Matt O'Leary
Copywriter · also credited as Cai O'Leary, Writer & Director
Twenty-plus years directing and writing for film — now writing for brands. It turns out the two jobs use the same muscle: figure out the one true thing, and say it as few times as possible.
Fracas — Robert Piguet
Concept, copy, and photography for a fragrance that's needed no reintroduction since 1948. Credited as Cai O'Leary.
“The Queen of Tuberose needs no comeback.”
Ross Dress for Less — “Steal the Show”
A wedding-dress heist played for pure slapstick relief — chased through the reception, out the doors, and straight into the pool.
“SUPER: Ross Dress For Less. Prices so good, you won't have to steal one.”
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INT. WEDDING VENUE — HALLWAY — DAY. A WOMAN (30s), gorgeous in a wedding dress and veil, sprints full-tilt down an ornate hallway — huge smile, laughing, veil streaming behind her.
MUSIC: Big, triumphant pop track kicks in hard.
(no dialogue)
INT. VENUE — DINING HALL — CONTINUOUS. She weaves between round tables set for the reception. Guests turn to watch, half-delighted, half-confused. She snags a glass of champagne off a table without breaking stride, downs it, keeps running.
MUSIC: Continues, building.
She hits a pair of huge double doors at a dead sprint and bursts through them into golden, glittering daylight — a stunning outdoor reception space, pool shimmering, string lights overhead.
MUSIC: Peaks — a huge triumphant swell.
WHAM. A SECURITY GUARD flies in from off-frame and full-body tackles her mid-stride, sending her airborne — straight into the pool.
MUSIC: Cuts dead.
SFX: Hard splash.
Silence. Water settles. WIDE on the double doors: standing in them, catching her breath, is the REAL BRIDE — in her underwear, no dress — flanked by two winded BRIDESMAIDS and a GROOMSMAN, all clearly having just sprinted the same route.
(silence — just heavy breathing, distant pool ambience)
The security guard dusts off his hands at the pool's edge, satisfied. Our dress thief surfaces, veil plastered to her face, and gives the camera a small, sheepish shrug.
(no dialogue — let it land)
SUPER: ROSS DRESS FOR LESS
Prices so good, you won't have to steal one.
MUSIC: One comedic stinger note.
Patagonia — “Doorstep”
A quieter register — surf, trail, and a life built around what's five minutes from home.
“We started here in '73. Never found a reason to leave.”
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OPEN ON: BLACK.
SFX: A screen door creaking open.
EXT. VENTURA HOUSE — DAWN. A wetsuit hangs dripping on the porch rail. MAN 1 steps out, board under his arm.
VO: “Some companies have a dress code.”
B-ROLL INSERT — VENTURA — DAWN. Quick cutaway: the “VENTURA” hillside sign, or the pier sign, first light. (1–2 sec)
(no dialogue)
EXT. VENTURA POINT — DAWN. MAN 1 paddles out. Pier, oil rigs, Channel Islands through the mist. WOMAN runs past along the point path, same frame.
VO: “We have a surf report.”
EXT. FOOTHILLS TRAIL — MORNING. WOMAN heads up into the foothills. Trailhead at the end of her street.
VO: “The trail's not a break from the work.”
EXT. RIDGELINE — MORNING. She crests the hill. MAN 2 (hiker) is already there, pack down, taking in the view. Below: ocean, town, pier — one line, mountain to sea.
VO: “It's the whole point.”
EXT. VENTURA POINT — SUNSET. MAN 1 walks back up the beach, board under arm. He passes WOMAN near the point, back from her run. A nod.
VO: “We started here in '73.”
EXT. BEACH — DUSK. Day's over. The three of them together on the beach, both dogs with them — settled, unhurried. No dialogue, just waves, dusk light, the dogs running loose.
VO: “Never found a reason to leave.”
SUPER: a playground on your doorstep. / PATAGONIA
MUSIC: Fades out.
OMRA — “Made to Move”
OMRA is a fitness app I co-founded and built the marketing for from the ground up. This spot was filmed with no dialogue; the voiceover was written after the fact and fitted to the existing edit.
“Our bodies were made to move. Not to perform. Not to prove anything. Move at your pace.”
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Man (80s) working out alongside his daughter in the living room; a woman lunging gently, Annora leading the session on the TV behind her.
VO: “Our bodies were made to move.”
Man (40s) holding a plank; a couple doing squats together in their summerhouse.
VO: “Not to perform. Not to prove anything.”
Man (40s), faster pace now, running side to side.
(no VO — let the energy carry it)
Close-up on the father and daughter's footwork.
VO: “OMRA is for the ones getting back up —”
Woman (40s), headphones in, smiling, outdoors.
