Commercial directors spill on their careers, accomplishments and the ideas that propel them to new advertising heights. This month we check in with…

WITH a new spot for the Radio Shack Gamer’s Club set to air Nov. 1 across Canada, Craig Bernard has successfully brought his music video directing skills over into the commercial world. The ad, done through Segal Communications, marks Bernard’s first spot credit.

The director, who recently moved from B.C. to Toronto and signed a representation deal with Spy Films, has a reputation in the music video world for magical lighting and F/X-heavy jobs, as demonstrated in the Econoline Crush video ‘Make It Right,’ where people fall from the ceiling as the band performs.

His skill with F/X work carries over into the Radio Shack spot. The 30-second ad opens with a young man in his apartment answering the phone. A sultry voice on the line asks ‘Are you ready?’ and apparently he is very ready, as he drops the phone and dashes out of the apartment and onto the city street. There, the Gamer’s Club Playstation II Hummer pulls up, and a sexy brunette exits. The young guy jumps into the Hummer, and drives off with a young man wearing a Playstation II golf shirt. At this point, the moving Hummer blends into a driving game, as the female narrator talks up Radio Shack Gamer’s Club.

‘The challenging part,’ Bernard says, ‘was making the transition from the real car into the video game. We have this point of view of a racing car on [Toronto’s] Lakeshore Boulevard, and we had to painstakingly go through all the game footage and find what we could match.’

The one-day shoot was held in Toronto, and executive produced by Spy’s Carlo Trulli. For agency Segal Communications, creative director Bruce Sinclair worked alongside associate creative director Dave Stubbs. Margaret John was the agency producer. Sean Valentini was behind the lens, and Mark Morton handled the editing at School.

Bernard’s first experiences behind a camera came five years ago as a photojournalist for the University of Toronto’s The Varsity and for Eye Weekly, but it was a CBC gig that gave the upstart his first taste of live-action directing.

‘I did some segment directing for a series called Utopia Cafe. It taught me to direct both the camera and the actors,’ Bernard says. He later moved to Vancouver, where he assisted directors such as Matthew Robbins, Joseph Hanrahan and Antoine Fuqua on spots and videos.

Bernard’s eye increasingly wandered towards music videos while on the West Coast. He returned to Toronto as first AD on a Chantal Kreviazuk video, later taking the helm on a dozen music videos for artists including David Usher, Snow and Flybanger. It was during the latter job that Bernard met Spy assistant executive Joni Dick, then with TOYBOX, which was doing F/X on the clip.

When Dick joined Spy early this year, the fates were set, and she convinced Bernard, who was considering relocating to L.A., to join the Spy team in Toronto.

‘I signed with Spy in July,’ Bernard begins. ‘Spy was the one I was most comfortable with, in terms of what it represented and artistic vision. They’re a great boutique operation. Carlo and Liane [Thomas] run things very well, and they keep it on a level where your creativity is maximized.’

For her part, Dick was excited to bring a talent-driven F/X director onto the roster. Bernard explains his edge: ‘What I bring to commercials is high-end visuals, which comes from music videos, where you learn how to light people to an abnormal degree where they’re highlighted or accentuated.’

As well, Bernard’s working relationships with F/X shops such as TOYBOX allow him to direct with a clear vision of what will be needed in post. It didn’t take long for Bernard to have a chance to flex these muscles in the commercial world – by mid-August, he was already at the helm of the Radio Shack spot, working with F/X coordinator Jeff Campbell from TOYBOX.

In future, Bernard anticipates splitting his time between L.A. and Toronto, continuing to direct both music videos and commercials.

-www.spyfilms.com