This week, we are featuring a customer who is the owner of a specialty camera movement company and has worked with some of the largest brand names around. He's found huge success and we are extremely excited to introduce, Jordan Overman and his business Override Films. We were lucky enough to dig into Jordan's story and how he got to where he is now. So let's get started!
1. What does OVERRIDE Do?
OVERRIDE is a specialty camera movement company. We utilize drones, arm cars, gimbals, cinema robots and cranes to film commercials, tv shows and movies. Over the last 13 years we have been really fortunate to work in all 50 states and in more than 20 countries for some of the world’s biggest brands and networks.
2. What inspired you to start a career in video production?
Back in Junior High my friends and I were really into skating and freestyle skiing. We borrowed my parent's mini-DV tape camera to start making skate and ski videos. I quickly became obsessed with filming and editing, saved up to buy my own camera, and just stuck with it. When I got out of high school I started getting some opportunities to shoot weddings, real estate videos, and smaller promo videos, and it continued snowballing from there.
The inspiration was the same then as it is now: There’s just something special about making a piece of art with your friends that can live forever on film. I have also always loved the tech side of the industry. I love seeing how we can utilize the latest film tools to capture unique shots and tell stories in new ways.
3. Who was your first most significant client and how did you land the job?
I feel like there were a handful of key stepping-stone moments in my career when someone was really going out on a limb to give me an opportunity that I was under-qualified for. I’m so grateful for those people that believed I could do the job.
One such project was back in 2013 when we were asked to produce an entire Mitsubishi commercial for an international client. I didn’t do anything special to land the job, I just happened to know the right person who wanted to bring the project to Utah. When we finally got the green light to move forward, I couldn’t believe it. I felt so underqualified to take on this massive production. Fortunately, we rounded up an amazing group of really talented people to fill all the roles we needed.
My friend Jeremy Prusso was key in finding a lot of those people. Because of them, the project worked out quite well, the commercial was awesome, and it was a real milestone in our evolution as a company and for me personally. I was also so proud that a bunch of friends from our Utah Film community rallied together to make that piece a success.
4. Which film has been your favorite to work on so far?
It was a pretty special experience to work on Kevin Costner’s upcoming movie, “Horizon: An American Saga”. It was awesome chasing him in the arm car while he was riding a horse as a lead actor in the show, as well as working with him while he was directing the scenes, -which he also did while riding a horse! He gave us some personal accolades for our work that we will never forget.
The RAM TRX Truck Launch Film was also a really fun project to be a part of... I could go on, so many fun projects with wonderful people, grateful for all of them for one reason or another.
5. What's been the most difficult part of working in film?
There are two main challenges I feel everyone faces if they’re trying to build a company in the film industry. First, finding the right people. If you’re looking to work with or hire someone, you have to look beyond their skillset and ability to do a particular job and put a lot more focus and research into their character, their attitude, their mindset, how they handle problems, how they treat other people... Skills can be learned, good character cannot.
The second is finding your sweet spot. Your sweet spot is that key point where your talents, your interests, and great opportunities intersect. The sooner you can get laser-focused on what you love and what you’re good at, the sooner you’ll be able to start saying “yes” to the right opportunities, instead of all of them. I wish I had become more focused on my strengths and greatest interests in the industry sooner.
6. What's been your favorite piece of equipment that you've purchased from Pictureline?
By far, the best gear we have purchased from Pictureline are our DJI Inspire 3’s. Drones are the lifeblood of our company, and we have owned/built dozens and dozens of drones over the last 13+ years, but the Inspire 3 is truly an incredible feat of engineering, the best in the fleet, and we use them every week on commercials, shows, and movies all over the world. So grateful that we can buy them locally from Pictureline, as well as get support from Pictureline for the whole DJI ecosystem that we rely on so heavily.
Website: Override.film
Instagram: @OverrideFilms
More about Jordan:
Hello! My name is Jordan Overman, and I’m the founder of OVERRIDE, a Utah-based specialty camera movement company. I began the company back in 2011 with my wife. We have 3 boys together. Most of my time is dedicated to running the business, but when I can love to ski, skate, and travel with my family.