The 49th parallel technically still exists, but in the commercial production industry there is no division between the Canadian and American markets anymore, says director Rob Turner. What’s evolved over the past few years is a North American market where Canadian directors have no choice but to work in the u.s. if they want to make it in this business, he says.

It’s not just that the Canadian market has shrunk to the point where it’s unable to support many directors, or the volume of work available in the States. The reality is that proving yourself in the American market has become the standard in the ad agencies, says Turner.

‘You have to puncture the American market. The agencies look at whether you’re a proven commodity in the States, and they don’t perceive you as being a player unless you prove yourself there. Ironically, I’m able to get more work in Canada because I work in the States.’

A partner in Circle Productions, the Vancouver-born Turner founded the company in the mid-’70s. Back then, your path as a Canadian director was pretty much laid out, he says. It was a structured environment, for the most part insulated from American influences.

In the early ’90s, the recession on both sides of the border marked the end of that way of doing business. There’s no ‘keep it at home’ mentality left to protect Canadian directors. Agencies are doing their own kind of cross-border shopping for the best quality at a better price, and in the end, your work survives on its own merits, says Turner.

‘This myopic thing that’s existed – for the right reasons – in terms of Canadian cultural protectionist mentality, it’s a subtle and tough thing to manage. It’s not exactly fair now, but in the end, you just have to be good.’

That’s not to say there isn’t a bias towards American directors at the agencies, says Turner. The reality is you often have to be twice as good to compete if you’re Canadian.

But he adds that the agencies shouldn’t be blamed for not supporting homegrown directors. They too are being scrutinized by their clients and they need to up the level of their product.

‘You get very intimate with these creative people, and after a while they get used to you, and then it’s just the same old so-and-so and they want a change. They’ve gone out on a feeding frenzy for new blood and it’s created a whole new playing field.’

In the long run, increased competition propels better product and everyone is forced to compete on an international level now. Plus there are benefits for individual directors once they look at the opportunities south of the border, says Turner.

In the end, he says, Canadian directors really have to market themselves outside of Canada, or else there’s no hope.

And while a ‘grass is greener’ thinking among ad agencies here makes Canadian directors appear less attractive at home, the same thinking at u.s. agencies opens up a whole new market down there.

‘There’s a bit of a lag because we haven’t been in it as long as those that live there, but we’ve turned the heat up. We’re not just flirting with a u.s. presence anymore. We’re there.’