Industry Films director Vadim Perelman ironically started his directorial carrer by shooting psas that completely contradicted his day-to-day life.

One of them was an anti-smoking campaign, he explains while inhaling on a cigarette while another was about wearing a seat belt, something he says he rarely does.

His first PSA was a stay in school campaign out of JWT in the US and although he claims to have dropped out of every school he has attended both the spot, which won directors showcase at Cannes in 91 and the director himself turned out to be successful.

After a year and a half at Ryerson Film school he found things were moving to slow so, with partner Vincenzo Natali (Cube), Perelman left to open Canned Films. A few years later they closed shop and he headed to LA where he got the chance to really show what he could do.

‘I think its hard to make it in this country [Canada],’ says the director. ‘It’s a weird mentality people have here where you have to take your place in line and move slowly up the ladder. When I got to the US I said I was a director and I can be a good director and they said OK, prove it.’

Perelman’s passion for action and comedy is evident in his reel which boasts some funny spots such as one for Labatt where a wedding organist breaks into hockey tunes and a bunch of spots for Zellers including one of his favorites Park Bench starring soap stars Victor and Nicki Newman.

‘It was real departure for me in a way that usually I am so visual and so intense with my commercials but this was the simplest shoot I have ever done so I could really concentrated on the performances,’ says Perelman.

When it comes to edge-of-your-set action the spot that stands out for the director is a fast paced teaser for Kellogg’s featuring an ambulance racing through the dark streets to the hospital where a gurney is rushed through the hallways while doctors and nurses look on with concern.

Although the Russian born director lives in LA he has spent most of his summer in Toronto where he has been consistently shooting one job after another for both Industry and his US company Atherton.

Hollywood-based Propaganda Management reps him for feature work and though he hasn’t tried long format just yet Perelman says he is on the cusp of making his debut which will probably come at the end of the year.

‘I’ll just jump into a feature like I jumped into commercials,’ he says. ‘Its just a sink or swim mentality.’