The strangest thing about Apple Box Production’s 10th anniversary is that its history spans four decades. Because when you get right down to it, its roots in this industry actually stretch way back to the fall of 1974. Back then it was a mere embryo of a commercial production house called

ITV Productions, a division of CITV, Western Canada’s very first independent

television station.

The common denominator throughout has been Hans Dys, Apple Box Production’s V.P., General Manager. You’d never get him to say it, but it’s safe to say that it’s unlikely they would have made it into the late seventies let alone 2001 without his passion.

What Dys will tell you however, is that his strength over the years has been his ability to hire people. Not simply people who share his vision but people who challenge him and in the end contribute to making Apple Box the ‘A’ level production house it is today.

Dys says, ‘Years ago someone told me democracy never works in business. But I’ve always valued the opinions of the people around me. After all, one person can’t be expected to have all the answers. Which is another reason I like to give people a great deal of autonomy. And while I get a lot of credit for it, I can honestly say that we’ve been fortunate to attract talented, smart, dedicated and sometimes more importantly, nice people into this company or more accurately our family.’

Getting back to ITV for a second, they eventually became Apple Box Productions seventeen years later. Obviously things took off because in 1991, offices were added in Vancouver and Toronto.

But like they say, behind every successful enterprise there’s a surgeon from Edmonton. Okay maybe only Hans Dys would say that. In crediting CITV’s brainchild, owner and founder Dr. Charles Allard for not only encouraging him way back then but being in the back of his mind to this day when it comes to having a vision, thinking big and how to encourage others.

According to Dys, ‘He gave so many of us an incredible opportunity and was totally supportive. He was really a unique man in that he had an incredible vision of the future, yet he was very mild-mannered. ‘The Doctor’ as he was called, expected his key people to be innovative and resourceful. Just like him.’

Back then, his vision resulted in the production of award-winning concerts featuring everyone from Neil Sedaka to Roberta Flack. If his name rings a bell, it might be as a result of seeing it roll up your television screen at the end of SCTV.

But that was then, this is now.

With rich roots in entertainment firmly planted, Apple Box has grown into easily one of the most formidable commercial production houses in the country. And possibly as a result of the early influence of Dr. Allard and now Dys, the kind of place that people on the agency side and crews alike would prefer to deal with.

‘The key to our success has always been our front line people, their passion and desire make us what we are today. And that holds true for all three of our offices,’ says Dys.

Whether it’s Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto, it seems Apple Box is staffed with people who are not only knowledgeable but take pride in having a high degree of integrity. Something I think we can all agree you can’t get enough of in this business. Or any other for that matter.

Missy Geffen was Apple Box’s first Executive Producer in 1991 after spending almost 11 years as a producer with ITV Productions. According to Dys, her passion for the business is as intense today as it was when she started with us in 1980. Interestingly, Missy not only has a wide and varied background in production but actually started as a writer. So needless to say, she has a unique view on any job that comes into the company. Dys says, ‘Her ability to help us grow our client base in the west has been amazing. Saying she’s indispensable would be a tremendous understatement.’

Along with Ms. Geffen in the Edmonton office is Bob Keats. Keats is Apple Box’s only staff director and an original from those formative ITV years, as is Jim Smith, Edmonton’s staff producer. Both Keats and Smith have extensive backgrounds in both commercial and direct response advertising. They’re two of the reasons Dys started a new division called Direct Hit Productions in the fall of 1999. Direct Hit, as a separate division, exclusively targets direct response production and primarily the American market from its home base in Edmonton. ‘We’ve won international awards in direct response,’ says Dys, ‘Our clients include many of the top American direct response companies. So it’s a natural growth opportunity for us.’

The Vancouver office has in many ways been the flagship to America with nearly 40% of its business coming directly from American agencies. Where many other production houses have roadhoused American work, Apple Box has stayed true to its directors and refuses to roadhouse, working exclusively within its roster.

Jane Charles-Shaw is just the second executive producer in that office’s history and is the prototypical Apple Box Executive Producer in that she’s not only highly efficient but very personable. With more than 17 years in the business, she’s not only produced commercials but features films in Vancouver. All you have to do is give her a call and within minutes you’ll see what we mean. ‘Her level of commitment and passion for working with directors has really helped attract many of the directors we now have on our roster,’ states Dys.

Barbara Walker was the original executive producer in Toronto until leaving tearfully (in a good way) in 2000 to pursue a documentary film project and a freelance career in Western Canada including writing, directing and producing.

Since then, Apple Box in Toronto has added several new faces in the last two years with the additions of executive producers Clare (Cash) Cashman in 1999 and J.J. Lyons in 2000.

‘When we decided to add a second executive producer in Toronto, Cash stood head and shoulders over the others. She hasn’t disappointed us and has turned out all that and more for us,’ Dys adds, ‘When Barbara Walker left we were challenged to find someone who could not only fill her shoes, but help strengthen our profile and image. J.J. Lyons was the perfect fit for us, he is very personable and outgoing.’

Cheryl Munroe also joined Apple Box Toronto as the marketing/sales rep in April 2001, coming from the agency side. Munroe worked at both Corporate Communications in Halifax and Ogilvy & Mather in Calgary. According to Dys, ‘Cheryl has a tremendous youthful exuberance and boundless energy, she really rounded out our marketing and sales requirements. With the addition of Cash, J.J. and Cheryl in the last two years we have the perfect team in place in Toronto that can compete with anyone in that market.’

