Angel Films director James Hyslop says he feels privileged every time he is called on to shoot a commercial.

‘If someone trusts you with a great deal of money, especially if they haven’t worked with you before and are basing their decision on a reel they weren’t a part of, [I consider it] a real privilege to help them tell their story,’ says Hyslop.

After serving as a naval officer, Hyslop believed his calling was as a writer. He had heard the real money to be made in the writing game was via the advertising industry. After applying to various agencies and getting turned away, Hyslop decided to start his own small agency, Ottawa-based Hanger 13, of which he is still a partner.

After working for various agencies in Canada and the u.s., Hyslop ended up directing a spot by default, he says. ‘I remember distinctly standing on the dolly and thinking, ‘This is really cool’,’ he says. It was then that he decided he would continue with directing.

In the interim, Hyslop used his Navy training and conditioning to do bodyguard and security work for the likes of Prince Andrew, Henry Kissinger and Conrad Black. Hyslop recalls the challenges of convincing those under his care that what he really wanted to do was direct.

‘It made for some interesting conversations,’ Hyslop laughs.

Now a director by trade, Hyslop admits many parallels can be drawn between his career as a director and his life in the Navy.

‘There are real similarities in terms of leadership and discipline,’ says Hyslop. ‘Standing on the bridge of a warship directing 250 guys, all trying to work together to achieve a goal, is comparable in many ways to being on the shooting floor.’

Having originally aspired to writing, Hyslop believes his strength as a director is in storytelling. He can also sympathize with the creative folk he works with during a production.

‘I understand what they go through, and what the client is looking for,’ Hyslop says, referring to the assembly line a concept travels down, from agency to focus group to client. He says he knows all about appeasing those who fork out the dough for a shoot. ‘At the end of the day, the client isn’t always right, but they are always the client.’

Hyslop moonlights as a documentary filmmaker and has lived with the Inuit, toured with Black Sabbath, and put himself in the middle of many exotic scenarios, all in the name of filmmaking. He says telling stories with a lens rather than a pen is what he excels at. He is careful, however, not to make it sound as though his spots are anything other than commercial ventures, made for clients to create awareness or sell a product.

‘I don’t have any pretenses of this being high art,’ he admits. ‘I would never presume to call myself an artist. I am a filmmaker.’

Dustin Dinoff