Post-production and its powers are personified in this column.

who’s gone where? From where? And when? As the Revolving Doors spin, we put the spotlight on spot-makers on the move.

Developing a strong commercial roster in Canada is no easy task. Maintaining a delicate balance between the best interests of a production company’s local talent and the international directors they represent, prodco execs, producers and sales reps are faced with hard decisions every time a board comes over the fax machine.
Do you offer the job to a well-established director a young creative team would stand on their heads for, or to an up-and-comer who would benefit greatly from the job, but who the creative team would likely refuse?

In the current commercial slowdown, many of the directors who continue to work steadily gratefully attribute their success to their reputations for excelling at particular genres or product types. This stands in sharp contrast to higher times when helmers did all they could to resist being pigeonholed.
Many of the directors holding on to that resistance are sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring, while those busy on the set say this type of categorization is the only thing keeping them working.

Inertia marks the directing debut of filmmaker/musician Sean Garrity and the first foray into producing for Brendon Sawatzky, both based in Winnipeg. According to Garrity, the film he set out to make was to be played out like a number of musicians jamming on stage. His vision was to put together a film born through improvisation.

* Director: Lynne Stopkewich * Producers: Jessica Fraser, Dean English * Cinematographer: Bob Aschmann * Diary by: Dustin Dinoff

With new outlets to exhibit their work opening up, the long-term outlook for Canadian short filmmakers has rarely looked brighter. Never before have filmmakers sold their shorts so widely, even if fledgling dot-coms that stream film over the Internet are fewer in number these days.

SINCE changes in technology often precipitate changes in the ad business, certain forward-looking agencies and clients are preparing for a new set of realities expected to arrive with the advent of video-on-demand services. Some directors, such as L.A.-based commercial director Boris Damast, and agency folk, including M2’s Hugh Dow, have already decided that the new ad models for VOD need to be explored. Both are taking steps to be at the forefront of these emerging frontiers.

looking for Canadian agencies’ business strategies and creative teams’ secret weapons? We tell all in Ad Missions.

VO2 Mix, a new audio post shop, recently opened its doors in what is quickly becoming known in the industry as Toronto’s ‘post district’ (Spadina Avenue and Queen Street West). VO2 partners Terry Wedel and Euan Hunter have found a space flooded with natural light that lends itself to ease and relaxation.

TORONTO commercial production house, Imported Artists Film Company, has struck a deal with New York-based Propaganda Films and the Propaganda Group of Companies to exclusively represent its extensive roster of directorial talent in Canada. Propaganda’s group of companies includes Propaganda Films, Satellite, Extension Films and Propaganda Independent.

FOR the first time in its eight-year existence, Hoodoo Films is shooting commercials. Executive producer Michael Rosen, who has only dabbled in commercials over the course of his lengthy career, says after roadhousing a number of big-budget U.S. music videos and a few ads for Germany, it was decided the time was right for Hoodoo to enter the spot market.