We have a Production Company!

Three weeks out from principal photography, I can finally say it: Lester Platt is the Director of Photography on Odie.

That sentence felt a long way off two weeks ago. Finding the right DP for a micro-budget feature is one of those problems that looks straightforward until you're actually inside it. You need someone who can move fast, read a location in thirty seconds, make decisions under pressure, and still care about every frame. You need someone whose visual instincts line up with the story you're trying to tell. And if you're working at this budget level, you need someone who believes in what you're making enough to show up for the right reasons.

Lester is all of that.

He's the founder and CEO of STLL Studios, an Austin-based production house he's been building for over 14 years. His commercial work has taken him from global brands in New York to some of the most interesting production happening in Texas right now. He was a SXSW 2026 mentor. He teaches cinematography. He's been quietly and deliberately moving toward narrative work for a while, and Odie is where that pivot lands.

What he's bringing to the film matters too. The camera package alone would have been reason enough to take the meeting: an ARRI Alexa Mini, a RED Komodo 6K, a DJI Ronin 4D, and a full set of Tokina Cine Zooms. For a film that lives on the street and follows a man across Austin in a single day, having that much flexibility in the package means we can put the camera exactly where the story needs it to be, every time.

https://stllstudios.com/

But beyond the gear, STLL Studios is joining Odie as a production partner. That's not a small thing. It means this film has more behind it than a locked script and a determined director. It means we're building something together.

We shoot May 18.

We're ready.

— Nick Barr, Writer/Director