The first thing Martin Shewchuk did when he started as executive VP, executive creative director at J. Walter Thompson, Toronto, was to separate Canadian directors’ reels from ‘all the rest’ in the agency’s library, with Canadian flag stickers and an exclusive Canuck shelf.

‘We should support Canadian directors for the same reasons that our clients here in Canada support Canadian agencies; it just makes good economic sense,’ says Shewchuk, who has also been a full-time director at Radke Films and spent 15 years on the agency side at Leo Burnett.

Shewchuk believes it is vitally important for creative directors and the industry to support local helmers, and says it is something he plans to work towards at JWT.

Today many of Canada’s top creative directors understand the importance of supporting the homegrown industry and recognize the talent and advantages local directors bring to a spot. But many say it is an appreciation they’ve developed by virtue of experience in the business and that junior creatives are less likely to recognize the talent or advantages of the directors in their own backyards.

‘The days of the young, 26-year-old creative directors coming out of a dot-com shop are dead,’ says Marc Stoiber, creative director for Toronto agency Grey Advertising. ‘I think there’s a real role for a senior statesman in a creative department.’

As the economy tightens, clients are demanding reassurance from people who’ve been around the block, explains Stoiber. Today less experienced creatives depend even more on the guidance of CDs to empower and inform their skills in selecting directors.

In his early days as a creative at JWT, Stoiber says he benefited considerably from working with then-CD Ron Woodall.

‘I haven’t always been like this, but now I am a little biased toward Canadian directors,’ says Zak Mroueh, partner and CD at Toronto agency Taxi. ‘As you get more experience, comfort and confidence, you realize you can affect the process as a creative person.’

Junior creatives haven’t necessarily developed the confidence needed to pick the right director for the job and, according to Mroueh, are more likely to go for big-name imported directors. It takes time and experience to develop a really intuitive sense of what makes a good director, one based on experience and knowledge of your market, rather than popular opinion.

At Palmer Jarvis DDB, three well-seasoned CDs work closely with junior creatives, helping them to acquire necessary skills and confidence.

Neil McOstrich, a 15-year veteran of the ad industry, joined the Toronto office two years ago. A year ago, Alan Russell, who started at the agency in 1987, was named VP CD of the Vancouver office. And in July, Chris Heatherington joined the Edmonton office as CD. Heatherington has been in the business for 20 years, previously as CD and GM of Young & Rubicam in Vancouver

‘We have more mature leadership in place now and are just finding the wisdom and the collective experience they’re bringing to the table are very beneficial to promoting our creative product,’ says Rob MacLean, VP corporate communications at Palmer Jarvis, Toronto.

National president and COO Rob Whittle says junior creatives bring the fresh eyes an agency needs, but experienced CDs know how to turn a good idea into a successful campaign for their clients. The company uses a peer review system to ensure that younger creatives benefit from the collective experience available at the agency.

‘We feel that the experience allows dynamic young talent to be coached in a more appropriate fashion because they just don’t have the years of experience to be able to deal with difficult situations, like how to sell a campaign through to a client,’ says Whittle.

‘Relax, it’s just a game,’ a recent PSA campaign for the National Hockey Association out of the Vancouver office, is a good example of effective collaboration between junior creatives and experienced CDs, says Whittle. Conceived by account director Scot Keith, the campaign uses role reversal in parent-child relationships to draw attention to the inappropriate pressures some parents may put on their children in minor hockey and other sports. Copywriter Joseph Bonnici, art director Daryl Gardiner and producer Janice Crondahl benefited from Heatherington’s guidance on the spots.

With print and radio ads, as well as three television spots, it may be the most talked about PSA of the year. In addition to extensive national coverage, the campaign has also received considerable attention outside of Canada, including coverage on the BBC, ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, CNN, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. The television spots, ‘Golf,’ ‘Groceries’ and ‘Cop,’ were produced by untitled in Vancouver with Canadian director Tim Godsall.

Junior creatives may rely on more experienced CDs in part because they aren’t as aware of what the local market has to offer and may lack relationships within the community that would allow them to know which directors are capable of doing what kinds of spots.

‘Younger teams will see a video or a spot they absolutely love, whether it’s because of the casting, energy or shooting, and will want to use that director,’ says Tim Turner, general manager and executive producer at Circle Productions. ‘But those factors may have no relevance whatsoever for a local client they’re working with.’

Knowing how to pick the right director for the job requires an intimate knowledge of the history of relationships between client and agency, something Turner says comes with increased experience.

In addition to the talent of many Canadian directors, Mroueh says working with local helmers is also an advantage because they are available. ‘I can contact a director and have a meeting with them the same day,’ which he says facilitates a more collaborative environment between creatives and directors.

‘I have a lot of confidence in the Canadian industry. We have some really killer directors here,’ says Mroueh. ‘But at the end of the day I think some agencies haven’t realized how much talent there is in Canada.’