There’s another player on the Toronto spot landscape. The Players Film Company president Philip Mellows reveals that an as-yet-unnamed satellite of his Toronto commercial house is set to launch in October.

Although the roster has not been announced, a September deal with Montreal’s Voodoo Arts for reciprocal representation of the companies’ directors in the two markets offers a first glimpse at the new shop’s lineup of directors.

Voodoo will work to market Players directors such as Philip Kates, Bradley Walsh, Adam Massey, Jordan Toms and Steve Surjik in Montreal, while Players will make room for Voodoo helmers Jim Donovan, Bernard Nadeau and Francis Leclerc in Toronto.

Players new boutique shop will, according to Mellows, provide the representation for Voodoo directors trying to crack the Toronto market. This part of the plan was highly attractive to Voodoo president and executive producer Ric Ostiguy.

‘Instead of being the sixth or seventh guy on the [Players] roster, they can be the top guys on the roster at the new company. I think they’ll get some attention,’ Ostiguy says.

According to the Voodoo president, the Voodoo-Players deal arose after the departure of Voodoo executive producer Stephanie Lord to Cinelande satellite 401.

Prior to approaching Players, Voodoo had an informal (verbal) arrangement to represent Radke Films helmers in Montreal. Ostiguy says they had spent a year promoting the Toronto directors before finally starting to get bites from Montreal agencies last November. Voodoo got spot jobs for Radke directors such as Eddy Chu and Martin Shewchuk. However, when Lord left Voodoo for 401, ‘she took the deal with Radke [with her],’ says Ostiguy.

‘I figured this was an opportunity to shop around and find out what the best deal would be for Voodoo,’ he explains.

Ostiguy talked to companies like Imported Artists and The Partners’ Film Company before making a fateful call to Avion Films’ Michael Schwartz. ‘He told me he wasn’t available, but he said, ‘You should check out Players.’ I wasn’t really that familiar with them. Immediately on the phone I could see there was some interest from Philip [Mellows].

‘The thing I found interesting about Players is that they have a lot of Canadian-based directors, which is good for us because American directors are just too expensive for this market. Plus, when we rep directors through a company in Toronto, we’re obviously splitting profits. And they have to split them with the American company. How many ways can you split a pie?’ Ostiguy asks.

Ostiguy and Mellows hit it off from their first telephone conversation at the beginning of August. Recounts Ostiguy: ‘[Mellows] said the timing was great. He had been at the Cannes advertising festival and had met a lot of people from agencies in Montreal. They were all telling him, you really have to hook up with a Montreal-based company if you want to get some work here. So I went [to Toronto] to meet him, spent the whole day at Players and met everybody there. It went really well. The following week he came here, and then we just shook hands and followed it up with a deal memo.’

For Mellows, the feeling is mutual: ‘The real defining factor in us doing a deal with Voodoo is Ric Ostiguy. You meet Ric and he’s very impressive.’

Mellows was also impressed by the companies’ similar MOs. Not only do the two shops embrace technology (Players has an interactive division, PlayMedia, and Voodoo a large integrated animation department), both are moving closer to the world of feature films.

‘My directors are going to get the same personal attention when they’re in Montreal,’ Mellows says.

In terms of the length of the deal, both parties are looking for a ‘long and prosperous relationship.’

Voodoo has also announced the hiring of Caroline Wrinch as executive producer, replacing Lord. Wrinch joins Voodoo with a diverse advertising background, including a stint at Ridley Scott and Associates and freelance jobs for agencies like Cossette (Toronto/Montreal) and ChiatDay (New York). More recently, Wrinch was directing spots for Jet Films, Soma Productions and Cinelande. Joining the Voodoo team will mark the veteran executive’s return to producing, an aspect of the trade she loves and missed from the helmer’s chair. Wrinch believes her experiences as a director will be valuable in her ‘new challenge.’

Discussing Wrinch’s new remit, Ostiguy says although the company will continue to seek both local and international work, this time ‘we’re going to work things a little bit differently.’

‘Stephanie was completely in charge of the Quebec market and nothing else, whereas Caroline has a much more international background, like me. We’ll split it much more on a project-by-project basis. Whoever has the most affinity with the executive or producer at the agency will handle that client. So she’ll be working all markets, just like I will,’ Ostiguy says.

-www.voodooarts.com

-www.playfilm.com