Agency creative directors have long found directing spots a logical next step as they change careers. The transition is as old as the medium itself.

Those who have made the jump from agency to commercial directing include Bill Irish, Greg Sheppard and Randy Diplock.

There is, however, a new breed of creatives who rather than jumping to spot production completely are straddling both and finding the balancing act extremely rewarding.

Count Jamie Way one of them. The former creative director at TBWAChiatDay has completed six ads for Generator Films since leaving full-time agency work. He most recently helmed spots for the Hudson’s Bay Company created by Padulo Integrated, Toronto, and for dating service Lava Life created by Zig, also of Toronto.

Meanwhile, Way has been on full time at Toronto-based Bensimon*Byrne D’Arcy as CD, filling in for regular creative head Glen Hunt who is on sabbatical until December.

The ad veteran says his 20 years as art director helped in the transition to his new role in ways that rookie directors coming from film school typically do not have. That’s because he has a better grasp of where both the agency and the client are coming from.

‘It’s like being at the best art school in the world. I’ve worked with some of the best names in the business for many years and picked up every little thing from these people,’ he says.

‘I understand concepts better…it’s easier when you realize where a change in direction or concept is coming from and where it’s grounded.’

Way believes that within the next two years, he will have made the transition to directing complete.

Another CD who has his eyes on the director’s chair is Paul Lavoie, president of Toronto-based Taxi. Lavoie has finished five spots in the last year, but insists he has no plans to leave his award-winning agency business behind to pursue production full-time. Not in the near-term, anyway.

Still, as a director, Lavoie seems to have the touch of gold. The first spot he ever completed, while at Cossette, ‘was about a monkey and a banana.’ The premise was the chimp had to choose between a banana and a container of yogurt. That spot won a Grande Mondial in television, a top prize for French advertising around the world. ‘The monkey won a New York [Advertising] Festival acting award,’ Lavoie says with a laugh.

But it was not until last year that he began to direct seriously. It was then, as a member of the board of Covenant House, that Lavoie took his Sony video camera and filmed a spot to help the shelter for runaway and homeless youth. That won a Bronze Lion at Cannes. As well, he, along with Taxi creative director Zak Mroueh, codirected a pair of public-service commercials for Molson. One of them, a spot featuring a man testing a wheelchair before he drinks and drives, won several awards in 2000, including a gold spot prize at the Bessies.

Since then he has had offers to direct spots for a brand in Japan and Renault in France. ‘I had to decline because I’m running an agency,’ says Lavoie, who directs under the pseudonym ‘Mr. Voila.’

‘I do these every once in a while because I really enjoy them…it spices up my career a little bit.’

While his busy schedule won’t allow it, Lavoie says he would like to direct all the ads he develops.

Indeed, there once was a time when agency CDs regularly directed their own spots. But due to the extensive preparation time required to execute top-calibre commercials, most agency people have opted to delegate the work to professional directors.

‘With directing you really have to take your time. The director really has to do a lot. The prepping time is crucial to the success of it,’ Lavoie says.

On the other hand, in some instances, the CD taking the project from concept to final edit can allow for a more streamlined process. In these days of tightening ad budgets, this is becoming increasingly important on the client side.

Part of the reason given when Labatt Breweries pulled its account from Ammirati Puris earlier this month was that it was looking for greater value at less cost.

It is precisely to address such demands that Brent Wickes, former vice-president advertising creative director at Calgary-based Parallel Strategies, launched Creative Storm. Toronto-based Creative Storm’s mandate is to combine full agency and production services.

‘It streamlines everything for the client. It saves money,’ says Wickes.

‘I always believed, since I first started directing, that creative people should be directing more of their own spots. They more than anybody else should have the vision in their head.’

Doing both allows the CD creating the concept to understand what is possible within the budget once cameras start rolling, he says.

‘The only disadvantage that I can think of is that it’s a lot more work.’

In addition to his agency, Wickes is repped by Toronto’s Filmblanc and acts as an agent in Canada for the production house’s European slate of directors.

Not coincidentally, Wickes, like Way and Lavoie, began his career as an agency art director. All three see the jump to directing as a natural extension from their early careers. ‘At the end of the day, the art director has the real responsibility for creating the tone and visual feel for that ad,’ says Lavoie. ‘There’s an easier transition from art director to director.’

The other thing all three agree on is that directing is an extremely satisfying experience.

‘It’s more gratifying,’ says Way, summing up. ‘How it all comes together in the end, it’s just pure magic.’

Peter Vamos