FOR the first time in its eight-year existence, Hoodoo Films is shooting commercials. Executive producer Michael Rosen, who has only dabbled in commercials over the course of his lengthy career, says after roadhousing a number of big-budget U.S. music videos and a few ads for Germany, it was decided the time was right for Hoodoo to enter the spot market.

‘Having been in the Canadian music video world for almost 20 years and dealing with projects of a certain size, suddenly the trailers we had on set came to the same price as the average Canadian music video budget,’ says Rosen. ‘You start working at a different level and you want to keep working at that level, plain and simple.’

Rosen says Hoodoo will continue to produce music videos alongside the spots.

‘Having been in the business for this long as part of the Avion group, I know a lot of people at the agencies and I got tired of people saying, ‘So when are you going to start doing commercials?” he says. ‘So we’re doing commercials.’

One may question the wisdom of starting up a commercial house during these slow times, but Rosen responds quite emphatically that there is no better time.

‘I think when things are slow you have a chance to see people that might otherwise be too busy to see you,’ he says. ‘Also, I had the sense that people were looking for something a bit different, that they were getting tired of going to the same production houses for the same directors time after time,’ he adds. ‘Yes, times weren’t that great, but I still wasn’t willing to sit on my ass for another six months and wait for the market to pick up again. At least they’ll know who we are now when things come back around, and they will. They always do.’

Rosen has a small roster in place for Hoodoo’s commercial efforts, and says he hopes the group will not exceed 10. At press time, Hoodoo Films reps Jordan Patriquin, Michael Messanyi, Brian Johnson and Sean Michael Turrell, who shot Hoodoo’s first spot: a Future Shop ad through Doner Canada, which was Turrell’s first commercial shoot.

‘At this stage of my career, I get my kicks out of seeing people come through the ranks and unfold,’ says Rosen. ‘I’ve always said that I don’t feel I have any talent at all except for recognizing the talent of others. I just got tired of seeing it go somewhere else. We would plant the seeds here but they’d blossom somewhere else.’

Rosen says that even though no one can dispute that music video provides both green and expert filmmakers a chance to experiment with various new technologies and techniques, creatives have been traditionally reluctant to use music video directors to shoot spots. Now that Hoodoo is competing in the commercial market, he hopes creatives will put aside the music video label attached to the shop and accept that Hoodoo now does spots and videos – and does both well.

‘Even though [advertisers] have sort of raped and pillaged music video land for ideas, they haven’t necessarily gone to the music video directors to direct their spots,’ he says. ‘It takes agencies and agency producers with an open mind and clients that are willing to take a chance, too.’