My Biggest Lesson: Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais

Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais’ first feature film Whitewash won the Best New Narrative Feature Film award at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Best Feature by a First-Time Director at the Canadian Screen Awards. His second film Birthmarked, a dramatic comedy starring Toni Collette and Matthew Goode, was released internationally on Netflix in 2018. His short film Marius Borodine received numerous accolades including a Genie Award and a top ten TIFF selection in 2011.

Emanuel has directed over 500 ad campaigns in the past 20 years. Many of these spots have won prizes in festivals in Cannes, New York, London and Toronto. Emanuel was also honoured with the Best Directing Award at the Crea Awards in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2021 and at the Canadian Marketing Awards in 2011. He’s worked for clients such as AIR CANADA, BELL, BEST BUY, CAESAR’S PALACE, CAMPBELL’S, DENTYNE ICE, DR PEPPER, GENERAL MOTORS, JEEP, KEURIG, McDONALD’S, NESCAFÉ, PEPSI, PIZZA HUT, RAM, ROLAIDS, SUBWAY, SUZUKI, TOYOTA, UBER EATS, V8 VEGETABLE JUICE, VOLKSWAGEN and many others.

Before directing, Emanuel was an actor and an editor based in Montreal. He cut a large amount of television spots and played in a few plays, films and TV series. Try spotting him in the The Day after Tomorrow trailer…

When I started to direct commercials, I learned two pieces of wisdom almost simultaneously. The first one came from my background as an actor, and the second from an older director who was on the verge of retirement. 

So being in front of the camera teaches you a lot about what’s going on behind the camera! As everyone knows, the job of an actor is to sit and wait for hours, then try to shine for a few minutes… So as I would stand on my mark while they lit the scene, I could observe everyone work and understand how communication was the most vital element of the trade. But I noticed that many directors didn’t know how to talk to actors (whether myself or the actors around me). And as an actor, it can be quite unsettling when you don’t fully understand exactly where things are heading. 

I quickly learned that a director should work with this general precept: it is a complete waste of time and energy to get impatient with an actor. If you’re on take 37 and the actor isn’t getting what you’re asking, maybe your notes are confusing - or maybe wherever you’re heading doesn’t even make sense! If an actor is tired, nervous or uncomfortable, you need to help him/her. Now it’s obviously possible the actor is just not right for this role - whether he/she was chosen by you or by the client. But this casting mistake is not his/her fault. As a director, you have to cajole, inspire, simplify, energise or create a spark. Make the magic happen.

Now if you’re working with a celebrity who has very little patience or clearly doesn’t want to be there, the ONLY way to get to them is by being calm, kind and perceptive. They usually end up wanting to help you achieve what you’re looking for.  

So I started to direct believing I had an understanding of what made actors tick, which led me to think that directing actors was the most important aspect of the craft. But I rapidly learned a second piece of wisdom… At the time, an older director who was on the verge of returning to architecture (his first love), decided to take me under his wing. He taught me how the visual language of an image is just as important as what the person in the frame is trying to convey. “You have to be as opinionated about the elements of the frame, than you are about the actor inside it”. I remember these words every time I start a job.