Zach Math has an equation for you. Take three parts training, one part experience and multiply by confidence and humility, plus one. The results are not in the back of a textbook. They’re listed on the commercial reel of a young Canadian director making waves less than a year into his career in the spot business.

Math, a finalist at the 2001 First Cut Awards, has directed spots from the satirical to the absurd. His reel already includes ‘Nerd Club,’ a take-off on Fight Club, for the Canadian Dental Association and ‘Tiny Sparrow of Love’ for the Sugar Mountain candy store.

How did the youthful Math get to where he is today? It all started in his last year of high school at Toronto’s Upper Canada College. ‘I was looking for an alternative to writing an essay,’ Math explains of his first film project, an independent study that he says was a natural progression from his passion for creative writing.

Math enjoyed the process so much that, after taking film courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, he applied to NYU’s film program, where he was accepted and specialized in cinema. ‘It was a nice balance between competition and conversation so I could get to the next level,’ Math says.

Although Math left NYU before completing his degree when he felt he had learned all he could there, he credits his experience at the institution as valuable to the work he is accomplishing today.

‘[There] I realized craft is power. Undoubtedly, the more craft knowledge you have, the more film knowledge you have and can bring to the overall process – it can’t do anything but help,’ he says.

Despite his belief that ‘craft is power,’ Math still understands that art is paramount and cannot be taught. ‘It’s something you have to develop as an individual,’ he says.

Upon leaving NYU, Math set out on an adventure riding a bicycle from Canada to Mexico with his buddy. He brought his camera. ‘My first priority out of school was to do stuff that appealed to me, that was totally artistic, before the reality of commerce comes in,’ he explains.

Having worked through spec spots, and a lot of ‘low-budget, high-concept’ projects, Math cites his desire ‘to move on from there,’ and is no longer accepting these starter-type projects.

Math’s tendency toward perfectionism lends itself to his goal of continually taking on bigger and better projects. He explains: ‘I get really into it. Everything has to be exceptional. The good work is going to win out.’

Represented by Generator Films, Math says he selected the spot house ‘that guaranteed’ him work, rather than other offers that may have led to greater monetary rewards. ‘That’s always been my stance,’ he says. ‘Give me a chance to work and the rest will come.’

It’s all part of the equation.