Former Maxx Productions executive producer Lisa Whittall has joined Toronto music video production house Oz Media to spearhead its new commercial production division.

Whittall, Oz’s VP, managing director, joins Trisha McKell, president/executive producer.

Oz has also teamed with neighbor Oasis Pictures, a film and TV producer/distributor, to create the Oz Media Group of Companies, which includes Oz’s music video and commercial divisions as well as Oz TV & Feature, a new division specializing in film and television production.

Whittall and McKell say their commercial directors will be encouraged to explore other creative endeavors within the two companies, such as their own TV series and feature film projects, which could be distributed by Oasis. This makes Oz a rarity in that it is directly linked to a major film and TV distributor.

‘It’s a way for us to get our directors into long format if that’s the route they want to go,’ says McKell. ‘Jeff Sibbery, who is with Oz Media for music videos, just wrote a series with Oasis. It keeps him happy and working within the family, too.

‘Our strategy is definitely to manage careers so that we are not only looking at it from a commercial point of view,’ adds Whittall. ‘When some people open up a company they keep things really separate and they don’t mix and match, so they don’t have their music video directors on their commercial director roster and vice versa. They treat it like a separate company and it is run in a really separate way.’

Whittall says it is to Oz’s benefit to move its directors from one format to another.

‘There are a lot of companies that won’t encourage their directors to go off and do a movie because it means they’ve lost them,’ says Whittall. ‘For us, we haven’t lost them because they are still within us, so we really encourage them to do a series or movie or a music video because it all works to benefit everybody.’

Oasis VP, finance and operations Brian Barrett says Oasis is pleased to have a hand in Oz’s commercial efforts.

‘We just entered into an aggressive stage of growth where we want to create closer ties to the creative community, so we’ve done things to be consistent with that vision and this would be one of them,’ says Barrett. ‘The short format is great for us because we are used to longer format, longer payment terms and that whole thing. Oz has a great thing going with its music videos so [the spot division] is an exciting prospect.’

Whittall says they are actively and aggressively recruiting young directors, mostly Canadian, for their enthusiasm and marketability.

‘We really want to get a lot of Canadian directors because it is a lot easier to manage their careers [because they’re local and easily accessible],’ says Whittall. ‘I know a lot of the Canadian directors will be skeptical of a new shop, but I’m sure they’ll jump on board when we start to shine through.’

McKell says in addition to Oz’s move into commercials, the in-house post facility, Plan B, shared by Oz and Oasis, is also due for expansion. This will be another attractive prospect for directors looking to explore post without having to shell out extra cash for the opportunity. It also offers a way to make a director’s cuts of their work.

‘We have a certain amount of business sophistication that we can bring to the table and allow people to pursue what they want to pursue, and we realize people are best at certain things and may only want to pursue only certain aspects,’ says Barrett. ‘What we see happening is a lot of creative people are being forced into things that they’re not really good at for the benefit of the financial aspects of a business. We want to take that out of their hands and help them achieve their goals.’

McKell likens the Oz/Oasis philosophy to a sandbox: they provide the box and the sand and the directors are left to build whatever kind of castle they want.

Now it’s just a matter of getting the directors on board.

Whittall, known for her recruiting prowess, says Oz is already in talks with several directors and companies in Canada and elsewhere and will have some announcements in the near future.

Already on the Oz roster for music video work are Micha Dahan, Christopher Romeike, Rob Pilichowski, Liz Marshall and Mark Adam.

McKell and Whitall say Toronto directors David Hyde, Jay Field and Aubrey Singer recently signed up as well.

McKell says all of Oz’s music video directors have expressed an interest in tackling commercial work through Oz, with the exception of Siberry, who continues to shoot spots through Toronto’s Big Film Company. *

-www.ozmedia.on.ca