No shortage of cooler talk on both sides of the border as speculation percolates that Steve Chase may have split with his u.s. production house, Fahrenheit Films.

Fahrenheit exec producer Bob Fisher did not return phone calls, but James Davis, executive producer at Jolly Roger, which represents Chase in Canada, confirms there is a problem, but says nothing is set in stone yet. ‘At this point,’ says Davis, ‘I think they’ve agreed on a 30-day chill-out period and will go from there.’

Sources say the tension may stem in part from Chase’s shrinking availability. His European rep, Great Guns, London, handed Chase his first job through them last month, wrapping him up for the first two weeks of January in Cape Town, South Africa, on a spot for Lynx deodorant through Bartle Bogle Hegarty. But that may be a drop in the bucket compared to the time his first feature film will take away from commercial work.

Jolly Roger confirms that New Line Films has signed Chase for his first feature project, scheduled to begin preproduction in the spring. No word on what it’s about, but the budget is in the $30 million range.

The story behind the story

The story behind this year’s first big news – director Stephen Thursby’s return to the agency side of the business after seven years with Derek Van Lint and Associates – paints a dark picture of the spot biz. As of Jan. 2, Thursby returned to DDB Needham Advertising where he worked as associate creative director from 1984-89.

Why he left directing can be summed up in three words, says Thursby: ‘Quality of work.’

‘Over the last couple of years,’ he says, ‘the business has changed so dramatically for the worst – everyone scrambling to get work, cutting each other’s throats to produce mediocre spots at cut-rate prices – and at the end of the day, you have to evaluate what you’ve done. I love filmmaking as much today as I did seven years ago, but it was the end result I was getting worried about. I see it all around me, so many directors in the same position.’

The move back to the agency side has been a long time coming. In fact, last year Thursby, along with two undisclosed partners, almost started their own ‘loosely structured’ association of professionals that would create and produce advertising, but one partner backed out last fall, putting an end to the plan. However, Thursby says the experience rekindled a taste for the creative side of the advertising business in him.

Enter DDB Needham and what Thursby calls a ‘shared creative philosophy’ with Darryl Lindberg, chairman of DDB Needham Group Canada and president/ceo of DDB Needham Advertising.

No word yet on what accounts Thursby will be handling, but he says his directing experience means he brings more to the table this time around, and, when the time is right, he will do some directing for ddb clients.

‘I have one more string in my bow. I don’t look at this as turning left or right but rather moving up another notch,’ he says.

As for highs and lows over the past seven years, Thursby calls the staff at dvla ‘family’ and says his favorite piece of work has been a 5.5-minute psa for the United Way, an emotional piece of work that’s closer to filmmaking than the average spot.

But the cons outweighed the pros, particularly the bend towards hiring American directors. Despite industry speculation to the contrary, Thursby doesn’t believe the trend is waning. ‘Everyone always says it’s getting better and then you hear another example of the same thing. It’s constantly disappointing.’ Quoting tops the things-not-to-be-missed list.

A couple of weeks into the job, he says there’s already a sense of having control over the role he plays in advertising the product.

Despite his disillusionment with directing, and with the quality of advertising out there (‘most of it is dross’), Thursby maintains he’s still enthusiastic about advertising and filmmaking.

The goals are lofty, to raise the creative ‘to a level it was a few years ago. As a creative director now, if it’s bad I only have myself to blame.’

Four men on a scale – not to mention the dog

Post-holiday excess – some of the bigger players at The Partners’ Film Company are participating in a bulking-down competition. Must have been all that candy floss at Partners’ family Christmas party (once again the most popular event of the commercial social calendar, attended by 975 kids who visited Santa while enjoying the best of midway fare and assorted reptile-theme-heavy loot).

For a $10 entry fee (which goes to charity), you can place a bet on the cumulative weight loss of Don, Ross and Tom McLean, Dan Ford and Elvis (their non-volunteer canine calorie-counter). Don McLean matches the winning bet by 10 times the amount (if you guess correctly with 200 pounds, you win $2,000, split for a tie); and if they don’t lose 100 pounds by April 4, the diet-challenged team will match all bets (if you bet $10 you get $20). Sending pizzas or Deluxe Pal would not be cricket.

The Medixact Pro Shape scale tipped in at 1,216 accountant-certified pounds when the four men and a dog (the latter responsible for 111 pounds of the total) weighed in Jan. 5. Do the math, then call Nina Miernecki.

Due to the migratory nature of the biz, another New Year’s resolution from Ross McLean is to publish an update of his commercial sector directory with Linda Dowds. Since the original directory cost McLean $10,000, he’s looking for sponsorship to underwrite the 1996 version.

In production news, the job done by Partners’ on Cybertech p.d., a low-budget actioner for Promark, has resulted in the u.s. company sending another feature script (Last Lives) to Partners’ for consideration of a return production service engagement.

Mitch Gabourie’s services have also been in demand; after his performance in Playback’s Top Spots contest, Gabourie got three job offers, including one from an affiliate company. Gabourie remains gainfully employed at Partners’, most recently helming a duo of comedy spots for ReMax out of Kuleba Shylitt.

Follow the bouncing ball

Apple Box Productions is moving on up, adding two new directors and a sales representative to the roster, in addition to promoting former rep Jamie Rodriguez to associate producer.

In December, director Stephen Onyett returned to Apple Box after nine months at Dalton Films, and on Jan. 8, David Hackl left LTB Productions to join the fold.

Hackl says it was simply time for a move after three years with the same company and he wanted to be part of a production house that was growing. The opportunity to work more out West and the potential to do some long-form work through Apple Box’s connection to ITV Productions helped sweeten the transition.

According to Apple Box executive producer Barbara Walker, Hackl’s strength is youth-skewed projects, but his positioning will change to increase work on storytelling spots, ‘something we feel he’s really good at.’

In addition, Andrea Hutchins has joined Apple Box as a sales rep, coming most recently from Calibre Productions.

Imported Artists has signed a co-representation agreement with l.a.-based A Band Apart. The new production company is frontlined by Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender.

New faces on the scene include the Markle brothers, Stephen and Martin, who have joined Kessler Irish Films as a young directing team leaning towards a comedy specialty.

Collective achievements to date include Lea Vivot: Sculptor, a documentary broadcast on cbc, and a short film, On an Egg, that premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 1993.

Advertising folk may know them best as two of the young freelancers receiving high praise from Harrod & Mirlin last summer when the agency sent them out, camera in hand, to film spontaneous spots for Nabisco Brands’ Crispers. The spots went to air in July.

Radke Films has signed director/cameraman Gordon Clark, a native of South Africa now based in l.a., previously with Heathgate Films in Canada. Director Baker Smith, just off a two-spot job for Pizza Hut through BBDO Toronto, has also joined Radke.

Sparks Productions has signed New York-based Beth Galton, a stills photographer turned director with 15 years in commercial tabletop photography. (Incidentally, Sparks has migrated to new downtown Toronto digs, 429 Queen Street East.)

Last but not least, dop Glen Keenan is now being represented by Sesler & Company.

On the agency side, Barry Solway has joined Shibinsky & McAuliffe Advertising as president to form Shibinsky McAuliffe Solway Advertising.

And a final note of apology to Malcolm Marcus, formerly of Leo Burnett, who works as an art director/writer, not simply an art director as was reported Dec. 4.

Stay tuned

WOTs pop quiz: Why are Susi Patterson and Humphrey Carter spending so much time together?