much'

 

A PROVEN LEADER

In 2019 I founded Lucid Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company specialising in creating high-quality, digital-first campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands, publications and A-list stars.

I’ve spent my career creating scroll-stopping content that captivates and cuts through the noise.

CALM IN CHAOS

After successfully running my own production company in one of the most competitive & challenging markets in the world, I’m capable of operating at a very high level and thrive under pressure. I stay calm and solutions-focused in complex and high-pressure situations, guiding teams through shifting priorities & competing client demands.

 

directing creatively

I think big, move fast and always ask: “Why not?”

 

I understand how to craft a distinct voice and visual identity that resonates across platforms and speaks directly to the audience.

I bring a strategic mindset to my creative direction. When the creative comes from someone who actually runs the shoot and oversees the budget, we hit the brief and the numbers the first time, not after compromise.

Experience without ego

Running my own company taught me how to take true accountability, from creative decisions through to financial outcomes. But I don’t need to be in charge. I just want to do great work with nice people.

From budgets to creative approvals to final delivery, I am comfortable taking full responsibility for the entire pipeline and am at ease working with founders, clients and C-Suite execs.

I can lead shoots, solve production challenges, supervise edits, manage budgets, oversee freelancers and maintain deadlines, all while being the person people come to for advice, a laugh or a hug.

I bring founder-level accountability without the need for hierarchy or control. In fact, I thrive in collaboration with others. After many years doing things on my own, I’ve realised that my best contributions are made within a close-knit team.

 

I DON’T NEED TO BE IN CHARGE

BUT I CAN IF YOU LIKE

 

HANDS ON EXPERIENCE

Despite my portfolio’s glossy and polished exterior, I always get my hands dirty. I am no stranger to shooting and editing myself and have practical experience in all aspects of content creation. Lighting, filming, styling, set design, sound recording, editing, colour grading… The list goes on.

Add to that web design, unique and stunning email newsletters, killer pitch decks… I’ve spent years doing it all myself.

dream teams

One of my biggest strengths is assembling the right team for each project, ensuring everyone is empowered to do their best work while operating under one unified creative vision.

Being the founder of my own production company has given me a deep appreciation for how to hire, lead, collaborate with and get the best from all kinds of creative partners.

I have extensive experience hiring, overseeing and communicating effectively with a wide range of multi-disciplinary creatives. I understand how to communicate a client’s brief to internal and external crew, and I give insightful, actionable feedback to creatives of various professions - each with different workflows and their own creative language.

In other words, I have a talent for talent.

leading with humility

One of my biggest motivators is being the best manager and team leader I can possibly be.

I have learned from experience that empathy, honesty and humility are powerful tools to bring people together and get the best out of everyone, both in the workplace and in life. I am passionate about mentoring internal and external teams with care, kindness and empathy, and I believe the role of any leader is to be of service to the team. I’m also very passionate about incorporating mindfulness, psychology, honesty and vulnerability in my approach to collaboration and leadership.

Whether I’m managing direct reports or external contractors, every action, conversation or email is designed to empower every person on the team to do their best work while being their best self.

I’ve found that guiding, mentoring and championing the people who work with me has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career so far.

“Luke has been a coach, advisor, and mentor to‬ me in ways that I would be lost without. On my way to LA for that first trip, I was unsure if I wanted‬ to do this for a living, and when I left, I had an overwhelming realization that I want to be a producer.
His way of‬ working with me was different to any other producer I have worked with, either before or since. He goes out of his way to give his time, respect and kindness to the‬ people who work for him in the same way as he does for his major clients and A-list celebrities.”
— Joe Billhimer, Senior Producer
“Working for Luke, I feel both empowered individually and connected to the team and its shared goals. He has a way of pushing the group toward a goal without waving around a badge of power — I always feel respected and part of something bigger than myself. He communicates clearly and effectively yet always with compassion and care... This is a rare trait in the cut-throat world of commercial production in LA.”
— Kinsey Ball, Photographer
 

TIKTOK case studY

NET-A-PORTER “IN THE WILD” CAMPAIGN

THE BRIEF

A regular client of mine for many years, Net-a-Porter wanted to bring its Spring/Summer 25 campaign into the social space in a way that felt authentic, shareable, and native to TikTok. The goal was to move beyond traditional editorial assets and create organic-feeling content that would resonate with new audiences while still reflecting the brand’s luxury positioning.

my proposed moodboard:

Original moodboard

my approach

I developed a suite of concepts designed to place the campaign imagery “in the wild,” weaving Net-a-Porter’s products and visuals into everyday city environments. Shot natively on iPhone, the creative leaned into TikTok’s lo-fi, authentic aesthetic while remaining stylish and aspirational. Concepts ranged from playful jump cuts and billboard transitions to influencer-style, single-take street scenes.