According to Dys the most strategically important addition for Apple Box, nation-wide was Randy Diplock, when he joined their directorial roster in 1999. ‘Randy is a highly respected creative talent and was precisely what we needed to make our mark in the Toronto market, which needless to say, is highly competitive,’ according to Dys. ‘He’s become a very strong force for us not only as a director but as an on-going marketing consultant for Apple Box.’

It’s attitudes or lack thereof that have people like Eric Thom, a writer at TBWA/Chiat Day singing their praises. He says, ‘The best thing about Apple Box is who you get to work with. And the relationships that result are the kind that make you want to stay in this nutty business after all. Can there be a higher compliment than that?’

Sandy Lemm, a Toronto CD adds, ‘What’s Apple Box to me? A rare and joyous meeting of kindred spirits who’ll struggle tirelessly above and beyond the call of duty to deliver unparalleled production excellence while finding new and heretofore unheard of ways of stretching that client dollar further than it’s been stretched before, even if it means sacrificing their own profits.’

High praise indeed. The telling thing though is that this isn’t a case of a single, well-run office in one city. The feelings about working with Apple Box seem to stretch from Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto seamlessly, like the company itself.

‘I have a long and storied history with Missy and Hans at Apple Box,’ says Jeff Lennard, creative director with the Idea Machine in Calgary. ‘I’m often asked why they’re always on my tender list, it all kind of started on a cold winter evening at an Esso station in Edmonton with a young agency guy with a nugget of an idea wrapped up in a good script about a car turning into a robot, with a nominal budget and big ambitions. It’s about a production company stepping up and actually making the robot work, under adverse weather conditions and creating a great TV spot, and perhaps that is the point in all of this. I really appreciate this group of people that really do care about doing the right thing, paying attention to priorities keeping our collective eyes on the prize. I really appreciate the fact that I can call Missy or Hans any time and talk about ‘my’ project and how we can make it better. And the fact that whenever I’ve had the opportunity to work with Apple Box they have always been able to prove how brilliant I really am and made my client look good…wait, maybe that’s the point in all of this.’

It’s clear that Apple Box meets one of the great challenges for any production company. That is being diverse in terms of their director roster, while offering the same diversity of work to their directors. ‘We are very proud of our long association with our directors,’ says Dys. ‘Even in these challenging times with fewer projects and more competition, guys like Cliff Skelton and Fred Frame continue to passionately bid and execute on every project. They are always there for us. The same is true for our American directors such as Hank Benson and Craig Worsham who really have redefined their reels through the diverse work Apple Box was able to bring to them.’

A company like Apple Box Productions, with three vital and flourishing offices can provide directors with a broader range of opportunities from Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto. More recently, Apple Box has signed an impressive array of directors including Barry Meier and Dennis Manarchy.

Chris Staples, founder of Rethink in Vancouver, says, ‘I think if I had to sum up Apple Box’s biggest strength, it would be that they are incredibly flexible. In Western Canada, our production budgets are often limited, to say the least. Apple Box is very open to finding creative ways to stretch our budgets. A couple of years ago, we did a campaign for St. John’s Ambulance. Apple Box and director Randy Diplock figured out a way to shoot eight different commercials in a two-day period. One of those spots went on to win a Lion at Cannes. Unlike a lot of production companies, Apple Box is focused on being lean and efficient. The money ends up on the screen, not supporting huge entourages and fancy offices.’

As well, this year Apple Box has added a great deal of diversity and opportunity by signing a working agreement with Manarchy Films in Chicago. And will continue to build on establishing worldwide affiliations. But Apple Box is no different than many production houses when it comes to philosophy. And why should they be? Good business is good business no matter what business you’re in.

‘Every company wants to make great advertising and we all fall over each other to get the work in the door,’ says Dys. ‘I believe that the jobs are awarded not only on the merits of the director but the package that comes with it. The package is the production company and their reputation for commitment, team work and the synergy to make the process a collaborative effort. Delivering the product on the screen is the ultimate objective, but the process of getting there has to be worth the end result. We have always focused on that as being very important at Apple Box Productions.’

It’s those beliefs and their conviction to see them through that has helped bring Apple Box to where they are today from those early roots in Edmonton in 1974.

It’s tough to talk about dates these days without bringing up September 11th. The generally held view amongst production houses in North America is that it will have not only an impact on the style of advertising we’ll see, but odds are, it will also bring to the forefront the value of working with local companies. And when it comes to local directors, Apple Box certainly seems to have a strong roster in every market.

Dys says, ‘People might evaluate what they have in their own backyard before they go wandering abroad. It’s not to say that imported directors won’t continue to bring value, but the reason for bringing them in will be more extensively reviewed. Also, shooting abroad will be more thoroughly scrutinized.’

Dys adds, ‘There are challenges with any company, especially in a corporate environment, but if we continue to build on the positives and elevate our profile by the directors we sign and the quality of the work we do we’ll be just fine. When you get right down to it, our goal is simple; create a positive synergistic production environment for directors and creative teams. We believe in the end that it has to therefore be conducive to making great commercials. But the key for all of us is to simply treat people the way we want to be treated. And have fun. Luckily for me it still is,’ says Dys. As he attempts to subdue a smile. Albeit unsuccessfully.