Director/designer Linzi Knight is taking her commercial filmmaking very seriously. How seriously? As it turns out, after two years in the director’s chair, Knight has become so comfortable she is opening a new commercial production company, Hero Films.

For now, Hero will operate out of the downtown Toronto offices of Red Rover, an animation shop co-owned by Knight and her husband/business partner Andy Knight. Linzi Knight will be running Hero.

‘Hero Films is the live-action, film graphics aspect of what Red Rover is,’ says Knight. ‘I was sort of doing live-action film graphics and we decided to split the company into two separate entities to make it a better division and give us an opportunity to build the live-action aspect of Red Rover by giving Hero its own identity.’

Hero, despite being a separate company in name, will still be very much a part of Red Rover, she says. It will serve as an extension of what can be done within the facility.

Knight says she and Andy Knight will continue to bounce ideas off each other and offer creative input on how both Red Rover and Hero are run.

‘We really are a team,’ says Knight. ‘I’ll talk to him about his animation and he’ll help me with my live action. The unique thing about this studio is that we can do everything and there is a lot of crossover because a lot of our people here have strengths in more than one area.’

Knight goes on to say that the Red Rover space was purposely designed in an open-concept format to facilitate the move into live action and any other endeavors the company may undertake in the future.

Knight will be directing for Hero, having come into her own as a talent to keep a watchful eye on in the coming years. She recently finished work on a new ad for Shoppers Drug Mart Health Watch dealing with diabetes. Knight has also shot a series of psas for Covenant House, as well as spots for Molson Export, gte and the irs.

Hero has just signed director Sandra Enns-Arnell, who has been doing broadcast work in-house for specialty channel Showcase. She is the talent behind some of the station’s show openings, including the David Lynch-feeling ‘Hotel’ station ids.

‘I just really like her work,’ says Knight. ‘She has a really unique, highly art-directed look to her reel. I found it very energetic, funny and appealing.’

Knight also respects Enns-Arnell’s abilities to take a spot from concept and see it through to completion.

‘She does everything, from conception work and coming up with the ideas to putting together the whole production,’ says Knight. ‘She either directs or codirects it with somebody [in the case of Showcase work].’

Knight is especially fond of a series of spots Enns-Arnell recently completed through Showcase to herald last month’s Gay Pride celebrations in Toronto.

‘They are sort of a parody of the Gap commercials, with a white background and these really amazing drag queens. They are really well done,’ she says.

Hero will also be representing a gaggle of international directors. Already signed for representation in Canada are Paris-based Zoo, Eric Barbier (also form Paris), and British photographer David Stewart, who recently made the scary leap into the live-action commercial game. Stewart recently completed a series of commercials for Ikea, under the Hero banner.

Right now Knight is recruiting. Initially, she says, she wants five Canadian directors on the Hero roster. She wants the upstart shop to begin small and plans to keep it that way.

‘I want to have a small, boutique, live-action shop,’ says Knight. ‘I’m being extremely selective with the people I bring in. I am really focusing on new talent and people that have an edge in one particular direction or another. I’m looking for young, fresh directors with very distinct directions and style. I’m just looking for really excellent work and people who are keen as mustard.’

Knight admits to being in talks with another director, but will not say who at this time.

More than anything, though, Knight hopes her new shop will serve as a place where creative minds can flourish, and as ‘the boss,’ she promises a creative environment for her talent.

‘I’m not going to preach to people,’ she says. ‘There is no mandate or any rules really in this studio. Express yourself, have fun, do a good job, and be nice to me.’

With the advent of Hero, Red Rover can now handle a project from concept through to completion. The shop recently finished a graphics-heavy job for Chapters.ca, which was completely produced in-house.