improving for Canadians

The tide is changing to make it easier for Canadian directors to stay and work in Canada, says David McNally, a director with The Players Film Company.

The economy is improving both here and in the States. That means American directors will be staying home to make commercials rather than coming north to find work.

‘American directors got hit with the recession too, so what you were seeing were directors not getting a lot of work there and coming here and getting hired because they were appealing. That’s not going to go away, but you’re getting less and less of that because they’re busy down there again. I think it’s turning around.’

Born in London, Eng., McNally grew up in Montreal from the age of five. He’s been directing commercials for six years, moving from The Directors Film Company to Players last year. The early ’90s were difficult for everybody, but things were markedly better this year, says McNally.

Although he’s represented by a production house in Miami, very little of his work originates from the u.s. This year’s assignments include a couple of spots out of Chicago and a Halls throat lozenges commercial out of jwt in Mexico.

Work from the u.s. is great when you can get it, and it’s smart to market yourself outside of Canada in case the recession takes a turn for the worse, says McNally. But in his experience, marketing yourself south of the border can be a frustrating process.

‘Unless you’re there, you’re not really going to get a lot of priority. To make a name for yourself, you basically have to move there. I’d do that if I had to, but if things continue the way they’re going, I can build on that and stay.’

While personally optimistic, McNally is concerned that the dearth of work in the early ’90s dried up the pool of young directing talent.

‘I think it’s still tough, for new people certainly. It’s probably harder now than ever to get an opportunity for them,’ he says.

Perhaps encouraging more American production companies to film their spots in Canada could put more money in the system, he suggests.

According to McNally, although feature film companies have seen fit to come shoot up here in droves because of the value of the American dollar, commercial production companies come much less frequently.

‘I’ve run up against some agencies that say they did do some work in Toronto back in the early ’80s, but they didn’t really feel they got the quality they were looking for. Now we’re fighting a bit of an uphill battle to convince them we really have the quality and the price they’re looking for.’

As for the doom-and-gloom prediction that advertising as we know it won’t exist in five years, McNally is confident that his craft won’t soon go out of style.

‘My outlook’s really positive. I think the changes to the way we do advertising will happen very slowly, and regardless of how it changes there will always be a role for the people that make films.’