Syd Kessler is back in the commercial production business.

About a year after formally bowing out of the industry when he departed the commercial powerhouse Supercorp that he built with John Labatt Ltd., the one-time jingle producer is doing commercials again.

This time, it’s in partnership with Chris Dalton, a veteran of the commercial production scene, whose connection to the business goes back to the 1970s and the high-flying days of Rabko Films.

Along the way, Dalton has also been involved in producing major Hollywood feature films, and has been near or at the top of the commercial business in Canada as a partner in such companies as Dalton Fenske and Friends, MacGuffin Films, Dalton Films and now Dalton/Kessler Productions.

‘Syd called me about a project. I went up (to the Kessler Group’s premises in the north end of Metro Toronto) and I walked into a 21st century company,’ says Dalton of Kessler’s new operation that combines cd-rom and interactive media technology with links to various programming opportunities such as the Canadian Sportfishing Communications Network.

‘I saw office after office of programmers on cd-roms and people talking about, `What if we do this, or do that?’ And there was Syd, letting this garden grow.

‘I became convinced that this is a great opportunity,’ says Dalton. ‘I’m so happy to be plugged into the `what if’ and to the passion and the spirit of Syd and his ability to look beyond Bloor and Yonge. Syd really challenges people to go for it.’

Dalton says his core business will remain the production of commercials. The hookup with Kessler gives him an entree into multimedia advertising.

‘We will be prepared to provide any solution to an ad agency’s needs,’ says Dalton. ‘We will be able to help agencies come up with all sorts of production.’

This is the second time that Dalton and Kessler have talked about doing business together. Kessler and Dalton came close to making a deal about six years ago when Kessler, then head of Supercorp, was looking for a commercial production capability. Dalton at the time was running MacGuffin in Canada.

After their talks failed, Kessler approached Don McLean and overnight became associated with the biggest commercial production company in North American with the purchase of The Partners’ Film Company.

Dalton’s roots in the commercial business go back to the mid-1960s when he found himself running the broadcast production department of a Toronto ad agency owned by the then prominent Canadian adman Gordon Hill.

‘In 1969 I saw Going Down The Road and said, `I can do that,’ ‘ recalls Dalton.

He quit the agency business and went into feature film and tv program production, working as a first and second ad and associate producer on movies at England’s Pinewood Studios for a time and on a variety of Canadian tv shows such as the White Oaks of Jalna series.

Dalton also did some directing and was a line producer on various projects like the Billy Graham Crusade.

In 1978, Dalton got a call from his friend Wayne Fenske, who at the time found himself running a badly wounded Rabko. The dominant commercial production company had just been dealt a major body blow when a group of key directors and dops, led by executive producer McLean, left Rabko to open Partners’.

Fenske asked Dalton to help him rebuild Rabko. Dalton was instrumental in bringing cameraman Ousama Rawi to Canada, who, in turn, became a major influence on commercial lighting here.

In 1981, Fenske and Dalton left Rabko to form their own company, Dalton Fenske and Friends.

Several years later, Dalton Fenske entered a new chapter of growth when Bob Canning came over from TDF Productions.

In between, Dalton kept working on movies. He returned to commercials with MacGuffin in the late 1980s, and then opened Dalton Films in 1989.

Last year his company did $4 million in production.