Toronto The Good

Chris Buck directed two spots for Viagra and Pfizer Canada in which older middle-aged men brag about how their athletics skills have declined as they haven’t had time to practice lately. Length: 15 seconds each Released: October 2013 Client: Viagra/ Pfizer Canada Agency: Taxi Toronto Director: Chris Buck Art Director: Michael Siegers Writer: Rene Bhavnani, Agency Producer: Brie Gowans Producer: Peter Dell'Agnese/ Lucky Boy Dwight McFee (Golf)

Chris Buck directed two spots for Viagra and Pfizer Canada in which older middle-aged men brag about how their athletics skills have declined as they haven’t had time to practice lately. Length: 15 seconds each Released: October 2013 Client: Viagra/ Pfizer Canada Agency: Taxi Toronto Director: Chris Buck Art Director: Michael Siegers Writer: Rene Bhavnani, Agency Producer: Brie Gowans Producer: Peter Dell'Agnese/ Lucky Boy Actor: Peter Snider (Tennis)

Toronto isn’t just the home of politicians with boundary issues, there are a number of fantastic ad agencies there too. I’ve had the privilege to shoot with a couple of them this year.

Most recently I shot the Excel Gumergency print campaign with BBDO. These clever ads, targeting the adult gum customer, feature “Randy Johnson” (actor Jeff Kassel) as a straight-talking bad breath hot-line operator. Creatives Shawn James and Sean Atkinson (partnered to create confusion) were a joy to work with. Funny, sharp and ambitious, I look forward to causing more trouble with these two in the future.

When Taxi Toronto floated the idea of doing a couple of short videos to accompany our Viagra print campaign I jumped at the chance to direct them. And, I’m glad that I did; art director Michael Siegers and writer Rene Bhavnani put their full creative energies behind making them awesome. Even though the budget was modest, with proper attention to casting, location and a super smart script, our spots came together beautifully. Different regions have varying guidelines on how explicit advertising can be, so this was an opportunity for us to have some creative fun.

And, our half print/ half video crew worked together fantastically, making a challenging day of shooting ultimately a very satisfying one. Special props to DP Rhys Ernst.

And, thank you to Jooli Kim, my Canadian agent, for securing both assignments. Yay!

Image: Wrigley’s Excel - it’s a Gumergency! Shot with BBDO Toronto.

Top Video: Our 15 second Viagra golf spot with actor Dwight McFee.

Bottom Video: Actor Peter Snider is our confident, if failing, tennis player.