My approach balanced creativity with efficiency: designing a system that produced multiple short-form assets from each shot. By combining these ideas with agile production, clever VFX and dynamic edits, we maximised value for money while creating content perfect for TikTok.

THE RESULT?

MILLIONS OF ORGANIC VIEWS

The campaign generated millions of impressions across TikTok, with one video alone achieving over 5.3 million views. The lo-fi yet polished execution proved highly effective at extending Net-a-Porter’s brand identity into TikTok’s culture, creating content that felt both organic and luxurious.

 
 

something i wish i made…

This video by the founder of Patreon is not only visually captivating, fun and designed to cut through the noise, it also communicates a very powerful idea that gets to the heart of what’s going on in our culture.

While I’ve made a career out of creating digital-first content designed for social media platforms, I’m also fascinated by how these platforms and their algorithm’s impact our society and individual lives in negative ways.

I believe there is a shift in the culture under way, which we can already see in the demand for lo-fi, “organic” and user-generated content - people are beginning to revolt against targeted advertising and the algorithms that enable it.

Here, Patreon is tapping into the younger generations’ frustration with algorithmic feeds, AI slop and targeted advertising by offering an alternative platform with a different ethos, vibe and user experience.

With a fast pace and constantly changing, visually interesting and slightly weird settings, they’ve deliberately created a video makes it hard for people to scroll past without paying attention.

BONUS POINTS

 

  • BLINDSPOT, a short film that I wrote, produced and directed premiered at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and was a semi-finalist at Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival and the Australian Independent Film Festival.

    Every element of this film was hand-crafted by me from scratch. It’s an example of my creative drive, narrative instincts and commitment to creative excellence.

    Click here to find out more

  • Like all other aspects of production, I have hands-on experience recording A+ audio and overcoming the obstacles that can make good audio hard to capture.

  • I’ve learnt from the best (and some of the worst).

    Before I gained experience as a creative lead, I was the hands-on producer working for big brands, agencies and countless creative directors. While I’ve been lucky to work with some of the industry’s finest creative minds, I’ve also learnt from what NOT to do. I have countless stories of myself and other crew covering up or compensating for unclear, mediocre and sometimes downright awful creative direction from ad agencies.

    As a producer who has worked downstream of the decision-making at these agencies, I have A LOT to say about how they can be improved. Invite me for an interview and I can tell you more.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING…

CLICK ON THE ITEMS BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE

  • Don’t be put off by the amount of high-end, traditional advertising projects in my portfolio.

    I understand that today’s industry, the marketing landscape in Australia and KBD’s specialties centre around digital-first, lo-fi content that fits natively within social media apps and does not feel like traditional advertising. While my portfolio consists mainly of large-scale ad campaigns, the majority of these campaigns have in fact been digital-first content, often created exclusively for social media platforms.

    My TikTok case study above demonstrates that the same high-end luxury brands that came to me for traditional advertising also came to me to create their lo-fi, TikTok-oriented content that ended up generating millions of organic views.

    I invite you to view my body of work through the lens of what’s possible when the same level of craft, visual impact and powerful storytelling in my high-end campaigns is applied to the work KBD is already doing so well.

  • Having started my career as a social media manager, I have always used platform analytics to guide creative decisions and optimise performance. Before starting my career in content production, I was a freelance social media manager for individuals and small businesses in LA. This was back in the day when “social media manager” was a new term and we were all making it up as we went.

    This period as a scrappy, self-starter hustling to provide results to my clients gave me an in-depth understanding not only of how to work with social media algorithms but also of the client-agency dynamic in digital marketing.

    I know how to shape content that lands with audiences, supports brand goals and drives the outcomes clients are paying for.

  • My brain thinks in terms of systems and processes, and I love combining human creativity with systems- oriented thinking. I’ve built custom frameworks and systems from scratch, strategizing from the top- down while building from the ground up. I think of myself as a system optimizer, using a combination of operational understanding and human-centered insight to oversee creative operations from a birds- eye view.

    I thrive on creating & refining production plans and strategy, elevating the craft while ensuring we work smarter, not just harder.

  • Yes, believe it or not!

    Don’t be fooled by the high-end polish. All of the work you see here was created as digital-first content specifically designed to thrive on social media platforms.

    Check out some of my favourite social-first projects below

  • BOSCO

if you’ve made it this far,
thank you for your time

here’s some more SOCIAL-FIRST CONTENT

1.7 MILLION VIEWS ON TWITTER:

let’s talk!

 

contact: 0481 229 014

info@lucidproductions.us