On May 23rd at the DGA Theatre in New York City, Shoot magazine debuted its fifth annual New Directors Showcase reel. The reel reflects the work of 30 helmers—25 individual directors, a three-person team and a directorial duo. The reel is now available online for viewing here.

I love director Ringan Ledwidge's work (see Getting Dressed and Dangerous Liaisons) and this new spot for Orange is full of the same whimsical qualities that make it so appealing to me. Agency is Fallon, London. Production company is Rattling Stick, London. Shot in South Africa via The Farm, Cape Town. Scooped from Boards.

Although this spot received a lot of press when it first came out in late 2006, I never saw it until the Bessie Awards in Toronto last month. I have no idea where my head was when it was released. But, I'm posting it now because it is so beautiful. Directed by Mark Molloy via Soft Citizen & Furlined; agency is Bensimon Byrne, Toronto; creatives are Siobian Dempsey & Drew Paulter; editiorial  by Michelle Czukar at Panic and Bob and music by Human. For more info, see this article in Boards.

Here's the latest print campaign for Stihl via Publicis Conseil, France.  Photographed by Jean-Yves Lemoigne. Scooped from AdHunt.

Keith McArthur writes about the latest marketing trends, advertising campaigns and industry gossip, both in the print version of Canada's The Globe and Mail and online in his blog The Hard Sell. Check out his May 10th posting on the "Life's short. Get a divorce" billboard. Hilarious.

I posted this Adidas spec spot on my blog late last summer. It's so good & it just won (in a tie) Best Spec Spot at the 2007 AICE awards. Congratulations to director Jerry Brown, EP Marlon Staggs and everyone else at Sticks+Stones.

Here are three new spots for Skittles via TBWA/Toronto and OPC director Jim Hosking (Jim is repped by Biscuit Filmworks state side). Visual effects by Crush, Toronto. Creative team is Allen Oke (CW) and Scott Couture (AD). Due to issues with my server (see "glossy attacked" posting below) the link to the spots is a tad slow. Please be patient.

I don't like monkeys. They scare me. So this spot for ADT via AMV BBDO, London and Biscuit@Independent, London is extra creepy to me. Creative team is Jez and Prabs; directed by Steve Rogers.

Apologies for my site being down for a number of hours yesterday. The server that my site is hosted on was the victim of a denial of service attack - you can see the full definition here.  My  hosting company explained to me as, "Essentially some asshole or assholes bombarded the server with literally thousands of visits a second - which is the equivalent of trying to squeeze a thousand shoppers through one door at Holt Renfrew - it's gonna cause a bottleneck." (Holt Renfrew is a Canadian retailer).

Here’s the latest from Psyop/MassMarket for Renault via Publicis, Paris. Fisherman is a true co-production between Psyop and MassMarket, combining their talents for live action storytelling, design and visual effects. Produced through Stink, Psyop's European reps, the spot marks a further push into the live action arena for the New York based creative collective. Psyop director is Eben Mears.

This WWF billboard uses an awning to cast a shadow that rises throughout the day. Agency is DraftFBC, Toronto. Creatives: Robin Heisey, Joe Piccolo, Chris Taciuk, Mike Doneghey and Chris Joakim. See a video of the billboard here. Scooped from Advertising/Design Goodness.

Here's the latest from director Noam Murro for VW. This beautiful spot features Richard Burton's brooding delivery of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. Agency is DDB, London.

The third annual AdBands is coming to Toronto's El Mocambo on Thursday, May 31. Created by Radke Films director Craig Brownrigg (a former agency art director), AdBands is rock bands made up of some of the advertising industries most talented creative people. All proceeds from the event go to raise funds and awareness for one little girl with autism. The first of two web films to promote the event can be viewed here. Creative team is Erin Wendel(AD) & Lauren McCrindle(CW) at McLaren McCann, Toronto. Directed by Craig Brownrigg.

Directorial duo The Perlorian Brothers directed this amazing spot for Old Spice starring the legendary Bruce Campbell. See some behind the scenes footage here.  Fantastic.

In conjunction with all the other outdoor (see the following two postings) for the new Audi TT, this video is being projected on the sides of buildings in downtown Toronto. The video was created using the Universal Everything Audi TT film that was launched in Europe last month. Creative agency for Audi Canada is Lowe Roche.

Giant double Ts (TT) appeared all over downtown Toronto yesterday. They are six feet high, almost 16 feet long and have THENEWAUDITT.CA on one side. The creative agency is Lowe Roche Toronto & they tell me that these Ts are moving all over the city for the next three days and will be on 120 different sites throughout Toronto's downtown core. See more pics on the Lowe Roche site here. Creative team is Geoffrey Roche, Ryan Spelliscy and Patrick Shing.

In conjunction with the giant Ts above, the Audi TT logo is being carved into various pastoral locations across Canada. Those taking flight near the eastern edge of the Greater Toronto Area, will catch an aerial view of of this one on the site of All Green Farms in Bowmanville. As above, agency is Lowe Roche, Toronto.

The first annual Creativity Awards are being held tonight in New York. Creativity magazine asked the most accomplished creative people from around the world to nominate the best, most engaging, most creative, most brand-building, most envy-inducing ideas from 2006. A jury of 20 top creative directors then decided on the best of the best from the nominated work. I'll be attending & I'm sure a full list of the winners will be posted tomorrow on AdCritic.

