Alex Vachon is a young director who’s had a taste of Hollywood, but the world of 30 seconds is where he wants to be.

Vachon received his master’s degree in film and television production from the University of Southern California in 1990 and recently signed with Montreal’s Productions Diva. He’s optimistic he’ll find spot work.

Copywriter

In the early 1980s, Vachon served a brief stint as a copywriter with Cossette in Montreal, working on assignments for Renault, Provigo and Bell Canada. ‘Agencies like that I understand advertising as a copywriter,’ says the bilingual director. ‘They feel many directors forget about the product they are supposed to be promoting.’

He has met with producers at agency BCP Strategie Creativite and the outcome was promising.

‘They (the people at bcp) were very nice,’ says Vachon. ‘What I picked up was that the smaller jobs are less risky, that is where my best chances lie, and they said they would try me.’

Representation

bcp also told him he needed representation.

Last year, Vachon wrote and directed three regional spots for a Southern California treatment center, and worked as an ad on a number of l.a. film shoots.

‘My production experience in Los Angeles has been fascinating,’ says Vachon, who hopes he can share some part of it with willing clients at home.

He is currently writing a short film and a low-budget feature script, a contemporary comedy, which he intends to shoot in l.a.

‘I think it will be hard, he has the talent, but times are difficult,’ says Diva producer Francois Forgues. ‘We’ll pitch him for those middle and mid-sized jobs we think he can handle.’

And it will help if Vachon, 33, can pick up some music video clip assignments, ‘a good low-budget school for commercials and a way to show off a director’s talent,’ Forgues adds.

Recent commercial action at Diva includes two English 30s and a French 30 for Culinar’s Bite Life biscuits and spots for Salada. Longtime agency creative director Daniel Jaros directed on both shoots, with dop Eric Cayla. Both assignments are out of Young et Rubicam.