Craft Club: Direction

After graduating from university with a degree in Criminology, Chilo began her career at a halfway house with a roster of high-risk offenders. On a night shift during bed checks she reminded herself that Criminology was meant to be a back-up plan to her more passionate goal of a career in creativity. She quickly quit her job in pursuit of a career on set. After 10 years working at two notable production companies, she launched her own. Now representing a roster of directors, cinematographers, and photographers, Chilo is a Managing Partner and Executive Producer at Someplace Nice; a boutique production company specializing in broadcast, content and print production for advertising agencies and marketing clients direct. Since its launch in 2013, Someplace Nice has produced work for clients such as Coca-Cola, Ikea, Nike, Hyundai, McDonalds, Budweiser, Kraft,Volvo and Uber; and has been recognized at industry awards shows such as the Cannes Lions, CLIO Awards, Applied Arts, The ADCC’s and The Marketing Awards.

Adeel Shamsi is an award-winning Writer/Director based in Toronto. He started his career by making music videos for artists in his family and close friends as a way to maintain his love for cinema on the side while still working a full-time finance job. Over time however, he realized he couldn’t ignore his passion and decided to quit his job and take up directing full time. Since then, he’s gone on to make ads for brands including Osmows (their “Habibi” spot aired during the 2023 Superbowl in Canada), Zabiha Halal, IDRF and MLSE. Adeel work ranges from the worlds of comedy to for-good.

Yael Staav’s career kicked off in 2007 with a Cannes Lion Grand-Prix for Dove “Evolution”. In the ensuing years, she has honed her craft to prove to herself worthy of the early accolades.​ Yael has directed multiple episodes of the much-loved comedy Workin’ Moms (CBC) and was recently nominated for a 2023 Canadian Screen Award for the show's last season. She was also nominated for the 2022 DGC Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for the same show. Yael was also honoured by the Directors Guild of Canada for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series for her work on Baroness Von Sketch (CBC/IFC). She also garnered a Canadian Screen Award for Direction for that same show.​​This summer she was on set with the first season of the CBC comedy "One More Time". ​ Yael’s commercial work for Amazon, Coke, Campbell’s, Volkswagen, and Delta – with agencies including World Famous, DDB, Leo Burnett, Wieden + Kennedy, and Saatchi & Saatchi – taps into small, incidental moments that reveal who we are at our core. Much of her work is about self-discovery, examining incidental details that often go unnoticed in a world that’s all too much, too fast. ​ Always up for an adventure, a laugh, an early call-time, a shared cry, or a craft burrito – the process and the journey of telling stories keeps Yael at it with fiery dedication.

Benji Weinstein began his career directing music videos and was nominated for a Juno Award for his work with Epitaph artists The Weakerthans. He then started directing commercials and has created award-winning TV campaigns around the world for global brands including GEICO, Virgin, Coca-Cola, Sprint, McDonald’s, BMO, Burger King, Budweiser, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Proctor & Gamble, Wrigley, Cadillac, Kraft, Xbox, Verizon, FedEx, Unilever, MillerCoors, and Comcast. His work has won at every major international advertising award show, including the Cannes Grand Prix, The One Show, The London International Awards, The Effies, The Cassies, The Bessies, The Marketing Awards, The Art Directors Club, and aired during the Super Bowl. He has directed projects in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, South Africa, and Mexico. His commercials have featured Alec Baldwin, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Michael Bublé, Danny Trejo, Rhys Darby, Usain Bolt, Richard Branson, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin, among others. He also has a website, which recently got hacked, and re-directed visitors to a site that sells Viagra.