More on the deal that never ended. After sitting in limbo for three weeks while Belgium-based brewmeister Interbrew wangled its $2.7 billion bid for John Labatt Limited, the agreement which will see The Partners’ Film Company split from Labatt, is back in gear.

That Interbrew is the buyout player instead of Gerald Schwartz’s Onex Corporation may complete the split sooner, says Partners’ president Don McLean. Speculation was that if Onex came through, there would be a big staff turnaround and most likely a new man on the case to expedite the deal, which has been in progress seemingly since the beginning of time.

The assumption now is that most of Labatt’s people will stay in place.

There is no truth to the rumor that Syd Kessler, a former part owner of Partners’, is looking at placing a buyout bid, McLean says. He concedes at least one other group was contemplating a competitive offer, but says consensus was that Partners’ is worth substantially less without its president, so the would-be bidders walked away. Stay tunedÉ

PSA takes N.Y. awards

The Bessies and the Marketing Awards gave it the cold shoulder, but the Drew Jarvis-directed spot for the Urban Alliance on Race Relations is getting more than a little attention from awards committees south of the border.

To date, the spot has picked up an Andy Gold from the Advertising and Design Club of New York, a silver from the Art Directors Club of New York, an award of merit from the prestigious One Show, and last but not least, a Clio Gold in the public service announcement category.

One of the few Canadian spots in a sea of Clio credits with the names ‘Nike’ and ‘pytka’ in them, the spot, directed by Stripes’ Jarvis via Bozell Palmer Bonner, Toronto, shows a close-up of a black man’s face accompanied by a running list of crimes committed. The twist at the end: ‘Apprehended by Police Lieutenant Joseph Cruthers, shown here.’

Fulfilling every public service agency’s dream, the Clio committee bestowed a us$15,000 cheque on the Urban Alliance on Race Relations at the San Francisco ceremony. Bozell has since been bombarded with requests for posters from New York schools for their educational programs, says Audrey Telfer, agency producer on the spot.

But rather than being a case of Canadian work having to leave the country to be recognized, Telfer. says ‘I think in New York, they can relate to the idea behind it that much better.’

Other Canadian spots grabbing Gold at the Clios were Toshiba Canada’s ‘Checked It,’ directed by Otherworld Films’ Rob Pritts through Chiat/Day, and Greenberg Seronick & Partners’ ‘Scream’ for A-Copy, directed by Avion Films’ John Zurik.

Who, where, whyÉ

Legend has it that every year Nick Nolte reinvents himself. Oscar nomination or not, he locks himself away from the world for however long it takes and overhauls his image. Sounds a little Doug Henningish, but wisdom is, the secret to longevity in the entertainment business is to keep changing, to move in different circles, repackage yourselfÉyabba yabba.

In the finest spirit of Mr. Nolte, a running tally of this month’s comings and goingsÉ

– Directors Bernard Leroux and Ron Campbell, both having moved to Dalton/Kessler Productions this month, say their moves were motivated in part by the need for change, and in part by The Kessler Group’s access to more than just commercial projects.

tkg’s positioning as a multifaceted production house seems to be attracting directors who want to stretch. It is affiliated with Microsoft and Dow Jones and Company, and has several arms of the company serving commercial production, long-form television, and multimedia applications.

Leroux, late of Sparks Productions, says he plans to broaden the scope of projects on his reel at d/kp. ‘Kessler Group has a handle on the multimedia and corporate markets, and by association, a director with Chris (Dalton) has a foot in the door,’ says Leroux.

After four years at The Partners’ Film Company, Ron Campbell too is looking to d/kp as a way of branching out. After spending seven months of last year working on a tv series pilot that ultimately got shelved, Campbell is hankering to do some long-form work to add to his repertoire of commercials that includes those makes-you-want-to-rush-out-and-buy-a-ticket spots for Lotto 6/49.

– Not only has Paul Cade signed for representation with a Canadian production house, but the directing star who carved out a name for himself in the u.s. has moved home base back to Aurora, Ont. after four years in l.a.

After months of traveling to Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, England and Canada for a batch of American Express spots through Ogilvy & Mather last year, Cade wanted to settle back home and begin looking for ‘adventurous’ projects, says Susi Patterson, executive producer at Damast Gordon & Associates.

