Established commercial directors are the subject of this regular feature. Each issue we will profile their careers, accomplishments and the ideas that propel them to new advertising heights.

Catching the last warm, sunny day of the season, The Players Film Company director Jordan Toms sits down to talk about the state of his career over a plate of spicy Thai noodles on a patio in downtown Toronto.

For the former key grip, production manager, assistant director, prop buyer and pa, Toms’ ascension to directing was ‘a natural progression.’

Blessed with boundless energy, Toms used his time as a crew member to hone his director’s skills and work on his reel. Three music videos and two mountain biking films marked his early directorial exercises.

‘In lieu of going to film school, I made my films through a lot of support from the Toronto commercial community, guys who care, who are really artistic and who work hard to make good spots and to have fun,’ Toms says.

In fact, the young director with the sleek shades goes on at great length about all the people who have helped him: Philip Mellows, Frank Teunissen, Blake Ballentine, Dylan McLeod, Dan Ford, Kim Everest, Pete Henderson, Sharon Nelson, Lesley Parrott, Mark Fitzgerald, Griff Henderson, Amanda Field, and his brother, Keith Toms, to name a few.

The spot that earned Toms his first representation deal, with Revolver Films, was a psa called ‘Life’s Great’ that was a ‘really, really complicated shoot – a massive psa production.’

Not only did the strength of this shoot earn Toms a crack at a spec National Post spot, it proved to be a defining moment for the young director. ‘It was one of the more fun experiences of my life – of anything, not just work,’ he says.

After a relatively short stay at Revolver, Toms joined Players’ roster. He explains the move: ‘[Revolver was] in the middle of changing over and becoming Trailer Park. And there was a shift somewhat – they had a lot of American directors there. I just felt it was time for a move and Players pursued me.’

Despite some mixed feelings about leaving Revolver, ‘because the company gave me so much support and I hadn’t made any money for them yet,’ Toms says it was ‘a good, amicable split.’

At Players, Toms has been extremely busy. He has directed five spots since August, including commercials for Roots, Minute Maid Fruit Punch and Apple Jacks.

The Apple Jacks spot, with its ‘cohesive design motif,’ gave Toms an opportunity to flex his muscles as a design-oriented director with ‘a vision of where fashion and the environment should go and where humanity fits into all that.’

‘I’ve always been involved in design. I designed furniture in high school and I’ve been a photographer for a lot of years. So, if anything, visual styling is something that I have a strong affinity for,’ the director says, highlighting what might become his directing style.

Brimming with confidence, Toms explains how his decade as a crew member helped prepare him for the challenges he faces today. ‘The experience is irreplaceable,’ he says. ‘In terms of problem solving, as a crew member, when you’re good in your category, you’re invaluable to the director, because if he comes up against a problem that is unforeseen, then you’re the one with the body of experience that can get through it.

‘The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to work together with everybody, let everyone contribute and let everyone feel a part of it. It’s like a rock concert. You have this group hysteria where everyone is focused in one direction looking at the band. If everyone on a film crew is focused on having fun and doing the job, then those good vibes go right on the neg. Definitely, there is a measurable difference between a fun shoot and an unfun shoot,’ Toms says.

Toms biggest surprise as he moved to the tall, folding director’s chair was that ‘sitting in the wings, it all looks so much easier. It’s been an awakening, just realizing that these guys [directors] are working way harder than you think. And the good ones are working way harder than they appear to be working.’

Wishing to stay in Toronto, Toms is looking to fill a ‘niche’ where he ‘works regularly with a broad range of people.’ For now, the upstart is ‘just taking advantage of having finished a bunch of new spots, putting together a new reel and just trying to go to the next level.’

As he finishes his noodles and turns his attention to another pot of chamomile tea, Toms gives a ‘shout out’ to his colleagues from the early days.

‘To this day, the crew guys are still phoning me saying they’re proud that I’ve moved on. And I think it gives everyone who’s young and starting in film hope that you can come through a category – that you can move up.’ *

-www.playfilm.com