First Cut: The Genesis

It was Doug’s and Peter’s idea.

Doug Lowe (vp, exec broadcast producer) and fellow Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising inmate Peter Rigby (exec vp, creative director) had been embroiled in a job-driven, new Canadian director star search which yielded better-than-anticipated results. Encouraged by the talent in Canada – and the production community’s investment that went into getting the work onto the reels – last January Lowe and cohorts began pondering a way to spread the word about up-and-coming Canadian commercial talent outside of Saatchi’s Toronto production department. Because there wasn’t any formal recognition for new people starting up here, and because Saatchi has a history with promoting new talent via it’s international new directors reel, a new award was spawned.

But here, let Doug tell you:

Lowe: ‘This idea stemmed from one of our more cost-conscious clients. In an effort to unearth some less expensive directors we asked production companies to send reels of some of their new directors.

‘We put out this query not knowing whether we would get five or 15 reels, and in fact, we got back about 20. What was particularly encouraging and amazing was not only the volume, but more specifically, the quality – which surprised me, quite pleasantly, that there was that much talent out there that no one had really heard of before.

‘We compiled a reel internally of the top 10, presented it to the agency creative and production teams, and they too were impressed. Then Peter and I got to talking and thought of awarding on an annual basis the director who shows the most promise. That was when we approached you. Because Playback is the publication most committed to the production community, it seemed like a likely marriage, and the idea snowballed’

Fast-forward (through a lot of the usual prepro frolic: bad name ideas, desperate and cryptic messages, mini-golf) to July and the first annual First Cut Awards for the Canadian director whose reel shows the most potential.

And The The Winner Is – Pete Henderson of Spy Films.

Saatchi is sending him to Cannes next spring for the prestigious ad fest, his work will appear on the Saatchi Showcase of new talent that unspools at Cannes, and in the meantime, back in Canada, the agency is opening its doors to let Henderson sit in on the intricate creative development process that goes on agency-side.

This report profiles both the winner of the soon-to-be-coveted First Cut director’s chair (trust Playback’s Jennifer Edgar to come up with a trophy that’s useful! – of course, a chain saw was her first pick) and four other directors who comprise the top five, Drew Jarvis of Revolver, Floria Sigismondi of The Partners’ Film Company, Ron Baxter Smith of Kessler Irish Films and Allan Mestel of Revolver.

However, as close scores indicated, there were no losers among the 46 directors reels minutely screened by a panel of seven incorruptible judges, and confirmed by reaction of the guests at the inaugural First Cut Award bash held at Toronto’s DOTCOM Cafe, where a compilation reel was jointly screened and individually surfed by assorted industry types.

As the cost of successfully developing new directors is about a quarter of a million bucks over two years, the volume of reels and the fact that companies such as Revolver (6), Avion (6), Spy (4), Kessler Irish (3) and Partners’ (3) all had multiple entries is also a very positive sign for the industry.

Partners’ gm Ross McLean, who says his ballpark figure on the individual amount spent subsidizing jobs is lower than in some previous years, ascribes the investment to hoping that at some point (before they leave) the company will start to make money with the director, and that you’ve got to get those jobs to keep on top.

Partners’ president Don Mclean says there’s more new talent and more opportunities for Canadian directors than ever before.

‘It’s my own personal theory that in Canada over the past five or six years we stopped, not totally, but we weren’t developing the young talent as aggressively as we should have. Perhaps it was a financial thing. The industry has now figured this out, and we are all working at it.’

He says Partners’ has six or seven young directors on staff.

‘Two years ago nobody knew who Pete Henderson was, now he’s a major player. The pool of talent is mindboggling. It’s just a question of how many we can take on at one time.’

McLean says the investment in talent development is probably more than a quarter of a million dollars over two years, ‘but it is the only way this industry is going to survive, in Toronto, in Vancouver, in Montreal.’

McLean says many young directors groomed over years leave for the u.s., often with the notion of shooting features, ‘but that is the price you may have to pay.’

‘If I had the people we’ve sent on to the States under one roof in a company down there, I would have the strongest production company in the u.s.a.’

McLean says if the Canadian industry doesn’t culitvate its own talent, ‘we can all just get a list of u.s. directors and fly them in and let the Canadian industry go down the tubes.’

Traditionally, the advertising industry is characteristically cautious, hiring only proven directors.

But McLean says the houses have to deal with this reality, going the distance to leverage new talent with a little ‘horse-trading’ that might include ‘guaranteed’ results on typically underfunded shoots.

‘Talent will always out,’ he says. ‘The ability to present is a big part of the business these days. But if you are talented, you will get there. All you need is somebody to believe in you.’

We’ll be waiting