TOPIX/Mad Dog’s departed design duo of William Cameron and Robin Len are busily working away under their new banner Gamma Studios. The nascent shop, at 504 Wellington Street in downtown Toronto, is focusing on broadcast design and film title work as well as commercials and will officially launch (with project announcements) in the next few weeks.

Make the Cut

attention budding directors and those responsible for their well-being: the Saatchi & Saatchi/Playback First Cut Awards for new directors is once again just around the corner.

Yes, the awards show that recognizes the wellsprings of greatness will be held Tuesday, July 6, and the organizational wheels behind the event are grinding into motion.

Your part, if you’re a director repped by a commercial production company and have been at it professionally for two years or less (or if you know such a person), is to send in a reel to Saatchi & Saatchi’s Karen Hickling. The reel must contain at least one spot which has been broadcast, and to defray shipping and handling costs, a $50 entry fee will be levied.

Once again, a trip to Cannes, a statue of some kind and the admiration of an entire industry hang in the balance. So get those reels together by deadline day, Friday, May 14.

For further information or an entry form call Karen Hickling at (416) 352-0241.

Props shop

the Partners’ Film Company’s props division is launching itself into the wider world of commercial service, positioning itself as a standalone company catering to all commercial production comers.

The props concern has been run as an internal service for Partners’ and affiliates for the past five years. Since moving the department to 207 Eastern Avenue last winter, the next step – to operate it as an independent business – has been a mandate for Stephen Mitchell, who runs the shop.

The newly independent shop will operate under the name Propeteria.

Angelic additions

angel Films is beefing up its roster with three new additions.

James Hyslop signs on after spending the last two years shooting docs for Discovery, the National Film Board and Bravo! Recent commercial work for Hyslop includes spots for The Toronto Sun, Fram Oil Filters and the Breast Cancer Foundation.

Director/dop Peter Nydrle has been setting up his own l.a.-based spot shop Nydrle Films, and is now looking for some work north of the border. His commercial work includes spots for Harley-Davidson, Miller, Finesse and Toyota.

And new to the Canadian market, Young Kim has been directing through Tony K for the last year, working on jobs for such clients as espn and Airtouch Cellular. Kim started off as an art director at Wieden & Kennedy in the u.s. and Tokyo.

On the move

navigator Films has picked up director/dop Ken Morrison. The New Orleans/New York-based shooter, formerly on the Partners’ roster, is repped by his own shop, Morrison Productions, in New Orleans, and by Conspiracy in New York. Morrison has lensed spots for Red Wing Shoes, Texaco, at&t, Pepsi and bmw.

The Players Film Company director David Cowdery has made the switch to Partners’.

Wellington, New Zealand-based director Matt Murphy has joined the roster at Sparks Productions for exclusive Canadian representation. Murphy started out as a feature lighting technician, moved up to production designer, and began directing in 1995.

Industry strut

the Industrytini, an orange concoction matching their big bright logo, was the drink of choice at Industry Films’ opening party.

Although the company has been on the Toronto scene since last fall, it wasn’t until a few months ago that they took over their modern new King Street East Design Building space, and it wasn’t until mid-April that they decided it was time to show it off.

Now with spots for clients such as Budweiser, Shoppers Drug Mart and Zellers under their belt, the Industry team of exec producer Tina Petridis, head of sales Eva Preger and head of production Sophia Peckan decided that it was time to celebrate.