Adventurous means technically or visually experimental, something a little farther left of center than the storytelling kind of work he’s been doing with Amex and kfc in the States, says Patterson. ‘He’s been known to be the guy that delivers great warm and fuzzy, but he’s not just that.’

Honing his art direction skills alongside creative guru Alan Kazmer at agency ddb in the ’80s, Cade’s background in art direction played a part in his making it across the border. But the real key to his success in the States is his confidence to develop his own style instead of trying to copy what’s out there, the kiss of death for a newcomer in the u.s., says Patterson. Case in point, his Amex spots.

The project, more than 11 spots in all, came without detailed storyboards. Cade was handed a profile of the person at the core of each commercial and told to create visuals and stories around them that were in line with the campaign strategy. Says Patterson: ‘They trusted him to take the reins and the results were incredible.’

While Cade is finishing off a spot for the u.s. Cotton Board, Patterson is pursuing dialogue work for n.y.-based Laura Belsey, who came to dga with Cade and director Jeff Lovinger, president of n.y.-based Lovinger/Cohn. Not yet 30, Belsey has a Cannes Gold Lion in hand and the One Club’s Best of Show for her gut-wrenching collage of homeless people singing New York, New York for the Coalition for the Homeless, and a Bessie Gold in the corporate category this year for Nissan through Chiat/Day.

The addition of Belsey and Cade rounds out the dga roster, bringing in dialogue and storytelling specialists it didn’t have before, says Patterson.

– Director Stephen Thursby has moved back to dvla after a brief five months at Kessler Irish Productions, attributing his time away to ‘a mild attack of curiosity.’ dvla has also signed Venezuela-based director Eduardo Scull, one of Latin America’s highest profile talents with 16 years of work for Philip Morris on his long list of blue-chip company commercials that includes Apple and Kraft General Foods.

– Bessie Award-winning director Mark Walton has left Radke Films and The Ace Film Company for nationwide representation through Apple Box Productions.

– On the agency front, former Chiat/Day creative director Peter McHugh (Toshiba’s ‘Checked It’ and the Metro Toronto Zoo’s ‘Here, Human HumanÉ’) is moving to Fallon McElligott at the end of the month.

David Innis and Sean Davison have moved to MacLaren McCann. Innis comes from Chiat/Day to work as senior writer with group creative director David Snider. Davison is joining the Ian Kiar/Kelly Zettel team as junior art director.

Pitching T.O. to the U.S.

A dozen commercial reps showed up at the Commercial Production Association of Toronto’s annual general meeting to hear Toronto-based marketing company Madison Avenue pitch its $155,000 campaign to increase awareness of the Toronto commercial industry in the u.s.

In short, Madison’s comprehensive package is made up of eight four-color direct mailings and follow-ups, a directory of production, post, music/audio, talent and support services, updated quarterly, and Internet presence. The mailings will target the u.s. agencies, production companies, and corporate and retail advertisers.

Consensus seems to be, the industry has to do something to generate an international presence for Canadian services and talent. Naturally, cost is the barrier. The group is looking at soliciting advertising for the directory as a way of funding the campaign and increasing cpat membership by making it a members-only (or pay) listing.

‘It’s no longer good enough to be here and be good. We have to be seen by the outside to be as good as we are. If we do it as a group, we can do it better and more widely. To make it work, we have to trust each other enough to put our money together,’ says cpat president Chris Sanderson.

Sanderson, Tina Petridis, Mary Briggs, Michael Schwartz and Jo Ann Cook make up the new cpat board of directors.

McWaters U.S.A.?

Rumor has it that Rosanne McWaters and Andre Cilliers are starting up their own production facilitating company in Hilton Head, North Carolina. Legalities are still being worked out, says McWaters.

Scat cat

Music man Doug Riley hits the stage June 23-30 for Toronto’s Du Maurier Jazz Festival. Riley, a composer and arranger at The Einstein Bros. by day, heads up Danny B. and the Rhythm & Blues Allstar Band on the new Famous People Players stage this coming weekend.

People in the commercial community had a good deal to do with building the new theater, says Diane Dupuy, president of fpp. The Players Film Company donated a 30-second spot for the summer gig and Foote Cone Belding gave an awful lot of their time to help promote the festivities, says Dupuy. Tickets to get jazzed with The Famous Doug Riley are a mere $10. Scoobie doobie doo…