Saskatchewan – it’s home to the Green Riders, the mystic prairie and Bill Stampe, commercial director and owner of Cinepost Films. What are the challenges that face a commercial director working in Saskatoon, outside Canada’s major markets? The veteran spot director shares his insights.

Since 1983, Stampe has run his production company from this prairie city. A former mechanical engineer, Stampe first flexed his artistic muscle drawing a cartoon strip for the Edmonton Journal. When he decided to start directing, it was the Prairies that gave him his shot.

‘One of the advantages of being from the Prairies has always been that there are a limited number of experienced directors in that market that are willing to make a living there,’ Stampe says.

He adds that the province does what it can to promote local talent: ‘There’s a kind of ‘by Saskatchewan first’ policy. The government is saying, ‘If you can use a local director, we’d rather you do that than bring somebody in from Toronto or Vancouver.’ ‘ This in part helped Stampe get opportunities with the province’s major advertisers – the Crown corporations and Saskatchewan Government. ‘It gave me a chance to show them what I could do,’ he says.

Despite the local-boy advantages of securing work, Stampe says the lower-budget commercials ($60,000 to $100,000 for a 30-second spot) sometimes make it hard to keep the necessary polish on his reel, which would help him stand out in larger markets. ‘You can’t bring in a lot of the big, specialized equipment, like multiple-lens packages or big stars,’ Stampe explains.

The difficulty in getting top talent in Saskatchewan has helped shape the regional industry. ‘A lot of your really strong talent is going where the market is, and that’s in Vancouver or Toronto. So you’re always [working with] new talent,’ he says.

More than strengthening Stampe’s real-people directing skills, working with new talent also assures him of fresh faces in his spots.

‘Everybody wants a fresh face,’ Stampe says. ‘Nobody wants the same person that was on the last commercial, because there are no stars out here. These people are pretty fresh from the theatre.’

The lack of Saskatchewan star power has also prompted a particular style of creative in the province. Says Stampe: ‘What you find, to some degree, is fewer dialogue and comedy-related commercials because of the lack of talent [with] that kind of experience. You get more picture content with voice-over and music.’

Working from Saskatchewan provides a stable environment for commercial production. Each year, there are about four large-scale commercial campaigns to bid on.

Like other local spot-makers, Stampe does travel outside the province to Vancouver and Toronto to complete his digital online. ‘There are no Flames, Henrys or Infernos here,’ Stampe says. ‘I don’t think there’s enough market for it.’

Stampe enjoys getting a taste of the toys of the larger markets and still being able to return to his family and business in Saskatoon when he’s finished.

‘To be able to come home to a place like Saskatoon is really nice. But I’m like everybody – give me the right project with the right kind of budget and it’s like a kid going into a candy store. I love being able to work on projects that are cool, different and interesting.’

-www.cinepostfilms.com