He said it, he did it. For Spy Films’ Jeff Eamer, it was just a matter of believing when it all started while dining at Miami’s once trendy yet still cool News Cafe two years ago. Pursuing a conversation with an interesting stranger at the next table, Eamer was asked the inevitable, eternal question ‘What do you do?’ Articulating an as yet unfulfilled goal, he answered ‘I’m a director,’ and with the words now out there he set about making an honest man of himself.

It wasn’t just a good pickup line ­ Eamer brought a solid advertising history to the prophetic claim and last year, after the inaugural First Cut Award party, while at lunch on the patio of The Bamboo, Eamer was heard to proclaim to a pair of Playback representatives happening by: ‘You’ll be putting my name on that cake next year.’

Creatively diverse

This year’s First Cut winner earned top honors with a sampling of work that is creatively diverse but consistent in its adherence to the integrity of the advertising concept. With the reel’s coverage of three difficult life forms ­ children, animals and professional athletes ­ it may appear to be the body of work of an on-set punishment fetishist, but the director’s penchant for storytelling, appreciation for preparation and enthusiastic demeanor have turned the potential disasters into a reel of quietly solid spots.

Eamer’s landmark Florida trip followed his spring 1995 exit from Leo Burnett, Toronto, where he had been senior art director. The new self-professed director was already a 12-year creative veteran, with credits including the visually compelling claymation/live-action Delsym ‘Hack Attack’ spots and work for clients including Kellogg’s and Bell.

Upon returning to Toronto, Eamer created some promotional spots for hmv through Taxi and signed on with Spy Films as the launching ground for the next phase of his career.

‘I am neither hip nor edgy,’ pronounces Eamer, referring to his directorial m.o. ‘But I believe I know how to tell a story well. Storytelling has never been hip or edgy; it’s been the basis of what people have been doing for tens of thousands of years.’

‘They find me’

Explaining the preponderance of directorially intimidating jobs on his reel, Eamer jokes, ‘They find me,’ but then considers further: ‘My enthusiasm and passion for suggesting it could be done and that I could do it was the reason I was able to get those jobs and do them well.’

Chris Stavenjord, who worked with Eamer on the Japan Camera project as creative director at Toronto’s Communique, admits the spot was a difficult one to execute, but says Eamer delivered ­ and made the process enjoyable.

‘He was very enthusiastic and very pragmatic about how he was going to deliver the concept, and in terms of working with him, he brought a lot of energy and excitement and laughter to the process.’

Stavenjord says the spot has proven effective for the client as well as earning critical success, and he cites the director as playing a major role in that success. ‘What impressed me was the ability to grasp the overall concept and use his technical skills as an art director and as a director to ensure that idea was transformed from paper to film,’ says Stavenjord.

In Eamer’s own estimation, an advertising background has provided advantages as well as some drawbacks in the development of his directing career. One of the challenges has been for Eamer to change the agency community’s perception of him from ad guy to director. But his background has also instilled an ability to recognize the advertising idea at the core of a project, the sanctity of which he considers paramount in the execution of his job.

‘A lot of what I do is based in the advertising idea,’ he says. ‘I have been schooled by some great Canadian advertising names, that’s where I’m coming from.’

Eamer also cites the support of Spy, particularly Carlo Trulli, whom Eamer calls ‘an idea guy,’ as a huge advantage.

When he says, ‘I have no style,’ Eamer is not disparaging his own jaunty leather-jacket-and-shorts uniform, he is emphasizing the importance of story and maintaining the unique character of each creative idea.

‘I approach a project from story first and then I start to construct the shots,’ says Eamer. ‘Until I know exactly who the story is about and what we are trying to determine at the outset, what will play through the middle and how it ends, I can’t get into anything else.’

The resulting diversity evident on Eamer’s reel figured prominently in catching the eye of First Cut judges.

‘It’s apparent he can do a wide variety of things. That kind of diversity impressed me, and all the spots were all pulled off in a contemporary way,’ says First Cut judge Michael Koren of Vancouver’s KOKO Productions. Koren cites the Reebok spot, which features Atlanta Falcons running back Eric Metcalf, as having a cool attitude with a ‘great interaction of music and visual cuts and nice dynamics, from intense to ethereal.’

Eamer says his first consideration in starting projects is looking for ways to create a spot in front of the camera. In the case of the Investors Group pachyderm-packed project, all the other directors’ pitches included shooting the elephants against a green screen and matting shots against background plates. ‘I said sure, but wouldn’t it be fun to bring two elephants into downtown Toronto,’ Eamer recalls. ‘Think of how magical it would be putting an elephant in front of a bank and really shooting it.’

This approach can, of course, create an element of danger, particularly when working with pesky brats and mammoth beasts. ‘There’s a certain rush walking into an execution where there is an unknown element to it,’ says Eamer, but he says he also understands the risk and the prudence of advance preparation.

On the set of the Japan Camera spot, for instance, who knew one of the twins, the same one who performed beautifully for weeks leading up to the shoot, would refuse to enter the bathtub, and who knew the backup set of twins Eamer presciently arranged would work out so well? ‘I’m well prepared and I stay open to opportunities,’ says Eamer.

He cites the importance of casting and says he spends significant time at this stage learning about the performers, the characters and the spot before film begins rolling.

Eamer says his goal is to tell good stories on film and he is looking toward exploring longer stories with five feature-length scripts in the works with screenwriting partner David McNally.

Game magnate may also be on the c.v. soon, with his provocative Rumors game, released in Canada last winter, set for manufacture and distribution across the u.s. later this year.

In the meantime, Eamer continues to look for the ‘little moment’ in productions, regardless of size. ‘I never underestimate the way people view things and what they’ll see,’ he says. ‘When you watch something you remember a human emotion not a stylistic approach. Those two can work in harmony but I will always go for emotion first and never let the camera get in the way.’