Hanging around Imported Artists taking his cues from the many directors passing through its doors, Wayne Craig has rapidly worked his way up the ranks from pm to director, and after less than a year on the Toronto spot shop’s roster, is taking home this year’s First Cut Award.

But Craig almost missed out on his true calling in life – his first taste of academia was as a physics student at McMaster University. Then one day, halfway through his first year, he realized, ‘This is no fun at all.’

‘I was just bored,’ says Craig. ‘I was interested in film, tv and radio, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I just thought I would try it.’

Next stop was Ryerson Polytechnic University where he graduated with a degree in Radio and Television Arts and soon after landed a job as an overnight radio disc jockey for a country music station in Newmarket, Ont.

Aside from spinning country tunes (which he admits is not his first choice in music), Craig held a not-too-strenuous summer job as a marine reporter, boating up and down the river filing reports on the boating conditions.

A big fan of The Three Stooges, Craig produced and directed a radio documentary on the zany trio, which aired on Toronto’s Q107.

Eventually his passion for film and tv took over and he left radio for film and television, starting from square one as a production assistant on such shows as Top Cops and commercials at The Partners’ Film Company.

One of his first directing gigs was for a Japanese karaoke video (‘Someone has to do it. . . ‘).

‘It was an hour of standard songs,’ he recalls. ‘I tried to put a spin on it so it was not as cheesy. It was a kick and I got a chance to direct and experiment with a bunch of different things.’

After working with Imported Artists director Richard D’Alessio as a pm, he joined the small house as a full-time production/office manager, gaining exposure to bigger and better projects and directors and working on his own spec spots on the side.

About a year and a half ago, Imported executive producer Christina Ford decided it was time to start showing his reel, and last November he traded in the pm title for that of full-time director. He has landed jobs for Sleeman, Nabisco, Sony PlayStation and Mercedes Benz.

‘It was about the timing of his career,’ says Ford. ‘If he was going to make a really serious commitment to directing he was going to have to focus solely on that. I believed he was talented enough and had enough promise that he could take the time and opportunity to really focus on [directing] and that was where his creative energy should have been going.’

Among his favorite jobs, Craig cites a spot for Nettlemax showing an old woman with squeaky knees in a rocking chair. He directed the spot while he was still a pm and it went on to win a Bronze Lion in Cannes.

Another one that stands out for the director is a Grand & Toy ad featuring a young boy sitting in a lazy-boy glued to the tv while his mother yammers on about stocking up on back-to-school supplies.

‘If I like the spot and the creative is good, I am willing to wade through hell to get it,’ says Craig. ‘At the end of the day, for both me and the client, I always feel like it is about the end product, and it is always worth having discussions and sitting down late at night over coffee to get the thing working.’

Craig recently had his first shot at film, codirecting a short period piece with Paul Anthony Davis called An Intrigue of Manners, and says he hopes to do more long form in the near future.

While Craig says he is happy where he is, like any start-out director he would like to be busier and says it’s tough when there are so many in his position vying for so few spots. ‘It’s a war of attrition,’ he says, ‘and when it’s slow, we, the new directors, are the first ones to notice it.’

Right now Craig is laying the groundwork for a few spots he will shoot later in the summer, doing some writing, and putting the finishing touches on a gazebo he built for his parents.