‘A television hack – that’s what I am,’ says Toronto director Stefan Scaini, whose episodic television work spans dramatic shows such as Street Legal, Side Effects, Forever Knight and Fast Track to family series like Ready or Not, My Secret Identity, Road to Avonlea and Wind At My Back.

But far from discrediting his ‘miles and miles’ of series credits, Scaini views episodic tv as an important training ground for the long-form drama projects he has worked on for the past several years, including a slate of Sullivan Entertainment mows for cbc; Under The Piano, for which he received a best director Gemini nomination in ’97; Sleeping Dogs Lie: The Ambrose Small Mystery; the coming Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story; and Happy Christmas, Miss King, for which Scaini is nominated for a 1999 Gemini in the best director in a dramatic program or miniseries category.

Feature film is an arena Scaini hopes to break into soon. ‘I have been considered for feature films but producers would sooner go with a less experienced director who has done a feature than me – who has over 400 hours of television,’ he says. ‘They are afraid I will come at it like an episode of Street Legal or something.’

However, Scaini says directing tv movies and miniseries has enabled him to develop a filmic style. ‘That’s what makes an mow director a real commodity – the ability to deliver a feature film style picture in 18 days.’

Scaini adds that directing episodic tv has given him the wherewithal to deliver feature-quality tv movies despite short time lines and tight budgets.

‘You learn to think on your feet and work on the fly. You have seven days to deliver an hour and usually there’s no overtime, restricted budgets, limited actor availability…and somehow through all this madness you have to be creative.

‘It makes me more resilient and a quicker thinker when I am handed a long-form project,’ Scaini continues. ‘I always have at least three or four options ready to go at a moment’s notice. And if all those options fail, I will come up with a seventh on the spot.’

Scaini works both sides of the border, with an agent and office in Los Angeles, and has directed such u.s. shows as TekWar, Hotel Malibu and Savannah.

‘Frankly, a lot of movies that come up here are put together in the u.s., so if I am a known quantity in Hollywood and the producers know I am also Canadian, when they have a picture going north they say ‘he’s our man.’ ‘

Generating his own projects is an increasingly important focus for Scaini, who operates Spellbound Films in Toronto with partner Christine Dore. Character-driven pieces that explore aspects of the human condition are Scaini’s forte.

Spellbound has optioned the memoirs of Stratford Festival founder Tom Patterson, and Jim Henshaw is penning the script, titled Daring To Dream.

Also in development is Chuck Wagoneer, a movie about the crazy, cavorting lifestyle of people who risk their lives in the chuck wagon races at the Calgary Stampede, which Scaini anticipates shooting in Alberta.

While he often writes the original concepts, Scaini brings on writers and producers so he can concentrate on directing. ‘Directing is like being the captain of the ship and producing is like being the owner,’ he says. ‘I don’t particularly want to own the ship – I’m happy just to sail it.’

Scaini is moving on to episodes of Relic Hunter (Fireworks Entertainment/Gaumont Television) over the next few months and hopes to direct a feature one of these days. ‘That’s what I would love to do – a small-budget character picture. That would make me very happy.’