VO: “after an injury, after a diagnosis, after years of being told to wait.”
Woman (30s) with cerebral palsy, in her living room, moving through her own stretch.
(VO continues)
Man (40s) stretching overhead; father and daughter holding a squat, smiling at each other.
VO: “Move at your pace.”
The woman from 1–2, in a wide-leg stretch; the woman (40s) walking in the park, headphones in.
VO: “Breathe at your pace.”
Man's (40s) overhead tricep stretch; the woman from 1–2, stretching.
(no VO — settling down)
Woman (40s), meditating by the pond, eyes closed.
VO: “This is what moving forward actually looks like.”
The woman from 1–2, breathwork, eyes closed.
(silence, hold on the breath)
SUPER: OMRA. Made to move.
(silence continues)
Ormonde Jayne — “The Library Collection”
A fictional flagship launch built around Ormonde Jayne's real packaging mechanic — a bottle that opens like a book.
“Every collection keeps one secret.”
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WIDE. INT. GRAND LIBRARY — DAY. A vast, old wood-panelled library — soaring shelves, rolling ladders, dust motes hanging in shafts of window light. Readers scattered at long tables.
(no VO — let the room breathe)
MUSIC: Solo strings enter, hushed.
She enters. Heads lift from books as she passes, one by one, down the length of the room. Elegant, unhurried.
VO: “Say nothing. Some things speak for themselves.”
A young man, distracted, nearly fumbles the book he's reaching for. The LIBRARIAN, without looking up from her desk, fixes him with a look. He straightens.
(no VO — let the joke land)
She reaches the base of a wide, curling staircase and begins to climb.
(no VO)
MUSIC: Begins to build.
At the top: one towering bookcase. One volume catches the light differently from the rest.
(no VO — rising)
She draws it from the shelf — a slim, cloth-bound volume. She slides it open like a book, its case parting at the spine: ORMONDE JAYNE — ROYAL ELIXIR, dressed as one more volume on the shelf.
VO: “Every collection keeps one secret.”
MUSIC: Swells.
She opens it fully. Nestled inside: the bottle itself — Royal Elixir, glass catching the light.
(no VO — let it land)
CUT TO: the full Library Collection, bottles arranged like a shelf of volumes, Royal Elixir at the front, lit like the room around it.
VO: “The Library Collection. Ormonde Jayne.”
MUSIC: Full — crescendo.
SUPER: ORMONDE JAYNE — THE LIBRARY COLLECTION
MUSIC: Resolves to a single, soft note — then fades.
Blue Bottle Coffee
Territory: reclaiming the artisan ground Blue Bottle founded — before the high street did.
Concept & copy, spec — unsolicited, not affiliated with or endorsed by Blue Bottle Coffee.
Basecamp Fitness
Real member marketing, written and sent as Fitness Manager at Basecamp Pasadena.
You don't need more motivation. You need six weeks where showing up stops being a decision.
Here's the truth: most people don't quit because the workouts are too hard. They quit before they ever start — because “someday” is a lot easier to imagine than a Tuesday morning in August. And by the time fall rolls around, so has another year of “next time.”
That's the whole idea behind our 6-Week Challenge, starting August 1st. Three or four sessions a week, 35 minutes each, strength and cardio in the same class. Nothing complicated — just enough structure that you actually finish what you start.
Here's what nobody puts on the flyer: by week 2, it's not a chore anymore, it's just Tuesday. By week 4, you know the names of the people next to you, and they've noticed the one day you skipped. By week 6, you've built more than a habit — your clothes fit differently, your energy's different, and so is the version of you that finishes things.
It costs $30. Less than one personal training session, for six weeks that can change how the rest of your year goes. And it only asks for 35 minutes at a time — you already have that.
You'll also walk away with a free Basecamp water bottle. Nice bonus. The real prize is everything you'll have built without noticing you were building it.
Spots for the August 1st challenge are limited. If you've been waiting for a sign, this is it — sign up at the front desk or online.
Not every win happens in the gym.
Some of the best things you can do for your body and your head take zero equipment and cost nothing: a walk around the block with the dog, twenty minutes outside before the day gets away from you, a slow loop with your partner where the only goal is to talk about something other than work. Out here, that could mean fresh air on a mountain trail, or a walk along the water — take your pick.
We spend a lot of time telling you to show up for class. This is us telling you to show up for the rest of it too — the walk after dinner, the Saturday morning hike, the five minutes outside between meetings. Movement doesn't stop mattering when you leave the gym. If anything, it's where all the training actually pays off — in a life you have the energy to be present in.
So today, do one simple thing: go for a walk. Bring the dog. Bring your person. Bring nobody and just think. All of it counts.