Trevor Cornish, a Vancouver-based director who bounded into the spotlight from relative obscurity last year with a series of critically acclaimed spots for the Vancouver International Film Festival, is the recipient of the 2002 First Cut Award. Cornish, a 27-year-old helmer, got his break with VIFF 2001 and so impressed the creative team behind the campaign that he was handed the entire campaign for the 2002 festival.

First Cut finalists were Toronto-based Zach Math, repped by Steam Films, recognized by the judges for a second consecutive year as one of the best new talents in the biz; Radke Films’ Michael Downing and Industry Film’s Aubrey Singer, both based in L.A.; and Soma Productions’ Alexandre Franchi, out of Quebec, who, like Cornish, has literally just stepped onto the scene.

Founded in 1996 and sponsored by Saatchi & Saatchi and On The Spot, the First Cut Award is given to an outstanding upstart commercial director and has helped launch the careers of Wayne Craig (1999), Randy Diplock (2000) and last year’s winner, Matt Eastman.

Faced with a 30% drop year after year in qualified entries, the First Cut committee opened up the competition to allow music videos and short films in 2002. As a result, this year, First Cut received 27 entries, up from 15 last year.