Christopher O'Brien

About me:

TAPPED MOVIE TRAILER My journey into filmmaking has taken a twisted path. As a child, movies were very important to me. Early on, films like "Superman I and II", and Tim Burton’s "Batman" triggered my imagination and helped me escape from the harsh realities of school. I wasn't a big fan of academics and zoned off into my own world.

In 1996 I took it upon myself to apply for a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Considering that I never took my SAT's this was to some, a stupid move. However, I found out that it was largely based on your video demo. Over the last few months of my senior year in high school, I created a demo that was totally insane. After a long waiting period and tons of a self-doubt I got the call that I had won a $27,000 full scholarship to attend the school majoring in Video Production.

After only a few months of attending classes I quickly realized that going to the Art Institute was a huge mistake for me. I have never in my life been exposed to more failed artists. They were called "Instructors." So I took a chance and walked away from a free education. It ended up being the best thing I ever did!

My first true love was radio. As I was going thru high school and only just toying with the idea of really being a film director, I was starting to gain more traction in radio. That portion of my life began in 1990, when of all people my grandmother introduced me to talk radio. After getting hooked I decided to call in and get on the air. I realized the more educated I sounded the longer they would keep me on the air. So after a few weeks of that, to my surprise, they offered me my first job. I was the WCAU-AM "Youth Advisor." It would be my duty to call in with updates, and prepare reports. At that time I had family in Hartford, CT, and we drove up to visit them. WCAU was a 50,000 watt AM radio station, which meant that at night it was heard in 38 states and Canada. So when they were running a repeat of my report on the Frank Rizzo show, I could hear myself from far away. That had a major impact on me. So when WCAU changed formats that summer I was not going to stop pursuing my new love.

At about the same time all the kids in school were talking about this new radio station in Philadelphia. Q102 as it was called, was taking the city by storm. It was cool to be a fan of it, and one night I decided to turn it on and see what the buzz was all about. It was about midnight, and it was a school night, so I was hiding under the covers. My Mom would have been mad if she knew I was listening to the radio instead of sleeping. What I heard that night was magical, and would have a profound effect on my career. It was 12 midnight, and I heard what they call in the business, a legal ID. It was so powerful, and cutting edge, that in the back of my mind, I wanted to be the puppet master of such a thing. I had no idea who or what that was, but I would soon find out.

Some time passed and I got my first radio opportunity in a tiny southern New Jersey City, Wildwood. By that time I was 14 years old. I worked for radio stations Fun 98.7 and 106.7 WJNN. I was brought in to be a talk show host. I had done my demo tape by convincing a weather man at the local TV station in Philly, KYW 3 that I was a for real host and that he should let me interview him. He agreed, and the people at the station believed I was real. However when I got there the station was in total disarray. The staff left to go to another station and the owner was not going to let a 14 year old kid he knew nothing about go on the air. Imagine my surprise when I come in to do my first show, and he thinks I'm there to pick up concert tickets. After begging and begging, they let me do something called Production. I would basically produce radio commercials. I was not happy because I wanted to be on the air, but as I was producing my first commercial, I found a calling. I had this natural ability to just put these things together. People would think NY companies did the stuff I was creating. It was then that I stopped wanting to be on the air, and began truly focusing on radio production.

After two summers at the Jersey Shore, I moved up to an assistant position at WIOQ Philadelphia, known more by its nickname Q102. I was truly blessed to be working at such an amazing place and I was being groomed by one of the most amazing producers of the time, David Jay.

After I had out grown my assistant role at Q, I got my first real job, as a producer for a start up agency SoundByte Digital Audio Productions. It was here that I really got to show my stuff, and produced commercials for places all around the nation. However I was really missing the energy of radio stations. So I made a demo tape and sent it out. Several radio stations got back to me including WNEW in New York, and a smaller one in Trenton, New Jersey, WPST. I interviewed with PST and the Program Director told me I was not ready for the big time yet. I'm glad I didn't agree with him LOL! Only 4 weeks later I was hired by the one of the most famous Rock Radio stations in America, 94 WYSP. To date that Program Director who told me I wasn't ready for the "Big Time" is still in that tiny market.

I was now 20 years old and the Creative Director for WYSP. Before I knew it, I was producing for radio stations all over the place from Philly. Eventually, Howard Stern’s agent, Don Buchwald, signed me. Jut like that, I was producing two radio stations in Rochester, NY and was hired by the number one station in Philadelphia, KYW News Radio, to produce the "Soundtrack of the Century."

After several years, I decided was time for a move and I was hired to help launch XM Satellite Radio in Washington, DC. I got to move from home and go to a crazy city. It was March of 2001 when I left. XM was really boring, they had hired a bunch of hacks, and I was being forced to work way below my potential. Then it was September 11th, 2001. I watched the Pentagon explode as it happened. My apartment was right across the street from the building. What I saw that day really changed all of my political views. However that's a story for another day.

After XM, I was lured back to Philly by to work at Mix 95.7 again as Creative Director. After Mix flipped format I went out on my own and currently produce several radio stations including KBIG Los Angeles, and Snap 941 in Memphis, TN.

After leaving the Art Institute and continuing with my radio career I finally got the urge to mess around with video again. A show I co-developed, airing nationally, on XM Satellite Radio was getting bigger and we decided to create a television pilot for MTV. So in 2003 I picked up my camera and learned how to use digital video.

Around the same time, I was approached to develop a new Reality Television star. Her name was Jennifer Grinspan. She had seen my work and heard that I had developed a few other people. However, it took a ton of work from her to get me into Reality TV. If I don't believe in a project I can't do it.

Well, finally Jen convinced me. Our first project was to create her audition video for NBC's hit TV series, "The Apprentice." I had never done a video audition tape before and I decided to make it look and feel like an episode of MTV's "The Real World." The night we filmed I nearly killed Jen. She kept asking me why I was laying on the ground, shooting and standing on top of trashcans, but she changed her mind after she saw the footage. That video went on to secure Jen a interview in New York with the producers. She didn't nail that one, but we were not going to stop.

I had heard that one of my favorite people in the business world, Sir Richard Branson, was creating his own show for the Fox Network. This time we approached the process in a very different way, and she was cast in the show! That story will be the topic of a book Jen and I have promised to write in the future.

Since her run on Fox's "The Rebel Billionaire," Jen has appeared on numerous TV stations, and is now a Marketing Director.



*** UPDATED ABOUT ME ***



In 2006 I co-wrote, Directed, Produced and Shot my first feature film "Tapped." It was one of the most difficult and challenging projects I've ever done. It debuted June 2008 at a for real Drive-In Movie theater. We debuted with Kung Fu Panda, Indiana Jones, and us in a triple bill on the 75 Anniversary of Drive-In Movie Theaters around the world. The movie performed so well that they ran it all weekend long. Currently several Los Angeles based distribution companies and agents are reviewing "Tapped" for National and International Distribution. It took two years or my life, but in the end it brought me an amazing amount of credibility in the film industry.

In the summer of 2008 I began to write my next screenplay. It's the most emotional work I think I've ever focused on. I drew on many of my experiences and crafted a story about falling for a person who is emotionally broken and unable to escape the demons of the past. How sins others committed sometimes get placed on you, and how love in these cases isn't real but an illusion. It should be the next film out of the gate, unless the backers decide that Romantic Drama isn't what the market needs currently. So I'll let you know.

This fall of 2008 has brought me a ton of great things both personally and business wise. Seeds that were planted for years are now finally growing and on top of that I'm getting ready to launch my first TV Show in February. (More On That Soon - A Clue - Attention Deficit Disorder)

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