In May, The Big Film Company added another Canadian commercial director to its roster. With the move, John Belbeck, contracted as a creative director in the marketing department of cbc and Newsworld, has acquired freelance representation.

Big couldn’t be happier with the addition. Executive producer Angie Colgoni talks about the versatility of the new addition.

‘He’s great at comedy, fashion and beauty. He also had a Microsoft commercial using real people. So again, he’s a very diversified director,’ Colgoni says.

Colgoni explains that she sought out Belbeck after seeing a Swiffer spot he did for Procter & Gamble with a character from the Canadian soap Riverdale.

The Big executive talks about what made the spot sing out to her: ‘It was just so far off what p&g usually does. I liked the wacky brand of comedy that he was doing and I thought the way it was shot was cool. There were lots of interesting angles.’

Colgoni feels Belbeck’s diverse style and understanding of the business of advertising will serve him well in dealing with agency creatives.

‘There’s a lot of greener creative teams right now, the young kids,’ Colgoni begins. ‘He’ll be able to make them feel very comfortable. But at the same time, he’s sort of a groovy guy, as well.’

Belbeck, while excited about the new representation, isn’t about to sit back and bask in the glory.

‘I’m not under any delusion that you can be a commercial director all your life. But it seemed like a natural extension, if you’ve got a creative mind.

‘I love the idea of really nailing the objective, the appreciation of the art, and the real appreciation of the business of making money, too. So it’s kind of a paradox,’ Belbeck says.

Although he admits it is complicated, Belbeck attempts to explain how his in-house work at cbc led to the opportunity with Big: ‘When we had done this stuff for Eaton’s, Air Canada, Lever Pond’s, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and things life that, I had directed and typically been involved all through the creative, too. They were all my concepts, largely. So it was fun to direct your own stuff. But we were starting to be asked, ‘Can we come to you to produce other spots even if they don’t air on these networks [cbc, Newsworld], and come to you to direct this stuff?’

‘Well, the answer is really no. [At cbc] we’re not in the commercial production business, outside of servicing our own clients. So this [new deal] means that I’m completely open for business as a director, through Big, for anything else that comes in the door.’

When Big contacted Belbeck he was cautious about signing. ‘[So] I asked around again and there seemed to be a real healthy respect for Angie and her record and experience. So that meant a lot to me,’ he says.

When it comes down to it, Belbeck’s creative eccentricities and ‘open mind’ can be traced back to his father’s hobby farm and several traumatic goat-breeding instances that ‘shaped [his] childhood.’

‘My Dad drove one of those big, mega-seventies mobster Chrysler New Yorkers. Once a year, he would rip the leather seats out of the back, put in straw, load in probably four or five goats and my two brothers and I. And we would drive to Paris, Ontario to have those goats bred by a French Alpine buck,’ Belbeck recounts, with distaste.

He continues: ‘It was not abusive, but it was traumatic as a child. Anyway, at the time it horrified me. But now I look back at all that weirdness and I think it helped me.’

Belbeck subscribes to a personality test theory called an Enneagram. According to this test, Belbeck is a nine.

‘A nine is a diplomat or peacemaker,’ Belbeck explains. ‘They’re also known as the chameleon. You become whomever you’re talking to. You find a way to relate to someone whether they’re a 90-year-old farmer or a 22-year-old stockbroker. And I think in advertising that’s critical, because I have a real love and ability to relate to the target.’

Big is currently shopping Belbeck’s reel around.