Up-and-coming commercial director Zach Math has left Toronto’s Generator Films to join Steam Films.

‘What we really like about Zach is that he has a point of view, and for someone who has been directing for less than two years, to have such a distinct point of view is remarkable,’ says managing director and executive producer Roger Harris.

After only three weeks at Steam, Math has completed two spots with Toronto’s Zig Advertising. Born in Toronto, Math studied film at NYU and turned heads with his short film Nerd Club.

Mark Mainguy also joins Steam after a successful eight months at Pure Films in Toronto. Before his stint at Pure, Mainguy spent five years with Radke Films and comes from a background in fashion photography. Mainguy has signed two jobs since joining Steam. According to Harris, Mainguy’s strength is creative problem-solving and he says the young director continues to evolve at a surprising rate.

‘We’re really focused on developing our Canadian roster and feel that Mark and Zach are the perfect fit,’ says head of sales Jennifer Sykes. Steam’s Canadian roster includes David McNally, David Wellington and Sam Welch.

Directors move up to Park City

The Park City Film Company has added four new directors to its roster since July. Among them is Joao Daniel Tikhomiroff, recognized as the top director in Brazil, who has won 38 Lions at Cannes, making him the second most-decorated commercial director internationally. Park City has also signed Tikhomiroff’s son Michel, whose Blockbuster Video spot was shortlisted at Cannes this year.

Also joining the Park City roster are Sergio, a comedy dialogue director who hails from Argentina, but has lived in South Africa since the ’80s.

The most recent addition to the roster, director/cameraman George Willis, signed with Park City on Sept. 9. Before joining Park City, Willis was with The Big Film Company in Toronto. Both he and Sergio are repped by Velocity in South Africa

And 25-year-old Daniel Levi, repped by Gatehouse Films in South Africa, also joins the Park City roster, although his representation is non-exclusive – Levi will also be on rosters at Spy Films and The Players Film Company.

Three new Sparks

Sparks Productions has added three new directors to its roster, Bruce Van Dusen, Kenen Moran and Jamie Most.

Van Dusen has been working as a director/cameraman for 25 years and began his career in New York City where he is now repped by Public Domain. He has worked in Canada, Central America, South America, Africa, Italy and France and has directed spots for clients including AT&T, Ford, Sprint, Hershey’s and McDonald’s.

Moran developed his comedic style while at Jim Henson Productions in New York and started his commercial directing career at Half Baked Productions, where he directed his first campaign, ‘Bunny & Penguin,’ for Crunch Fitness. He won a Gold at the 2001 Clios for his PSA ‘Companion Animal Park’ for client Companion Animal Placement.

Born in Boston, Most is known for his work with athletes. He joined NBA Entertainment as a creative director/film director and is currently represented by The Story Companies, which has offices in L.A., Chicago and New York.

Generator signs three new directors

Generator Films’ roster has expanded to include directors Harvey Wang, Mark Tiedemann and Heavy International, a pseudonym used by Jonas Baron Morganstein

Morganstein got his start at The Bomb Factory in Venice, CA and started directing with Tool of North America. His work is concept-driven with graphic and filmic elements and he caters to a range of blue-chip clients including Lexus, Janus and LA Cellular.

Wang is a New York director and acclaimed stills photographer whose work has appeared in Village Voice. One of his first projects as a commercial director was a spot for Ikea.

Although Tiedemann studied psychology and religion before deciding to be a stock broker, he has settled well into commercial directing, using his talent for comedy to direct spots for clients such as KFC, Comedy Central, Staples and Kia.

Animator comes home to TOPIX

Toronto animation, special FX and broadcast design house TOPIX has signed Ian Hulbert, 32, as its senior animation director. Hulbert, who hails from Oakville, ON and studied at Fanshawe College in London, ON, will head TOPIX’s 3D character animation team. Before joining TOPIX, Hulbert spent seven years as senior animator and technical director at L.A.-based Rhythm and Hues. While at R&H, Hulbert’s talents were put to work on spots for Nintendo’s Game Boy campaign as well as ‘Once Upon A Time’ for Xerox. He has also worked on features such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Babe II and Scooby Doo.

Case cooks for Cenex

Halifax-based CENEX has signed director/cameraman Derek Case to representation in Eastern Canada. Case was trained as a stills photographer in the U.K. before moving to Canada where he began to develop his specialty in tabletop, and more specifically, food photography. His talents turned from print to film production 20 years ago and he has continued to pursue his knack for making food look good on film. He has shot more than 100 spots for clients such as Kellogg’s, Dairy Queen, Pepsi and Kraft.

Sean Turrell joins Avion

Toronto’s Avion Films has signed music video and spot director Sean Turrell to its roster.