Some may suggest director Jim Lotter’s commercial work is ‘Faaan-tastic!’ Or so sayeth the talent in his popular and oft-airing Cash For Life lottery spot. The Minnesota-based, Big Films-repped director spends a lot of time shooting north of the border, and, being an avid fisherman, says there are few places he would rather be.

‘I have done quite a bit of work over the years in Canada, most of which has been through Big, and it has been fun,’ says Lotter.

The self-made director actually started his advertising career as an art director in Chicago and worked for a number of different agencies. He moved to Minneapolis on his way to New York City to live his dream of being a ‘hot shot’ creative man in the Big Apple. He became a director during his stopover and hasn’t left.

‘There are those things you kind of kick yourself for because you kind of bail on your dream, but I don’t really regret it,’ says Lotter.

About 15 years ago, Lotter started up his own ad agency in Minneapolis.

‘I developed a couple of clients who wanted to do a couple of tv spots and I started looking around for people to direct the ads,’ Lotter says. ‘These were young and naive companies, just like myself [at the time], and they said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’ So I put a little crew together and produced a spot and it turned out really great. I don’t know if you could do that again today, but back then there was enough mystery about the business that people could actually do this. There wasn’t a director on every street corner.’

Lotter’s decision to move into directing full-time was a difficult, but a necessary one. He says that as the ad game matured, people within the industry were not very receptive to blurred lines.

‘Until you totally declare what you are, [those in the industry] don’t take you very seriously,’ says Lotter, who says he still misses art direction. ‘I still get to do a shooting board, which is always enjoyable because I can draw a little bit.’

He believes his background in art and as an art director is an asset in his role as a director.

‘Being able to visualize and being able to draw is a really good tool, because many modern storyboards are only scripts,’ Lotter says, adding he has noticed this more working in Canada than in the u.s. He has also noticed little differences in the Canadian versus u.s. creative process.

‘I think a difference is that the creative people are more willing to participate,’ he says. ‘They share and welcome creative ideas and let the director become a little more involved in the work in the creative process.’

Recent work on Lotter’s extensive reel includes spots for Home Depot, Hanes and Arctic Cat.

Dustin Dinoff