Like most Gemini nominees, Bert Kish, who’s nominated for his directing efforts on the aac series Power Play, has quite a body of work behind him. But not as a director.

‘I’m actually an editor – a picture editor. I wanted to make the switch [to directing] and the executive producer of Power Play said last year that if the show came back he would give me a shot.’

After coming in halfway through Power Play’s first season, Kish felt he’d seen enough to make a fair fist of an episode. ‘I had had a really good run [as a picture editor] and I’d seen a lot of hockey footage. I personally felt that I’d like to try this.

‘I know a lot of editors who say [to their directors] ‘Why aren’t you doing this or that?’ and I thought instead of complaining about it I would ask for the chance. [Bill Lawrin and Glen Davis, Power Play’s exec producers] liked me, they thought I could do a decent job with the show.’

Even though the second season of Power Play was shortened, Kish got his episode, the Gemini-nominated ‘The Quarter Finals.’

‘I am absolutely thrilled that on my first time out I got a nomination,’ he says.

‘The editing room is the greatest film school,’ says Kish. ‘Coming from the cutting room helps to give a sense of how things will go together.’

Kish now has his eye on more directing work in the future. ‘I’d like to get into directing, specifically episodic. I want to jump into features [eventually]. The directors that I’ve always liked, a lot of them came out of television – Jewison did. Lots of young guys in the ’50s got their break in live tv and episodic.’

Directing, he says, ‘was like toys for grownups. It’s unbelievable the pressure. Nothing can prepare you for being on the floor. It gives you tremendous satisfaction. You’re trying to bring the work to life, trying to bring the story alive visually. It’s a drug. It’s a tremendous thing when you put a story together and it works.’ *

like most Gemini nominees, Bert Kish, who’s nominated for his directing efforts on the aac series Power Play, has quite a body of work behind him. But not as a director.

‘I’m actually an editor – a picture editor. I wanted to make the switch [to directing] and the executive producer of Power Play said last year that if the show came back he would give me a shot.’

After coming in halfway through Power Play’s first season, Kish felt he’d seen enough to make a fair fist of an episode. ‘I had had a really good run [as a picture editor] and I’d seen a lot of hockey footage. I personally felt that I’d like to try this.

‘I know a lot of editors who say [to their directors] ‘Why aren’t you doing this or that?’ and I thought instead of complaining about it I would ask for the chance. [Bill Lawrin and Glen Davis, Power Play’s exec producers] liked me, they thought I could do a decent job with the show.’

Even though the second season of Power Play was shortened, Kish got his episode, the Gemini-nominated ‘The Quarter Finals.’

‘I am absolutely thrilled that on my first time out I got a nomination,’ he says.

‘The editing room is the greatest film school,’ says Kish. ‘Coming from the cutting room helps to give a sense of how things will go together.’

Kish now has his eye on more directing work in the future. ‘I’d like to get into directing, specifically episodic. I want to jump into features [eventually]. The directors that I’ve always liked, a lot of them came out of television – Jewison did. Lots of young guys in the ’50s got their break in live tv and episodic.’

Directing, he says, ‘was like toys for grownups. It’s unbelievable the pressure. Nothing can prepare you for being on the floor. It gives you tremendous satisfaction. You’re trying to bring the work to life, trying to bring the story alive visually. It’s a drug. It’s a tremendous thing when you put a story together and it works.’ *