Toronto-based director Jordan Patriquin joined Hero earlier this summer. Patriquin rose through the ranks in Toronto’s commercial production industry, starting as a production assistant and working his way up to director. While establishing himself, Patriquin wrote, produced and directed spec spots for Surfline.com, Visa and Kaos High Test Lemonade. Most recently, he completed a spot for Senior Tours Canada, operator of escorted tours for the mature traveler.

Chicago-based David Rosen has also joined Hero. He began directing at Ben Moon in New York, which he formed after breaking away from Chicago-based The Story Companies, which he cofounded and served as first president.

Hero has also signed Toronto-based director Akim Triebsch. Triebsch’s commercial directing debut was for Toronto-based Yuk Yuk’s out of Young & Rubicam, Toronto, which won a Silver Mobius and a Clio Merit award. His early success has led him to work out of agencies such as the Creative Group, Highwood Communications, Ogilvy & Mather, Wasserman & Partners and Palmer Jarvis DDB.

New and old at Imported

Gary Johns returns to Toronto’s Imported Artists Film Company after a two-year hiatus. He is known for directing the very first Labatt Out of the Blue spot, ‘Street Car.’ Johns also conceived and directed the first Michael Jordan commercial for Nike, ‘NBA.’

Imported has also signed director Maria Demopoulos for Canadian representation. She is repped by Coppos Films in the U.S. and by Errecerre in Europe. Demopoulos directed music videos for Cracker, Jamariquoi and Depeche Mode before turning her attention to commercial directing.

As well, Jesse Dylan (yes, son of Bob) has joined Imported. Dylan has directed spots for clients such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Budweiser and Miller Lite, and recently directed his first feature film, How High.

Suzanne Luna, another recent addition to the roster, just completed her first spot at Imported, ‘We’ll Share It’ for Labatt Breweries of Canada through Grip Ltd. .

Luna has been involved in commercial production for 15 years.

Graeme Joyce has also joined Imported. He received the Directorial Debut Award from the Music Video Producers Association for his work on the Stone Temple Pilots’ Wicked Garden video. Joyce has directed spots for clients such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Adidas.

Imported also adds director Geoffrey Barish to its roster. Barish’s first featurette, Tres Cruces, launched his commercial directing career and he has since directed spots for the likes of Budweiser, Puma, BMW and Mercedes. He recently shot a spot for Chevrolet in Wyoming.

Directing duo joins Partners’

The Partners’ Film Company has added Kirsten Bolton, 33, and her brother Devon, 29, to its roster.

The directing team’s European style and comedic talent was recognized at the 2002 Summit Creative Awards for a series of spots they did for Source Adult Video out of Calgary agency Fulcrum Communications Group. The spots poke fun at the odd things people do to avoid going into adult movie establishments.

Spin on for visual F/X director

Toronto’s Spin Productions has hired a new visual F/X director, Hilton Treves, who hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. While in South Africa, he collaborated with Daniel Levi (who recently joined Spy Films in Toronto) on a spot which received two gold and two silver awards at South Africa’s Loeries. Treves has directed spots for such agencies as Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather and Velocity Afrika.

Cenex shuffles its roster

Halifax-based CENEX has signed Carl Harvey and James Hyslop for Atlantic representation.

Young Buck growing

Toronto’s Buck Productions has signed director Drew Skelly, bringing its local roster up to eight directors.

Skelly has been active in commercial production for six years. He honed his comedic approach to directing by creating spec spots for Doritos, The Food Network, The History Channel and monster.com. The monster.com spot caught the eyes of Buck and Skelly’s first official job with the shop was for Wild Water Kingdom.

New directors excel at Pure

Pure Films of Toronto adds another new director, David Hyde.

Early experiences on the road with bands touring Canada and an avid interest in photography landed Hyde at CBC, where he worked on The Journal with Barbara Frum.

Two years ago, after a brief stint with Spy Films, Hyde was directing music videos for bands including Moist, Ashley McIssac and Sara Harmer. Although still doing some work with MuchMusic, Hyde is dedicating himself to commercials and has just finished a spot for Mike’s Hard Lemonade. He is also working on a PSA for War Child out of Toronto agency John Street.

D Squared gets Lynch

Jeremy Lynch, born in England and raised in Canada, joins D Squared Picture Company. Previously with Industry Films, Lynch moved into commercial directing from music videos. He trained in photographic arts at Ryerson University and gained international attention with innovative experiments in photography. Lynch’s photographs of tourists created a buzz when he developed them in Lake Ontario with no additional chemicals. He repeated the experiment in Swan Lake, Eng. and the Hudson River in New York.

Lynch’s reel contains spots for Labatt, Roots and Pillsbury and he has worked for agencies like Palmer Jarvis and Leo Burnett.

Pohorsky becomes Spy

South African director Peter Pohorsky joins Spy Films. Pohorsky recently completed ‘Ninja Goalie,’ a spot for Kellogg’s Vector Energy Bars out of Toronto’s Leo Burnett, featuring former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph. He made his directorial debut on an animated film in Prague before moving to Cape Town, South Africa to work in advertising. His first big hit in South Africa was a spot for Smirnoff Vodka. He describes himself as ‘an action, skin-flick, blood-and-guts comedy style director.’