This month, Dora Sesler celebrates her fifth year representing camera talent and is marking the occasion with the establishment of an l.a. office along with packed slates and new directions for the members of her roster.

Sesler created Sesler & Company in 1994 as the country’s first official agent/management shop dedicated solely to camera people. The shop was launched with six dops, and while she now represents 18 lensers, the ‘original six’ remain on the roster.

The growth of the company has been significant but carefully guided, says Sesler. ‘We’ve been careful to nurture that growth at a steady and manageable rate. It hasn’t happened overnight; it’s taken five years and it’s been steady.’

Sesler calls the launch of a small l.a. office ‘planting seeds for future growth.’ The new office won’t affect Toronto operations; Sesler plans to stay put for now to manage a bustling pace at the founding shop.

Expansion has meant not only a larger complement of camera talent, but growth in both the geographical origin and type of work the dops are doing. While Sesler & Co.’s artists have done varying levels of long-form work over the company’s life span, that area of work has grown significantly in recent years, along with the spot work that is the core of the company.

Commercial and long-form work from the u.s. has also increased, says Sesler, as has the number of projects originating from other international sources – Sesler talent was recently involved in a pair of European jobs.

While some of the dops on Sesler’s roster have traditionally been more focused on long-form work, in many cases commercial-focused shooters have also been branching out to a greater degree. Derek Van Lint, who signed with Sesler, is currently working on Spreading Ground, a feature out of Tsunami Entertainment starring Dennis Hopper. Douglas Koch is also working on a major u.s. feature, Home Brew from Home Brew Film Productions.

While the company’s artists have branched out, Sesler acknowledges that the role of the dop agent has also grown in importance, and that the proper management of a dop’s career is crucial now, contrasted with the days when Sesler & Co. began and camera people juggled their own bookings between shooting stints.

Part of Sesler’s efforts have been devoted to developing new dops. Up-and-coming talent Dylan Macleod recently landed his first Canadian feature, Silverman from Trinity Pictures, and Paul Tolton just secured work on Great Adventures, a docudrama series by CineNova for National Geographic.

Though the development of a young dop’s career is a challenge, Sesler says the success rate has been good. She points to Macleod and Tolton as successfully climbing the ranks and talent like Glen Keenan who has gone on to do a-level work.

Both new and established talent on the Sesler roster have marked their success with recent award wins. Barry Peterson recently won the newly created Cinematography Award at the Bessies for his work on Molson Export’s ‘Judith’ and Peter Hartmann lensed the Gold Clio Award-winning ‘Poem’ for Finesse. At the CSC Awards, Koch won best commercial for Pall Mall, Barry Parrell won best short film for Blind Man’s Bluff and Macleod got the nod for best video for his Bootsy Collins effort.

Like developing a new Canadian director, building a young dop’s reel has its challenges – prospective clients often want to see a hard example of the look they’re going for on a new reel. Experience with music videos, spec and psa work often paves the road to higher profile commercial work, and the development of relationships with directors and production shops is key.

Macleod has been repped by Sesler for one year, previously doing limited spot work and music videos through Toronto’s Blackwalk Productions. ‘His development has been very quick; he’s done well in a short time,’ says Sesler. ‘It has to do with timing, good opportunities and a lot of talent.’ A busy market is also a boon to the young dop. ‘When it gets busier like it is now, it provides the younger guys with more opportunities.’

Industry growth in general has also meant more structure in the production process, an advantage for camera people, she says. While endless shoot days had long been a concern for dops, Sesler says the increase in structure has eased the long-day phenomenon somewhat – dops now typically work a 14-hour shoot day.

A continuing challenge on the commercial as well as the long-form side is doing more within tighter budgetary constraints. ‘It’s a challenge for directors as well – for everyone – to get everything in and to maintain the integrity of what you’re doing,’ says Sesler. ‘It’s not a new challenge and it keeps things interesting.’

Part of Sesler’s own challenge is to continue to assemble the variety of projects that provide the appropriate personal and career stimulation for the talent on her roster. ‘A good dop can do anything,’ she says. ‘Most of my dops want to do an assortment of things and I think that variety makes a person a better dop on all sides.’

And according to Sesler, that focus on development is not only a concern for budding camera talent. ‘dops have to develop at all levels and stages,’ she says. ‘You want your reel to continue to progress and evolve whether you’re just starting out or have been doing it for 20 years.’