LIVIN’ LARGE
Toronto businessman recounts lessons learned from working with Matthew McConaughey on launch of clothing line
Running a business with Matthew McConaughey comes with a few unwritten, superstar-specific rules.
Toronto-based businessman Jeff Otis and his Canadian company Grand National Apparel have partnered with McConaughey for the launch of a new North American clothing line.
For the past three years — and through five Hollywood movies and one acclaimed HBO series — Otis has worked with McConaughey to build the sportswear clothing brand, Just Keep Livin, which was derived from the star’s philosophy and active lifestyle.
Working with one of the most highprofile actors in the world has given Otis, a 63-year-old Toronto businessman, a rare insight into the cloistered film industry.
“What I’ve garnered through this is how hard he (McConaughey) actually works when he is filming; he wants nothing to compromise or distract him,” Otis said.
“It’s been a bit of an education for me. It’s pretty intense when he’s working on a movie and in character.”
Otis quickly learned that working with a mega-celebrity changes the ground rules.
If you urgently need to reach McConaughey while he is on set, you email him rather than call to try and avoid breaking his “character zone.”
You accept his email responses may come at crazy hours because he is in Iceland or some other remote location, probably shooting his next blockbuster.
And you politely decline the requests of friends and associates for autographs, photographs and dinner dates with your famous business partner in the interests of professionalism. On Friday, in McConaughey’s hometown of Austin, Texas, Otis will be side by side with the star for a pop-up shop that will feature the sportswear line and accessory collection.
One hundred per cent of the net proceeds will go toward the Just Keep Livin Foundation, which runs after-school fitness and wellness programs in urban high schools.
The pair will also launch the new website and e-commerce store, where the spring 2015 collection will be showcased.
“Just keep livin” is a saying McConaughey claims changed his life and helped him stay true to his ideals after struggling with the death of his father.
Otis described McConaughey as a “philosopher.” The actor keeps a journal where he writes about his views on the world and many of the brand’s printed T-shirts bear “his thinking and his expressions,” Otis said.
Some personal McConaughey slogans include: “Leave it like you found it” and “At home in the world.”
Otis, who is related to a staff member at the Star, first met McConaughey about three years ago, a time when the actor was most known for playing the good-looking hunk in romantic comedies and had been crowned the sexiest man alive by People magazine.
Since their joint business venture began, McConaughey has tackled some complex characters such as a haunted homicide officer in True Detective and a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club, a perfor- mance that won him an Oscar.
During business meetings, Otis said McConaughey’s Hollywood lifestyle was not typically discussed.
“His time is precious — he has a loving family he likes spending time with and in those meetings there is a certain amount of social banter and a few laughs, but generally we don’t get into it,” Otis said.
However, he did let on that in one meeting, he told McConaughey his performance in Dallas Buyers Club was “phenomenal.”
Shortly after the star won his Oscar for best actor in 2013, Otis said he joked with McConaughey: “Hey, Matthew, remember at our first meeting when I asked for an Academy Award? Well, you got it!”
Despite an intense filming schedule over the past three years, McConaughey has been “involved in every aspect” of the business, Otis said.
He holds very specific ideas on apparel and what he wants to associate with, Otis said.
“He doesn’t mince any words. He lets you know.”
“It’s been a bit of an education for me. It’s pretty intense when he’s working on a movie and in character.” JEFF OTIS GRAND NATIONAL APPAREL