Tom O'Donnell

Tupac Martir's Nierka.

A multidisciplinary mash-up of music, dance, lighting and video. The show featured 30 dancers, a live orchestra, Mexican rock band Austin TV, a children's choir, 3000 films and costumes designed by NASA.

Role: Producer

Agency: Jack Morton.

Role: Project Director

Sony's booth at the world's biggest consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany from 2008 - 2011.

60,000ft2, 4000 products and over 300,000 visitors, the space was used to launch many key new products through press conferences and live shows.

Agency: FreeState

Role: Live Producer, Showcaller

GravityLight is an incredible invention that harnesses the energy of a bag of rocks to provide free, safe lighting to off-grid homes.

After years of product development, as part of a long-term partnership with Shell, we launched GravityLight with a 50 night tour to some of Kenya's most remote villages.

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Role: Creative Director

Penfolds wanted a new avenue to communicate with high-net-worth customers. We created a partnership with the Royal Opera House, adding Penfolds to the wine list in all of the theatre's bars and restaurants as well as securing the Royal Box for entertaining key clients.

Penfolds and the Royal Opera House have remarkably similar histories and brand values so to celebrate the launch of this new partnership, and to showcase the 2015 wine collection, we created a special event at Somerset House that examined "Masterery".

A meal was divided into "Acts" as the lighting and atmosphere changed with the meal. For each course wine and food was paired with performances on the themes of 'identity, 'love' and 'obsession' - characteristics that can be found in true mastery. It was the first time the Royal Opera had ever performed outside of the Opera House in full costume. 

The result was a very special evening that will live long in the memory for all who attended.

Some comments from guests can be found here.

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Role: Creative Director and Producer

A private party held at the Hard Rock in Orlando, Florida for 700 Shell staff, customers and stakeholders who were in town attending a major conference.

The party featured a live performance by Duran Duran along with shows from America’s Got Talent finalists.

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Role: Creative Director, Project Director

For the launch of the new Ford Focus the car was completely disassembled and reimagined as an orchestra.

This weird and wonderful selection of instruments toured around the UK with the orchestra itself even performing live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Own agency.

From 2006 to 2013 Tom designed and produced many events for MTV and the MTV Staying Alive Foundation under his own agency label.

Highlights included events at the European Music Awards in Liverpool, Belfast and Frankfurt. Tom was also honoured to be asked to produce MTV legend Bill Roedy's leaving party in 2011.

Own agency.

When up-and-coming design duo Aminika Wilmont won Fashion Fringe, Tom offered to produce their debut London Fashion Week Show for free, hoping the exposure would be mutually beneficial.

The only show to get more column inches in Vogue that week was Vivienne Westwood. Read the Vogue review here, extract below:

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WHAT a difference five months makes. Not to the talents of the design duo behind Aminaka Wilmont - they did, after all, emerge victorious from September's Fashion Fringe contest, instantly winning them the backing of industry high-fliers such as Tom Ford, Christopher Bailey and Natalie Massanet - but to the sheer professionalism and scale on which they found themselves being able to work to produce and showcase their autumn/winter 2008-9 collection, Vector XXY.

Maki Aminaka Lofvander and Marcus Aminaka took inspiration "from the emergence of vector graphics and the cult movie Tron in the Eighties" for their first on-schedule solo offering, our show notes explained, adding: "The cut-to-death design arose from how this enabled computer programmers to create three-dimensional shapes within a two-dimensional environment with unthinkable sharpness and precision."

Uh-oh. But just when we worried a high-brow concept was about to poison our opinion of the collection to come, the lights dimmed, and the show opened with a laser show against the back wall of the catwalk in the BFC tent.

As the first model took to the runway, the laser continued to trace its designs on her, until the lights went up, the laser was cut and the model strode out, the laser-beam path etched onto her uber-mini, sleeveless dress. That certainly caught the imagination of the crowd...

...Following their spring/summer 2008 collection for Fashion Fringe, we were already convinced Aminaka Wilmont was going to be big news and today's show only served to strengthen our suspicions; watch this one run and run.

Own agency.

1000 guests and press were gathered at Old Billingsate to witness the spectacular helicopter reveal of the new Vauxhall Corsa over Tower Bridge in London.

The celebrations continued inside with a concert by brand ambassador Sean Paul.

Agency: Timebased and Jack Morton (joint production)

Role: Lead Producer, Set Designer, Event Designer

For the duration of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Somerset House was home to the Brasil 2016 Olympic Organising Committee.

