At the age of 11, Gavin Wilding was already out doing two-camera shoots with Super 8s. Now, many features and spots later, he is ready to take his talents to the next level.

Recently Wilding, who is repped by Sez Who in Vancouver, signed an alliance with Toronto’s Blink Pictures to boost his reputation and workload.

‘The business is a network of alliances,’ Wilding begins. ‘If you can get an alliance that takes you to another level and opens more doors, then it only makes sense. The Blink people are well-respected.’

Not long ago, Wilding completed a shoot for Playland in Vancouver through Rethink. He sites the strong creative as the attraction to the project.

‘I’m really hungry for great creative. I never got into this business to make money or get laid, or anything. I got into it to do some fun stuff. I’m really driven by the material,’ Wilding says.

Over his career, Wilding has directed a wide variety of different styles. He explains: ‘Most of my long-form stuff is dramatic and most of my commercial stuff is comedic. So I’m in no man’s land.’

Four years after his multi-camera shoot at age 11, Wilding went into his basement to build a Millennium Falcon out of cardboard and Christmas lights. His Star Wars parody, although never making his reel, did give him a chuckle when his first feature ended up starring Mark Hamill. Later, Wilding worked at Panavision, where he ‘borrowed’ cameras for his own weekend shoots.

Now, with a full reel of spots and five features under his belt, Wilding explains that, unlike many other directors, he doesn’t use the commercials to fund his films.

‘They’re mutually exclusive,’ he says.

Wilding loves great creative and fresh ideas. On this front, he has a beef with the industry. For him, the security of regurgitating what’s already been done is a waste of time.

‘Everybody looks for the director that [already] has it on the reel. Sure, that’s safe – great. But a lot of the pitches that I’ve been involved with, for some of the ones I didn’t get, I explored another avenue. I took a chance and shined the light in another area. And again, that’s risky. In some cases, you’re just kind of regurgitating the boards versus coming in with something that you can contribute to the project. I understand where the creative gang is coming from. It’s just – come on guys! Be confident enough in the material. Any director that’s worth his salt is going to give you what you need and more!’

The director, who likes a fun atmosphere on set, has a career goal that combines cutting-edge movies and the nurturing of new talent. All the while, bringing his skills, tastes and style to the commercial world.

Before going off to begin directing two episodes of The Immortal (a new series by the cowriters of Poltergeist), Wilding has a message for the industry: ‘I know the easy thing to do when you have a budget and some creative is jump over the border. But you know what? We’ve got the talent here. Let’s try and build the [Canadian] industry as a strong force.’