Many Canadian directors have difficulty finding work in their own hometowns. Whether they be located in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or any of the large- or medium- sized centres, some directors feel snubbed by Canadian creative people who often look outside the country for talent to shoot their ads. Many agency creative directors answer that they fill their jobs with the person they feel is best for the spot

‘The market is a little confused at the moment,’ says one Canadian-based director who wished to remain anonymous. ‘There are so many directors who can be accessed through the u.s. A typical agency (this director estimates) has between 1,200 and 1,500 reels for a market that can really not substantiate anywhere near those numbers as far as maintaining work for the local directors.’

Toronto’s Lesley Parrott, the senior vp director of creative and broadcast services at MacLaren McCann, contends that when choosing a director for a job, ‘it really becomes job-specific.’

Parrott, a veteran of agency life, adds that in terms of using directorial talent, MacLaren McCann, ‘certainly covers the whole spectrum, balanced a bit more to the Canadians.’

After Chris Staples left Palmer Jarvis ddb in October, he started a new agency called Rethink out of Vancouver with pjddb cohorts Ian Grais and Tom Shepansky. Staples says that although he uses a combination of Canadian and American directors to shoot his work, he essentially looks for a particular kind of director rather than a nationality.

‘We look for directors who are competent and who don’t try to hijack our concepts, turn them into something else and get in the way,’ he says.

He admits, in his experience, certain agencies do rely heavily on American directors to shoot their bigger campaigns. He does not agree with what he feels are the preferences of other Canadian creatives. ‘I think it is ridiculous the way Canadian agencies have this idea that American directors are somehow better,’ says Staples. ‘I think that is prevalent, especially in Toronto.’

Staples believes sometimes Canadian directors are unfairly impacted by mediocre agency creative, whereby agencies then feel compelled to call up a high-profile director from down south to save their spot.

‘It’s what I call the God Syndrome,’ says Staples. ‘You might have a piece of work that is just okay and you hope that a great director will turn it into something really special. I really reject that whole notion. I believe if your idea is strong, simple and really thought through, virtually any good director should be able to pull it off.’

Happy with Canadians

James Aho currently serves as the vp of interactive service at Brown’s Communications in Regina after a six-year tenure as Brown’s vp and creative director. He says over the last year the majority of television spots out of Brown have gone to Canadian directors.

‘We have in the past used directors and dop’s who are from elsewhere, but given the nature of the work we have done in the last year, we’ve been happy with what we’ve found in Canada.’

Aho says based on the cost of the talent, it only makes sense to buy Canadian when making an ad. He does not, however, believe having Americans directing Canadian-created commercials is necessarily a bad thing.

‘I think there is an immense draw for talent from the u.s. markets in Canada and I think that is really good for the production industry,’ he says. ‘We just have to realize, as agencies, we are competing with large advertisers and large agencies south of the border for the people we have in Canada. That is having an impact on the availability of the best people we have.’

With the ‘best’ Canadian directors being used constantly all over the world, this leaves directors who feel they have not been given the opportunity to prove themselves sufficiently. They believe American talents take the larger jobs – either because they were initially sought out or because the big-name Canadian directors are unavailable.

‘I find it sad that it will be difficult for Canada to nurture and let local talent develop and have any sort of impact on the international scene,’ says the anonymous director. ‘Our work is being filtered out by so many directors who are flown in on account of the fact that the Canadian agencies don’t find the local talent here good enough. I think that’s wrong; there is a lot of good talent here.’

Corporate Communications’ senior vp and creative director, Chester Goluch, says the Halifax-based agency goes about 50/50 on the number of American directors used versus Canadian. He says although the agency often prefers to use Canucks based on their knowledge and understands the regional tilt of much of the Halifax-based advertising, he often finds a need to call in a foreign director to handle specific jobs.

‘What I’ve found in the past is the directors we’ve tapped into in the States seem to be perfect for certain jobs,’ says Goluch. ‘If it’s a dialogue job, for instance, there seem to be more Americans who can handle dialogue. There used to be a lot more (Canadians who are capable), but for some reason now there isn’t. Who do you turn to? You can count them on one hand.’

Depleting numbers

At the same time, Goluch says he is a great supporter of Canadian talent but is dismayed by what he feels is the depleting numbers of spot-makers.

While Goluch agrees Canada still offers some great home-grown commercial directors, there used to be more to choose among. ‘Ten years ago there was a tremendous number of Canadian directors. In fact, you would hardly ever go to the States. You would be able to get the job done and be really satisfied with it, but now it seems like we aren’t nurturing our own.’

All of the creative directors say they enjoy working with Canadians for various reasons. Staples, for one, admits he enjoys working with the locals because they stick around for more of the process.

‘You get a chance to talk to them before prepro and they don’t fly out the day the shoot is done,’ he says.

The anonymous director feels, however, that flying out – that is, leaving to look for more work abroad – may be one of the only options left for various disgruntled Canadian directors.

‘I think the core issue is a sense of national identity and pride in local talent,’ says the director. ‘There has been room for great talent to come out of this country, but in the present atmosphere, I can’t see that being possible.’