Domestic dispute

Foreign director or domestic for your Canadian shoot?

The recent history of the Canadian commercial production industry has been saturated by the debate over the reasons and rationale behind domestic agency decisions to hire ‘from away’. We’ve heard the arguments against importing time and again: ‘they’ cost more; ‘they’ don’t take part much in pre-pro and sometimes fly away again before editing or fine cuts are done; ‘they’ brought no more to the job than a local could have done; ‘they’ just got the job because it upped the comfort factor for an imported creative director.

So, instead of just reporting these laments unanswered, we took it to Canadian agency creatives. How can Canadian production houses get a better shot at landing those boards? Where do they fall short and how could they do better? And their responses are a must-read, with several little gems worth highlighting.

From Rick Davis at Young and Rubicam, Toronto: ‘(T)o all you Canadian directors, I say tell your bosses to quit gushing over all the American directors they represent.’

From Don Veinish, JWT Vancouver: ‘(T)oo few directors – from anywhere – really love advertising. Too many would rather be doing a series or a feature….You hire these people and they act like they’re doing you a favor.’

From Rene-Michel Vachon of BCP Strategie Creativite, Montreal, on the relationship with the client: ‘The director must be capable of living in the real advertising world. A commercial is not a film. The director must be able to have a dialogue with clients who often have more marketing experience than audio-visual experience.’

From Kurt Hagan of DDB Needham Worldwide, Toronto: ‘Here’s a sobering thought for all production houses: every shoot is a commercial for your next job’; and, ‘While we…tend to avoid the gratuitous use of imports, I can understand how some creative directors, just stopping over in Canada en route to some flashier outpost…might find it inconvenient to get to know the local talent.’

From Marlene Hore, BCP Toronto: ‘Nationality is not the issue. Talent and trust are….The Canadian production industry is certainly world-class….However, they must be willing to fight for jobs, win them with their talent and convince creative teams that their commercial will be better for having used them to direct than having used anyone else.’

And finally, to the pithy Brian Harrod, from Harrod and Mirlin, Toronto: ‘Is the director a pain-in-the-arse to work with? If so, does his or her talent warrant the pain?’

For the final word, to y&r’s Troy McClure, as quoted by boss Rick Davis: ‘There’d be no better glamour,’ she says, ‘than a trip to the podium in Cannes with a great idea that’s been brilliantly shot by a Canadian director.’