After wrapping a recent campaign for Canada Reconnect, it occurred to director Aubrey Singer that the talent could have put more of his head into it.

The spots focus on an unfortunate fella forced to converse by yelling out of the windows of his house because he doesn’t have a phone.

After the shoot wrapped, Singer and Publicis creative director Anthony Wolch had a brainstorm. They managed to get a bit more money and had some trick glass made up. Four days later they returned to the location with the actor and shot him breaking the window with his head. After seeing the scene it’s hard to imagine the spot without it. ‘I’ve worked with a lot of directors, and at the end of the day for most of them it’s the end of the day, but Aubrey never stops,’ says Wolch.

Singer, 36, has been directing for less than two years, but is not new to spot production. His 11 years as a creative for such top agencies as DDB Needham, Chiat/Day and Publicis taught him a lot about what directors shouldn’t do, so he decided it was best to just do it himself.

‘I didn’t go into directing because I wanted to wear a beret and eat pasta on College Street,’ says Singer. ‘I decided to move into directing because I got so frustrated with so many of the directors that I came across out there.’

Singer was first repped by Angel Films and is currently repped internationally by Industry Films in Toronto.

For Singer, genuinely contributing to a spot and making it better requires the director to bring back more than what the creatives or production company ask for, but directors have to be careful to enhance the original idea and not eclipse it. ‘Rather than bringing some agenda and not knowing what you’re doing, make the idea as great as it can be without changing it,’ he says.

‘He is not jaded by the business. His sense of humor is inherent in the fact that he has only made a certain number of spots; it makes him brave,’ Wolch says.

Unlike many young directors, Singer’s lengthy experience in the industry gives him a real sense of how difficult the business is right now, especially for young directors. ‘Advertising is such a complicated and sophisticated kind of industry, and if you don’t understand that, you’ve missed the boat,’ says Singer, adding that to survive, directors cannot wait for opportunities to come to them, but must create opportunities wherever they can.

Singer’s ‘Exacting Standards’ spot for Janes Family Foods has been recognized in Playback’s Top Spots, Shots, Applied Arts Magazine, was a Bessie finalist and earned him a top position at the First Cut Awards. He is currently living in L.A. diversifying his talents by writing a feature script.