I've always loved Gondry's work, but after seeing this, I think I actually have a crush (pathetic). Watch the new HP ad featuring Michel Gondry, and directed by Olivier Gondry, here.

I heart director Brian Lee Hughes and he's been busy shooting tons of great work lately. Here's the first in a number of campaigns that are being released in the next few weeks. These three web films are for Ray-Ban's Never Hide campaign. Watch Dominator here, Human Zoo here and Wheelie Genius here. Creative Agency is Cutwater, San Francisco and the production company is OPC, Toronto. 

About a year ago, Jason Culbertson started a blog as a way of documenting his struggle to find contacts for agency recruiters and headhunters. Realizing that there were other creatives in the same position, he developed and  launched agencyscoop.com. The site features user-generated and reviewed news, agency and recruiter listings, and jobs. Jason is now a Sr. Art Director at BBDO Atmosphere, New York.

Thanks to Jérôme (I've always loved that name) for contacting me and letting me know about his site Ad Pawn. Great design and great content. Check it out.

Here's the latest from Biscuit's Noam Murro for Orbit. Watch The Affair here. The agency is Energy BBDO, Chicago. On a side note, Noam is currently in post of his first feature film, Smart People. For more info on Noam & Smart People check out this article from this month's Boards Magazine.

Here's a new campaign for The Salvation Army via ACLC, Toronto. This is the follow-up to the "Invisible" campaign released in November. View the print campaign here and the TV spot here. ACLC creative team is Tony Miller (CD), Steve Conover (CW), Howard Beauchamp (AD). Directed by Lara Azzopardi of Fever Films.

Droga5 and Smuggler's Randy Krallman are behind this hilarious contest for Steinlager beer, in which one lucky American could win the chance to live the life of a Kiwi schlep named Nick. I've been dying to see this campaign since David Droga talked about it at the Boards Creative Workshop in Toronto in March. View the entire in the Boards screening room here. The Emma one really cracks me up.

A little over a week ago I posted the first of four spots for G4's Ninja Warrior. Here is the entire four spot campaign. The agency is 72andSunny, Los Angeles and the spots are directed by Biscuit's Tim Godsall and feature actual Shaolin Monks. Godsall said it was tough to get them not to stare directly into the camera at the end of each take.

This spot, for the Finland Ministry of Transport, is so good on so many levels. The little touches like the squirrel and the tattoo on the female jogger's bum just it up to another level, don't you think? And the music is great too. Agency: Publicis Helsinki Oy; Director: Alex & Steffen, Spy Films, Toronto; Music & SFX: Alex Pfeffer. Watch Crash Test Dummies here. See the full press release here.

Last summer I got three of my clients together on a project to showcase their talents. Animation master Yoho Yue of Toronto's Crush created this spot for director John Mastromonaco's LA-based production company Argyle Brothers. The only instructions given to Yoho were, "do something cool with wrestlers. End with the Argyle Brothers logo." To finish it off, Jeff Derringer of Hired Goons Music, New York, created some killer beats. This animation went live on the new Argyle Brothers site yesterday. It's also featured in this month's issue of Stash magazine.

Here's a testosterone-fuelled spot for Miller Lite via Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami and directed by Biscuit's Jim Hosking.

On my new site (glossy 2.0 coming soon) I'll be able to file work under different categories. This one would go under "freaky". Furlined received this homemade action figure from a fan of the Geico caveman commercials. First off, what's with the stain on the shorts?! What you can't see, or hear for that matter, is that the base of the "doll" is made up of "record your own message" postcards. Meaning, you press a button & you hear a voice. In this case, the fan actually recorded clips of the caveman talking from the TV commercials. Freaky, but I totally love it.

ihaveanidea's Portfolio Night is upon us. The goal of the event is to unite our industry at all levels for one day and helping make the next generation the best generation. "This year our goal was to extend Portfolio Night to every corner of the world. With your help and support Portfolio Night 5 will be a success!" Ignacio Oreamuno, President ihaveanidea.

Here's the latest from Biscuit's Tim Godsall for Travelers Insurance. The spot is called Lucky and unlike the Nagi Noda rabbits, these ones are cute, not scary. Agency is Fallon, Minneapolis. For more on director Tim Godsall, check out the article in this month's 'boards magazine here.

I stopped by Green Dot Films yesterday in Santa Monica to meet the Three Legged Legs. Here are some pics of them in their environment. The Legs are Gregg Gunn, Casey Hunt and Reza Rasoli (also pictured is sales rep Darren Foldes and myself). They were also kind enough to give me some cool swag, including a Three Legged Legs neck tie, which I'll scan & post when I get back to Toronto on Sunday. Thanks Legs! (& Alex).

I love this stylish spot for Fashion Cares. It's so sexy & the music is amazing. Agency is MacLaren McCann, Toronto; directed by Soft Citizen's Drew Lightfoot; music by Feist via Vapor Music.

Here's the latest from Japanese director Nagi Noda (love her) for French retailer Monoprix. The spot is titled "vegetables" and is nice and sweet and spooky all at once. Are rabbits the new clowns? Clowns can be pretty scary, but since Donnie Darko rabbits have been getting increasingly creepier. Agency is FCB Paris. Scooped from Boards.