McDonald up for festival

In the director/crossover departmentÉthe Toronto International Film Festival has announced its lineup of Canadian-made feature films in the Perspective Canada showcase. Leading off is director Bruce McDonald’s Dance Me Outside. McDonald, who shoots spots through Stripes, worked with his perennial dop partner Miroslaw Baszak on Dance Me Outside. Baszak is very busy on commercial projects for both Stripes and Partners’, but Stripes is also grooming him for directing work.

In another type of crossover, Partners’ director Greg Sheppard has been bidding a job through Stripes. And the referee shop is now repping Minneapolis house Wilson Griak and three of its director/dops: Steve Griak, Greg Winter and Buck Holzemer. Stripes repping foreigners? This is news. But exec producer John Smythe says they’re still affordable guys because they’re two-functions-for-the-price-of-one and, besides, Minnie is a lot closer than l.a. But then again, Stripes is also repping freelance director/ cameraman Fred Goodich out of l.a.

New York-based director Robert Cohen is now repped in Toronto by Avion Films rather than Dalton Films. The latter is apparently busy and landed nice bits of work from Chrysler, kfc and Scope, recently.

The car shoot features helicopters, explosions and no end of intriguing activity.

Buzz bits

The Steve Chase rumor mill continues churning. Still not clear what his future holds in terms of Canadian representation outside Quebec, but Street hears he was offered a chance to have his own company.

Circle exec producer Tim Turner says buzz that Circle is bidding adieu to Toronto is just nasty talk. Says the shop is very busy, thank you very much, and staying put.

The Street knows

Fess up department: which of you young Canadian directors in the Toronto market is being wooed by a bigger production house? We think we know (and have been looking in the music video neighborhood) but the evidence is not in yetÉ

Street hears ex-Partners’ partner Doug Moshoian’s financial interest in The Directors Film Company (why is Partners’ s-apostrophe but not Directors, anyway?) involved at least one $1 transaction.

And Chaos International has again called on director Larry August for some nifty spots, this time blowing open the promote-a-sale category with wit and innovation. It’s all in a trio of 15s for Apple computers relaying the advantages of the computers while hardly saying a thing about them. Very cute and very funny talent direction and music production (courtesy Harris Cole Wilde) – look for them.