Who’s gone where? From where? And when? As the Revolving Doors spin, we put the spotlight on spot-makers on-the-move.

Toronto editor Steve Manz has joined newborn post house Relish, and this time he says he’ll be staying put for a while. Manz, who we last reported on in September when he moved to Toronto post shop School, says while he very much enjoyed his time with David Baxter and company, Relish made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Manz is joining Relish as an editor with full partnership in the upstart company.

‘Partnership wasn’t something I was really expecting,’ says Manz. ‘It’s nice to be in on something on the ground floor and have a voice about how the company can grow and position itself in the future. It’s nice to have a place where I can feel really comfortable and go rah-rah-rah.’

Relish executive producer and founding partner Kate Bate says Manz is a major score for the shop and someone she has admired for a long time.

‘When we started Relish I always had him in the back of my mind as someone I wanted to have on board,’ she says. ‘In the end, I think he felt the same way about Chris [Van Dyke, Relish partner] and I in terms of his respect for us and our work ethic. We’re so lucky. I can’t believe we got him so quickly on board. I was hoping he might come to us by the summer, but it turned out he was willing to jump on a little sooner.’

According to Manz, a new Avid is on its way for him. His official start date was March 19 and his first project at Relish was also scheduled for March 19.

Manz began his career at Vickers & Benson after graduating from Ryerson University’s Radio and Television Arts program. After floating around V&B (even experimenting with producing), Manz felt most comfortable working with the agency’s art directors and designers on the in-house Avid. He says contacts at V&B helped him land an editing job with Partners’ Post, assisting Mark Hajek.

It was there that he met Bate, who was assisting Michelle Czukar at the time.

Manz started editing solo six months after joining Partners’. Not bad for a guy who didn’t know he was going to be an editor until he became one.

‘I wasn’t actually planning on becoming an editor. I was going to go on and get a master’s in communications and sort of fell into editing,’ says Manz. ‘Nothing in my life has really been planned on, as in ‘here is a five-year goal.’ I’ve just had good opportunities with good people.’

He says he made the jump to Relish because of the opportunity to be a partner and the chance to work with old friend Bate and Van Dyke.

‘I’ve always wanted work with Chris and we hit it off and felt very comfortable together,’ says Manz. ‘It wasn’t that I was looking to get out of School, this opportunity just came up and it was something that was pretty tough to turn down.’

Cohn & Co. splits directors in Canada

BICOASTAL U.S. commercial production house Cohn & Co. is trying something a little bit different to get its directors work north of the border. The New York/L.A.-based spot shop has divided its roster of five among three Toronto companies for representation in Canada.

Radke Films is representing Cohn & Co. directors Paul Goldman and Martin Bell; Radke satellite STEAM (formerly M.E.A.T. – see story below) is handling Mark Bennett; and Blink Pictures has taken on Paul Cade and Ray Lawrence.

Radke’s head of sales Jamie Phair says the decision to send Bennett to STEAM was made in the best interest of his development as a director. Bennett, based in L.A., is a former promo writer at NBC and is still relatively new to the directing game. But he shows definite potential, says Phair.

‘He’s a younger guy, he’s got talent, and we think he can do quite well with the little extra attention he can get [at STEAM],’ Phair says.

Of the other two directors staying on Radke’s main roster, Phair says Goldman and Bell (both based in New York) are proven helmers and have been very successful internationally.

‘Paul Goldman is really big,’ says Phair. ‘He is one of those directors who will be very tough to get here to direct something. We happen to have a lot of A-level directors so he fits in with us in that respect. Most of the stuff on his reel is award-winning work, so he is a top player.

‘Martin Bell is solid and has a lot of potential. He’s more of a build for us, but he is the kind of guy we can keep busy.’

At Blink, director rep Carmen Jarzabek says she expects big things from Cade and Lawrence.

Cade, an agency art director turned spot director, is the sole Canadian on the Cohn & Co. roster based out of Toronto. His reel includes spots for KFC, Fidelity Investments and American Express. His first feature film, Angels Don’t Sleep Here, is due out later this year.

Ray Lawrence, based in Sydney, Australia, is perhaps best known to mass audiences as the director of the feature film Bliss. A sampling of the clients represented on his reel includes Yellow Pages, AT&T, Seagate, St. George Bank and Castrol.

Jarzabek says Blink is pleased with its new directors. With the addition of Hollywood-based SCREAM!’s roster, announced earlier this year, Blink continues to collect directors like children collect comic books.

‘We’re trying to broaden our roster and bring in directors that are more accessible in this market,’ says Jarzabek. ‘That’s definitely part of our strategy, and also it’s good to have a greater selection of directors as well.’ *

-www.blinkpictures.com

-www.radkefilms.com