"Casa Brasil" hosted over 80 events, ranging from business networking meetings to concerts in the courtyard. The Embankment Galleries also hosted an exhibition of Brazilian culture and plans for the Rio 2016 games.

Agency: Innovision

Role: Producer

We offered YouTube stars Tbjzl and Miniminter a break from their daily routine by giving them the chance to play the most popular mobile game of the year. This time for real.

This low budget film became the third best performing YouTube ad of 2016.

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Role: Creative Director

A selection of images from various fashion and beauty events for key L'Oreal brands between 2003 and 2006.

Highlights included product launches for Georgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Viktor & Rolf, Eley Kishimoto for Boots No7, Ralph Lauren and Biotherm.

Agency: Timebased

A selection of work from five years of working with Conde Nast. 

Highlights included the GQ Men of the Year Awards (2001/2/3/4/5/6) and the Glamour Women of the Year Awards (2004/5/6). Other projects included the launch of Easy Living, GQ Style and the Conde Nast Traveller Awards from 2001-2006.

Agency: Timebased

Role: Lead Producer, Set Designer, Event Designer

Björn Borg partnered with MTV for the launch of their "Weapons of Mass Seduction" campaign.

The launch at the Truman Brewery featured a militarily themed fashion show complete with radio controlled helicopters and parachute drops as well as a live performance from recently reformed MKS.

Own agency design and production.

A selection of images from various events for Selfridges in the UK. 

Highlights included building a Helter Skelter in the London store over Christmas 2005, creating a cinema in the car park plus month-long festivals such as Selfridges Brasil 40 Degrees and Bodycraze.

The work also included store launches at Manchester Ardale and Trafford Centre along with the launch party for Future System's landmark Birmingham store and many fashion and beauty events including the brand launch of Love Kylie and Rocawear.

Agency: Timebased

The Air Canada Poutinerie is a wildly successful pop-up restaurant in which we created poutine dishes that celebrated Air Canada destinations.

Winner of Best Food Experience at The Event Awards 2018, the original pop-up in Shoreditch was inspired by Air Canada lounges. We combined real maple interiors with stunning, machine tooled details. This modular interior design, graphic design and event format was then rolled across the world - sites in London, Denver and Connecticut are pictured here.

All the proceeds at each pop-up went to a local children’s charity and the London leg raised over £30,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Role: Creative Director, Executive Producer

Photos by Andy Tyler

To celebrate the first year of the new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow Airport, BAA commission a light installation.

Built airside in the middle of the night over several weeks, scores of helium-filled 'baubles' filled the departure lounges offering a calming and beautiful alternative to tinsel. 

Own agency.

The Saachi Gallery opening party was one of the most talked about parties of the Naughties.

1000 unexpecting guests were infiltrated by 300 naked models after they had taken part in an installation by artists Spencer Tunick.

Agency: Timebased

Role: Producer

Spinvox was a mobile service that converted your voice to text.

For the global launch of the new brand we created the "Figures of Speech", the guardians of voice.

This creative was rolled out through a series of street stunts in cities all over the world as well as exhibition stands at CTIA in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Agency: FreeState

Role: Producer

As a reward to their customers, Sky created Sky Backstage at The O2 - a permanent 5m brand experience.

All that is required to enter is a Sky subscription and you and your friends can enjoy some backstage privileges. The 'gallery' area is used as an entrance point and is regularly changed to showcase new Sky product offerings.

Upstairs, Sky Backstage is a fully functioning bar and restaurant for 750 people. The bar also contains a few treats - a make-up area, a video karaoke booth, an interactive pool table and some specifically commissioned interactive art - fun for all the family. 

Agency: RPM

Role: Project Director

A series of tv commercials beamed live on national television and local recruitment events in nine Uk city centres from the front line in Afghanistan.

Role: Producer

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Virgin Megastores hosted the Kerrang! Day of Rock.

The event featured five live performances in the basement and an exclusive after party on the roof of their Oxford Street store with a DJ set from Noel Fielding. Oh, and loads of Jagermeister.

Own agency.

Tom started his career working in film art departments, eventually becoming Art Director for many music videos and commercials.

In his first feature film role Tom worked under designer Eve Mavrakis on 'Tube Tales' - a tale of ten short films about the London Underground by Directors Bob Hoskins, Ewan McGregor,  Amy Jenkins, Gaby Dellal, Stephen Hopkins, Jude Law, Charles McDougall and Armando Iannucci.

Later credits include videos for Elbow and Nick Cave as well as late nineties greats Westlife, Shania Twain and Steps. Tom was also the Graphic Designer for Gurinder Chadha's 'Bend It Like Beckham'.