The First Cut Award heads into its second year.

Which is pretty neat, considering few of us involved in its inception knew whether yet another industry award would survive its infancy. We were quick to discover, however, that there was indeed some merit in applauding and recognizing a side of our industry we all too often take for granted.

Let’s face it. Canadian directors face incredible competition when it comes to laying their mitts on our precious boards. As a producer, one of the conundrums I have consistently faced is the theory that a board with a less than stellar idea requires the services of a ‘player’ (aka American director) to ‘salvage’ something out of it. And then when you get a script that is first-rate, wellof course you need a ‘player’ to ensure nothing screws up. Don’t wanna blow it with just anybody!

It’s no wonder that for several years in the early ’90s, as border tariffs tumbled and access to the American mass of commercial directors soared, Canadian production houses stopped investing in local talent. Unfortunately, when production houses stopped investing, it perpetuated the belief that there weren’t any capable local directors. (In truth, there certainly weren’t many). And why bother? The local agency community was tripping over themselves to work with people we’d never heard of before, just so we could tell our pals, ‘Hey, we just shot with Haveev. He’d never done a commercial before, but you know that Aimee Mann video??? Well, he was the art director on that!’

While these little wanks haven’t completely stopped, at least they’re fewer and farther between. We are, after all, in the business of making distinctive and creative pieces of communication – and if that means unearthing a hidden gem from somewhere (anywhere!), then we’re one leg up on our competition.

But guess what? Sometimes that ‘hidden gem’ is right in our own backyard. When Pete Henderson was given a script for Cadillac with a bunch of kids playing road hockey, he had little on his reel to indicate that he could pull it off. But an agency and a client had some faith and Pete delivered a little magic – for a mere fraction of what one of those ‘players’ would’ve charged. The commercial wouldn’t have gotten made, otherwise.

Thankfully, the Canadian production community, sensing a waning of the import infatuation (or at a minimum, a shrinking production dollar), started to concentrate on developing some local talent once again. And lo and behold, we had 46 entries last year for the first-ever First Cut Award, an acknowledgment that will be handed out annually to the most promising new director (with less than two years’ experience) on the Canadian commercial scene. Pretty darn encouraging.

So, all you aspiring Pete Hendersons (we don’t have to say Steve Chase every time now), get those reels together and watch for the ‘call for entry’ ads in this (and future) issues.

Doug Lowe is director of broadcast production at Young & Rubicam and one of the driving forces behind last year’s inaugural First Cut Awards.