Stephen Scott, one of the country’s top music video directors, was a winner at last year’s MuchMusic Video Awards. Now, just a year after joining the roster at Rave Films, he’s in the spotlight again – this time for his commercials.

A co-owner of Blackwalk Productions, Scott won best director for the Moist video Tangerine at the mmvas in September ’97. The clip also won awards for best video and best editing. By taking his music video savvy and applying it to the commercial world, Scott is achieving some of the same success.

The up-and-coming director made his big-screen debut this spring with ‘Beauty Pageant,’ a 60-second cinematic spot for Eaton’s out of Roche Macaulay & Partners.

The high-energy, attitude-driven spot involving quick flashes of girls in retro fashions backed by the grunge sounds of Hole’s Miss World, was a natural fit for Scott and gave him a chance to prove himself in the commercial world.

When Scott joined the Rave roster, the plan was to build on his strengths in music videos such as art direction, photography and post. After landing jobs for Cottonelle and Eaton’s, he needed a dialogue-driven ad – something he had never done – for his reel and shot a spec spot for Dark City Coffee, which later ended up on air.

‘I think I have an ear for dialogue and an eye for performance,’ Scott says. ‘I have kind of been Jonesing for it because I thought I could do it, and what I found was not only I could [do it], but it was a hell of a lot of fun and totally different from music videos.’

Spinning tunes in Toronto nightclubs, Scott paid his way through York University film school, and with his sights set on being a director, landed an entry-level pa job on a feature with hopes of moving up through the ranks.

Growing impatient in the feature world, Scott took his music knowledge, mixed it with his passion for film, and decided to create music videos through his own company, Blackwalk Productions, which he opened with two partners in 1993.

While many of his contemporaries made the jump to commercials, Scott continued shooting videos for popular bands such as The Crash Test Dummies, Barenaked Ladies and Treble Charger. Then, following a six-month pursuit by Rave, he finally made the switch to commercials, while continuing to run Blackwalk.

‘Commercials are a new challenge,’ Scott says. ‘I like working with people in a creative way, and it’s nice to be presented with an idea, because if I had to come up with them all the time, I would be bone-dry by now. But music video is a good creative outlet for me.’

Scott’s first year in the biz has been about building a reel with a variety of spots and fewer videos. ‘When you take a music video reel to an agency, it’s a tough sell,’ he explains. ‘Some may look at it and say, `The guy can shoot,’ but the competition is fierce out there.’

Scott made his tv commercial premiere last September with a quasi-psa (not all services were donated) through Young & Rubicam for Run For The Cure, an event sponsored by Ford and the cibc. It was, he says, a very ‘unusual baptism.’

For the post-savvy and technically alert Scott, the ‘pretty picture stuff’ is a little old hat and he’d like to get more involved in dialogue-driven work. A good concept and interesting boards, he says, make all the difference between something that’s simply work and something he can really sink his teeth into.

As for Canadian creative, Scott sees a trend to paring down, with clean, simple concepts and direction that doesn’t draw attention to itself. He says he wants to be the guy bringing the stunning visuals to the excellent concept.

‘It’s really like starting all over again,’ Scott says. ‘I have gone through the process of building a reputation with music videos. I was successful at it once; I hope I can do it again.’