James Hyslop’s directing encompasses both commercial and documentary work – two disciplines that he says inform one another, allowing him to tell stories and hone his craft. Previously represented by Toronto’s Angel Films, Hyslop secured a new representation deal with Toronto-based Bedlam Films after Angel merged with Generator in September. At Bedlam, Hyslop expects to continue to build on his body of work as a storyteller in both short and long forms.

Hyslop looks upon his career as a logical progression: originally a Canadian naval officer, he has since dedicated himself to storytelling, working in the U.S. at several agencies, including Campbell Mithun Esty in Minneapolis as creative director.

‘When somebody sits down to watch something of yours, no matter the length, you’ve engaged them for a period of time in their life that they can never get back. I try to make sure there’s a reward for the person who’s watching it,’ he explains.

Hyslop directs documentaries in addition to his spot work, to both explore topics of interest and get a chance to make mistakes, something there is no room for in the tightly scheduled and scripted ‘high stakes’ world of commercial production. For him, documentaries also sharpen his narrative sensibilities.

‘If you just do commercials, it limits the scope of how you can tell a story in 30 seconds. On commercials, you don’t get a lot of time with a crew and a camera to ply your trade. With documentaries, you get a much greater time beside the camera learning and trying new things. Then you cross-apply those tools to other genres,’ he explains.

Directing documentaries has also helped Hyslop refine his work directing ‘real people.’

‘[On documentaries, the people on-camera often] don’t speak the language or have a cultural fear of the camera. So you learn how to deal with these people,’ he says.

With 25 full-length documentaries under his belt (Warriors of the Night, From Sea Power to Super Power; Why The World Speaks English), and many spots as well (most recently a campaign for Wal-Mart through Publicis and Angel), Hyslop says his secret is ‘making sure I’m the dumbest guy on set.’ Surrounded by technical experts, the director spends his time concentrating on executing his vision.

‘[Players director] Philip Kates told me a director is merely somebody with an opinion. And I’ve always been either cursed or blessed with a lot of opinions,’ Hyslop says.

One of those opinions is a strong belief in diversification. ‘It’s not weakening. It’s not work for the sake of work,’ he says. ‘Look at diversification as a strengthening process.’

Hyslop, whose first commercial representative was Navigator Films, had been represented by Angel for two and a half years prior to his move to Bedlam, a Partners’ Film Company boutique shop.