According to Jolly Roger director David Tennant, the only common denominators in his life at present are an airplane seat and a camera.

Originally from Ireland, 30 miles north of Belfast (same hometown as Liam Neeson), the Toronto-based director’s first experience in the world of commercials was as an art director in London, Eng., but all the while he envisioned himself as a director.

‘When my dad originally asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said a filmmaker, and he said that was for dreamers,’ says Tennant. ‘So I kept dreaming.’

He spent 15 years on the agency side of the biz until relocating to Vancouver, where he made his commercial directorial debut around five years ago with spots for Z95FM (among his favorite earlier works), the Vancouver Foundation and BC Tel Mobility.

Aside from recent back-to-back commercial work for TD Waterhouse, the Workers Safety Insurance Board and Crime Stoppers, Tennant has been racking up air miles on flights back to his homeland, where he is in the midst of shooting segments for his second documentary.

The subject is the history of St. Patrick’s Day and it’s set to air in Canada on the History Television in March 2000. The doc encapsulates the story of Ireland’s patron saint, visits the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, includes interviews with priests and druids, and had Tennant trekking up a mountain with 25,000 faithful as part of a religious pilgrimage.

‘Myself and the camera assistant carried up the gear in our backpacks – that was pretty tough,’ says Tennant. ‘We got amazing portraits of people praying that I would never have gotten if I didn’t go up there. It was a misty day, which added to the pilgrimage spirit of the thing.’

Tennant has been away from Ireland for almost 20 years and has enjoyed the opportunity to return to his roots with his camera and shoot on his own turf. ‘It’s a good vibe.’ But at the moment he says he is concentrating on commercials.

‘I am not a big novel reader, I love short stories,’ he says. ‘I guess doing commercials is like short stories – you get to express an idea in 30 seconds.’