A two-month ad campaign has netted fledgling Toronto spot shop Bullet Films the small roster of fresh talent it was looking for.

Bullet’s executive producer and founder Allan Stevenson has assembled a lineup of four homegrown directors and says he is currently making the rounds of creatives and agency producers to ensure his small production company gets off to a favorable start.

Stevenson says he was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response to his recruitment campaign. ‘From two months of ads I got 15 to 20 reels,’ he says. ‘In that you get everyone and their uncle wanting to be directors, but we’ve found a good little roster.’

His good little roster consists of directors Marteinn Thorsson, Stefan Morel, Tad Munnings and Andrew Robertson.

Thorsson, formerly with Toronto’s Big Films, is now very much a Bullet man. Thorsson contacted Stevenson about coming on board a short time ago, and according to the producer, he was quick and eager to sign on.

‘We have gotten very good response from the agencies on [Thorsson’s] reel and I think there is a lot of promise for him,’ says Stevenson. ‘I really like the style he brings to Bullet. He has some really nice imagery, use of color and shooting style.’

Montreal-based Morel will be repped under his company’s name, Milk Arts, a shop that’s halfway between a production and post-production company and focuses heavily on graphic design.

‘Milk is a very important part of Bullet Films,’ says Stevenson. ‘Morel brings a lot of style and a lot of design to his work. We are very happy with his design background and the way he is going. He brings a very good aspect to the whole spot direction.’

Based in Mississauga, Ont. (just West of Toronto), Munnings is a novice to commercial making with only a few spec spots under his belt. Stevenson is confident, however, the young director’s comedic style will appeal to creative types.

‘I’ve received some very good response from many of the producers I’ve spoken with [about Munnings],’ he says.

Rounding out the roster is Robertson, a director who came into his own while working in the commercial production department at ontv in Hamilton, Ont. Much of his commercial work to date was produced in-house for the broadcaster, but he has ventured outside the station with spot work for Kelsey’s and Big Sisters, among others.

‘[Robertson] is a very good dialogue director,’ says Stevenson. ‘He brings some good experience to Bullet.’

Stevenson says he is also in talks with a certain l.a. director who’s made a name for himself in music videos, but he’s not handing out details just yet.

With the current roster made up entirely of Canadians, Stevenson believes he has a good perspective on why so many young directors jumped at the chance to sign up.

‘A lot of Canadian directors are tired of American directors getting the work,’ says Stevenson. ‘This is the issue with at least one of the Bullet directors and I believe the direction of investing in Canadian directors is really going to pay off.’ *