represents DOPs

In a move that signals a subtle but significant shift in the Canadian production industry, a Toronto woman has established an agent/ management company for directors of photography.

Sesler and Company is run by Dora Sesler, a local production house producer who has taken up the new business full-time, beginning with five dops and one director/cameraman on her roster. The six include Nicholas Allen-Woolfe, Michael Buckley (director/dop), Doug Koch, David Makin, Barry Peterson and Sean Valentini.

Sesler says her service – a combination of agent and business manager – is overdue in Canada: some local Toronto producers say she’s right. As Sesler explains: ‘They (the dops) can concentrate on their craft’ rather than spending their lunch hour on the phone or sending out their reels. ‘Generally, before this, you’d phone the dop, you can’t find himÉ.Now, you don’t need to do that. I’m accessible, I can provide reels, information, scheduling, everything with one call.’

Sesler says she decided to set up the business after two years serving as Peterson’s agent on the one hand and working as a producer on the other. She says her involvement in the process will not add to the cost of a cinematographer; the agent commission will be an expense for the dop.

That will come as good news to the likes of Don McLean of The Partners’ Film Company, who says he hates dealing with some u.s. dop agents because they ‘front-end load’ the cost of service. He says they want compensation for travel days, standby days and even prep days, all of which hikes the dop’s fee considerably.

While certain cinematographers, such as Buckley and James Gardner, have employed agents, Sesler says she believes this is the first time an agency for dops has been set up in Canada.

Sesler and Company is modeled on forerunners in the u.s. where industry estimates suggest the practice is 25 years old. Judy Marks, a dop agent in Los Angeles, says while some u.s. agents make it harder for producers to sign dops, she likes to be ‘transparent in the process’ of lining up shoots. She feels dops ‘should be marketed differently than directors.’

Sesler agrees, noting that while certain types of shoots are more efficient with a director/ cameraman, on others it’s ‘counterproductive to have the roles combined.’

Sesler says she’ll negotiate commercial or long-format jobs for her roster. She says Allen-Woolfe recently wrapped a Ford spot with Damast Gordon and Associates, a Huggies spot with LTB Productions and a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes job with Eggers Films, l.a. Buckley, the ’94 Gold Bessie winner for his anti-smoking spot through Derek Van Lint and Associates, also has feature credits, including Circle/Northwood’s Digger and some films from his native South Africa. Koch also has a history in features and just shot Patricia Rozema’s When Night Is Falling. He also shoots music videos and just finished one spot for Spy Films in Calgary and another for BC Tel Mobility out of Apple Box.

Makin has been busy on a Barenaked Ladies video, following four years of shooting Kids in the Hall for cbc, as well as handling commercials. Peterson is an oft-hired spot director in Canada and the u.s. and just came off a 10-day shoot with Steve Chase for Ameritech. Peterson, like Makin, is bidding on a feature.

Valentini, who shot Molson Canadian’s big ‘I am’ campaign through Imported Artists, also does lots of video clips; recent spots involve Thrifty’s from Stripes and Home Hardware via Partners’. ST