Toronto’s Avion Films is adding an interesting element to its business. Under the direction of Avion executive producer Andrea Minot, the spot shop is developing an initiative geared specifically toward its u.s.-based stills-photographers-turned-live-action directors, which will see the shop represent them for stills work as well.

The convergence of these two fields is best exemplified for the moment by two new spots for the lcbo, directed by Chicago-based photographer-turned-director Laurie Rubin. The spots, says Minot, combine Rubin’s skills as a photographer and director very well and the client is extremely pleased.

The two :30s are the creative work of Gee Jeffery & Partners, under the creative direction of Gerald George. They play out as a televised version of the lcbo catalogue, offering a glimpse at the recipe for a perfect evening. Known as ‘Quiet Reflections’ and ‘Homecoming Celebration,’ the spots feature moving stills of beautifully prepared food and drink on a white background, whetting appetites as they cross the screen.

These ambitious commercials are not the typical ad fare North American audiences are used to, but Minot says Gee Jeffery was confident Rubin was the right person to test the waters.

‘I recommended Laurie to the agency, and once they had a look at her book [of photographs] they went wild for it,’ says Minot. ‘Laurie’s work is a perfect blend of nice food shooting, beautiful liquid and beautiful people in their own environments. [The agency also chose her] because she has live-action shooting experience as well, so I think it was comfortable for them to work with her.’

Minot adds Rubin was instrumental in getting the creative happening as well, contributing to the storyboarding process with George.

‘She was very much a part of designing the boards along with the creative team,’ recalls Minot. ‘There were no references or general kind of direction the agency wanted to go for the spot or a feel they wanted the spot to have. They were assured that we were all on the same page creatively and we just worked together, which was nice.’

Using the lcbo spots as a successful foray into the stills market, Avion has opened up the possibility for others on its roster to shoot stills as well as live action for the shop’s commercial clients.

Avion president Michael Schwartz says the new initiative makes perfect sense.

‘We still sell them as commercial directors, but what Andrea is doing is trying to open up some other avenues for them into advertising print work in working with the agencies,’ says Schwartz. ‘I don’t know of any other production companies that have pursued any stills work. This is an interesting sort of addition and it just makes total sense to do this.’

Schwartz says perhaps the reason this hasn’t happened before is that American photographer/directors like Rubin and Avion-repped Harvey Wang didn’t know Canadian clients would go for it.

‘I think a lot of them never really thought about the Canadian market as a market worth pursuing because they are all really active in America,’ says Schwartz. ‘We are having dialogue with other directors who are also photographers in the u.s. to represent them on the same level here. In theory, what it will do is flush out some stills people here who are interested in doing directing as well, so that is an interesting possibility.’

Schwartz says he is certain the option of having the same the person shoot the live action and print portions of a campaign will be very attractive to some agencies.

‘Sometimes we get a call from somebody saying they are looking for a director who maybe has a stills background, and it doesn’t occur to them to ask if maybe the director can do the live action and the stills,’ says Schwartz. ‘We are kind of being proactive on that, suggesting a director can do both for you and maybe save you some money by doing it that way.’

He adds, though, Avion will not be devoting less attention to its spot production in favor of this new initiative.

‘It’s not like we are turning the company upside down,’ he says. ‘It seems to make sense for the directors that we have who are also stills photographers. We are repping them for one thing; why not do them both?’ *

-www.avionfilms.com