It was the California sunshine and lifestyle that lured Jolly Roger director John Mastromonaco to Los Angeles, and luckily for him the work has followed.

A native of Vancouver, Mastromonaco began his career as a stills photographer, earning his directorial stripes in the early ’90s at The Partners’ Film Company and later Radke Films in Toronto. Six years ago, restless and ready for a change, he headed to l.a. and has been based there since.

Mastromonaco says he really never had any intention of being a director, it was something he ‘just sort of fell into’ and seemed like the next logical step following more than 10 years working as a stills photographer. He was a frequent contributor to such magazines as Esquire and Rolling Stone, and his portfolio includes a wide spectrum of portraits and still-life work.

Although Mastromonaco has about eight years of commercial directing experience behind him, it is only in the last five years that directing has become a full-time career.

He believes that if you enjoy yourself and have a good time on the job, you can be dedicated and intense without turning into a monster.

‘A good job is any job you are passionate about,’ says the director. ‘If you are passionate about it you are enjoying it, which is the first, the most important thing. From there, you want to make sure you are doing it with people that are also going to enjoy it, and that’s it. My philosophy is if you enjoy yourself and have an enjoyable time, you can be passionate about it.’

Mastromonaco has shot ads for Brita, General Motors, mbanx and GM. He is in the midst of finishing off a spot for Vaseline, and most recently did a ‘funny and irreverent’ four-spot campaign for Coors through Harrod & Mirlin fcb which took him to New Zealand and Calgary.

For Mastromonaco, who has never had what he refers to as a ‘straight job,’ advertising is the perfect gig. The two- and three-week jobs suit his self-proclaimed ‘short attention span,’ and he claims to be learning not just about advertising but about life, an experience he likens to his days behind the bar.

‘When I was a bartender, I learned how to mix drinks, but I also learned a lot about human nature, and I guess it’s the same with directing,’ he says. ‘You learn a lot about people and how they handle different situations because you are constantly exposed to more than one group.’

For now, Mastromonaco does not have any grand plans to get into longer-format work, saying he is having too much fun with his commercials.

‘There are times to be serious and times not to be. I’m passionate, not serious.’