Yes, that was Jason Priestley commanding all the attention at Roots whilst a small pod of commercial execs including Philippe Garneau and Michael Schwartz stood on the sidelines. It's a face - Priestley's that is - that advertising and music video production folk could be seeing more often as Black Walk Productions moves on up to spot-making with the 90210 mainstay in tow.

Toronto-based Black Walk, a music video production house, takes control of 99 Sudbury as of May 23, new digs and a new direction, says exec producer Mihkel Harilaid. "We've got the talent and the facilities to branch out into commercial production."

The company will be positioned as an all-inclusive, one-stop shop, carving its niche in part by keeping four producers in-house. Using freelance producers lowers the overhead, but Harilaid says the level of consistency the in-house staff brings to the company is worth bucking the trend.

"Clients work repeatedly with producers they know they can trust. From our side, we work with people with a broader commitment to the company. They're involved with more decision-making processes, they learn more, and it leaves us able to throw more resources at a project when it's required."

Also contributing to the one-stop concept is Black Walk's in-house post facility, Keep Me Posted, which will fill two Betacam rooms and two non-linear suites. A staff editor and an assistant editor are on the to-hire list.

Harilaid is looking to have five spot directors on staff by the end of the year. To start, he's taking three of his nine music video directors, Lisa Mann and Stephen Scott and a player to be named later, into the spot spectrum and is looking for new talent, ideally with some expertise in post or shooting car commercials.

As for Priestley, although Black Walk doesn't officially represent him, the Vancouver-born star just wrapped The Old Apartment video for the Barenaked Ladies at the end of April through the company and will be shooting another video with Black Walk later in May.

Priestley's got 12 episodes of 90210 under his director's belt, and has, says Harilaid, an instinctive sense of camera positioning and an "intense enthusiasm" for the performers. He got the best performance ever out of the Barenaked Ladies. He's very communicative and adaptable to the client and the band."

His day rate for this particular video was about double that of your average music director. Whether Priestley will move into spot production and how that scale could play out is up in the air. Harilaid is mum on plans for the future, saying only, "We'll have to wait and see."

Alstad breaks out

The fraternity of hot new directors has added another brat to its well-groomed ranks. With his first turn at helming a spot for Bacardi Breezer Extreme, agency veteran and MacLaren McCann vp group creative director Howard Alstad has legitimately earned the "hot" and "new" appellations. The spot was his directorial debut, and it was indeed a hot shoot, on the steamy beaches of Costa Rica.