Toronto-based commercial director Philip Kates has said good-bye to Radke Films and rejoined The Players Film Company, a commercial house he originally left eight years ago.

The move allows Kates to once again work with friend Philip Mellows, head of Players. The relationship between Kates and Mellows goes back a ways – even before Kates’ first tenure at Players, even before the two worked together at Revolver Films, and even before they were in high school together.

Kates and Mellows met when they were both in the second grade. They lived five doors from one another and their friendship endured through high school (despite a spat involving a girl and their ninth grade prom).

The two later lost touch temporarily, but reconnected at Revolver years later when Mellows hired Kates on to direct. When Mellows started Players, Kates went with him, staying for two years and returning, officially, in late February. In his eight-year absence from the company, Kates has acquired a reputation for being one of the most sought-after directors in North America. Leaving Radke in favor of his old stomping grounds was not an easy decision, but one he felt was necessary, he says.

‘It seemed like the time to change things,’ says Kates. ‘People do move around and change pretty frequently. It’s to keep things fresh and to take advantage of a different set of circumstances, contacts, clients and just to move it around.’

Kates says he had been with Radke for about six years, which, by his standards, is a long time for a contract director to remain anywhere. He says he was one of the only (if not the only) directors on the Radke roster who had been at the company before the untimely death of its founder Richard Radke. He says his parting of ways with Radke was ‘extremely friendly.’

Working primarily in the u.s. of late, Kates looks forward to adding some more Canadian jobs to his extensive reel.

‘Canada has some really great creative,’ says Kates. ‘I built my reel with Canadian creative and it is what attracted American companies to me in the first place.’

He admits that initially the prospect of working in the u.s. was an intimidating one, and like many other directors, he had the impression that American commercial production might be of higher caliber.

‘I don’t think it is so much better in the u.s.,’ he says. ‘That is kind of the impression you get when you live here. I was pleasantly surprised to find not only does the Canadian work on my reel stand up to [American spots], but in a lot of cases it was superior.

‘I’ve always felt a lot of good work comes out of Canada creatively. The budgets aren’t as high, but what’s more important to me than money is the creative. If you just focus on the money, you will have no career and end up doing bad work. If you concentrate on just doing good work, I believe the money will come,’ says Kates.

With his return to Players, Kates marvels at how the company has changed.

‘Players has grown a hell of a lot since I was there,’ he says. ‘It has become a really solid company and Philip [Mellows] is a total entrepreneur. He’s done it all by himself in a really tough economic climate.’

Mellows, for his part, is glad to have his old friend back on board. With the recent departures of Adam Massey and Christopher Gentile, Kates is an undoubtedly welcome addition to Players’ Canadian roster, more so thanks to the success he has had south of the border.

‘[Kates] is often quoting against Elma Garcia, Rob Prince and major people in the States, which has prevented him from doing a lot of stuff up here,’ says Mellows. ‘We are going to see if we can make his schedule work a little bit better because he wants to spend more time up here and reinvest in this market.’