As the homespun adage goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Or in other words, particularly those of director Allan Mestel, ‘If the idea is clean and it works, don’t make it more complex than it needs to be.’

If eight years as a successful editor have taught Mestel anything (and of course they have), that lesson would have something to do with the hard cold reality of the cutting room floor. No matter what kind of sweat and heartbreak came with getting the footage, if it doesn’t cut together well, it doesn’t cut together well. It was a lesson ingrained in Mestel as he embarked upon a directing career two years ago.

‘I preplan so that I’m editing in my head as I shoot. I’m not shooting a bunch of alternates and a bunch of options. I always have a clean idea of how it’s going to cut and there’s not a lot of screwing around.’

After a short stint as a pa (‘I remember working on a movie, on the lakeshore, in the winter, soaking a motel with fire hoses’), Mestel was offered a job as an assistant animation editor at The Animation House. Even if it was only to escape the threat of frostbite near the lake, he took it. ‘At that time I hadn’t ever thought about editing as a career, but I just sort of fell into it.’

And fell into it hard. By 1992, when he won a gold Bessie, Mestel had established himself in the biz with his fast-cut, high-energy style. ‘I was known for in-your-face editing, where the editing was very much a part of the style, and I suppose it was an ego thing,’ he jokes.

But even while he was getting lots of work in an arena he liked, Mestel was hearing the siren song of the director’s chair.

‘I love editing, I still do, and I think it’s an underrated part of the production process for people who aren’t in the business, but I got to the point where I was spending a lot of time fixing other people’s mistakes. I figured it was time to make a few of my own.’

After five years editing at Chameleon, Mestel took off over to Zoo tv to join its director roster. In May of this year, he started at Revolver. While there are no regrets about the career change, directing wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be.

‘To tell you the truth, everything about directing has surprised me. I had a basic idea of the sorts of things I thought I would like to do, but I didn’t really know. At this point in my career I’m still getting a sense of the possibilities that exist as far as how you can take a script and filter it through your own filmic sensibilities.’

Another quirk that’s raised its head is the fact that, as far as style goes, Mestel doesn’t necessarily like to shoot what he used to like to cut: ‘As a director I’m finding I prefer to go for stuff that’s sort of moodier.

‘I love images, strong images, and I love creating moods using filmic techniques together with the content of the frame to create a feeling. I’ve found the stuff I like to direct is very visually designed. I pay a lot of attention to subject, framing, composition, trying to make each scene a statement in and of itself.’

What also comes through in Mestel’s work is loyalty to the idea, no doubt a highly endearing quality to agency creatives. As he puts it: ‘I’ve been in the ad business long enough to realize the business reality of all this.

‘I think it’s your responsibility as a director not to try and hijack the creative process. You’ve got to deliver the agency’s concept, and it’s your job to do it with a certain amount of style and in as clear a way as you can. In a business relationship a director still has a function in the process, but it’s not the end-all and be-all. I don’t have that ego, to think that my ideas are necessarily better or more creative than those being handed to me.’

And as a director in a relatively small industry, Mestel knows the value of a good rep. ‘You cannot afford to alienate too many people in this business, because there aren’t that many people. The last thing you need is a reputation for being difficult.’

Nonetheless, surely there’s lots about this directing thing that could possibly frustrate a guy used to the peaceful solitude of an editing suite.

‘When you’re editing, you have total control over that creative process. You’re sitting there with the footage, alone, just working it until it works. I find that directing is much more of a shepherding process. You’ve got to let the other people involved have their input. You’re managing the creative chaos.’

Forging ahead, Mestel is definitely looking to add some dialogue to his reel, but he’d like to stick with the structured style to which he’s taken a liking.

‘I want to continue shooting stuff that’s very, very strong visually, art-directed and structured. I like design and details, I spend a lot of time really thinking about the film stock, the lens I’m going to use, the camera moves.’

No matter what he does, he’ll be taking with him the discipline and inside-out understanding of the process inherent in a veteran editor – qualities that make agencies very happy indeed.

‘I go on set very focused and very well prepared. The agency knows exactly what they’re going to get from me.’