For the second year in a row, a Budweiser spot with creative from DDB Needham in Chicago has sailed into the number one spot in Playback’s annual Top Spots competition. This year’s victor is ‘Raft’ from director Eddy Chu through u.s. rep Backyard Productions; last year it was ‘Lobster,’ directed by David McNally of Toronto’s m.e.a.t. Chu is repped in Canada by Radke Films.

This year also marks two firsts: it is the first time Top Spots is being held under the aegis of Playback On The Spot and the first time an industry pro has been asked to sit on the judging panel. Our industry judge was Steve Hillman, owner/operator of Toronto’s exhibita. The trade-off for Hillman was that he kindly agreed not to submit a reel to the competition. (To find out who the other judges were and what they had to say, see p. 9.)

This year’s top 10 spots (actually 11 in all because of a tie for seventh position) were culled from nearly 130 commercial entries submitted by more than 20 commercial production companies from across Canada.

The victorious Chu is no stranger to the Top Spots podium. Last year, his ‘Eddy’s Dream’ for Yamaha placed seventh in the competition. His win this year is the only Radke entry to make it to the top 10.

To say ‘Raft’s’ production value – what Top Spots judges are looking for – is impressive would be an understatement. The direction, art direction, cinematography, post work and other elements combined within the spot not only make for an engaging commercial, they definitely make you want a beer.

As always, The Partners’ Film Company, u n t i t l e d (formerly Jolly Roger) and Avion Films did well. Partners’ and u n t i t l e d both scored thrice in the top 10 (Partners’ with ‘In-Laws,’ ‘Fashion Victims’ and ‘Opera Diva’;

u n t i t l e d with ‘Cam,’ ‘New City’ and ‘Dreams’). Avion chimed in twice with ‘Pull My Finger’ and ‘Heist.’

Angel Films took a few risks and came in a winner with rookie director Aubrey Singer’s Spytech ad ‘Santa,’ which depicts the beloved Saint Nick as more disturbing than cute. The ad put Angel in this year’s number four spot, after having been absent from Playback’s naughty and nice list a year ago.

An interesting note, Shoppers Drug Mart’s ‘Opera Diva’ from Partners’ and director Floria Sigismondi won three craft awards – cinematography, music and art direction – but just managed to squeak in the door of the top 10.

This year, too, saw a repeat triumph for Toronto’s Spin Productions in the visual effects category. Last year, Spin’s psa ‘House Hippo’ on behalf of Concerned Children’s Advertisers won the craft award. This year, some very good Inferno work on the Sigismondi directed ‘Machine’ for the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award copped the f/x prize for Spin.

(For more on the winners, see our Top Spots Report, beginning on p. 7.) * Dustin Dinoff