A national commercial, two days to shoot it, and a frame that made the final cut.
Dave Copithorne · June 2026 · Commercial Production
The call came in from Toronto. Westside Studio needed a Calgary DP for a Toronto Blue Jays campaign, and they needed to shoot within two days. Simultaneous crews were going up across Canada to capture what it actually looks like to be a Jays fan from coast to coast. I said yes before I knew anything else about it.
That kind of trust from a studio you've never met before is something you earn slowly and spend fast. A major Toronto production company reaching out cold to a Calgary cinematographer and handing over the local shoot entirely. That's not nothing. I was glad to be in the room for it.
The campaign aired during the World Series. A lot of Canadians saw it. Out of everything captured across this country, a few of my frames made the cut, including one I'm particularly stoked about, which I'll get to in a minute.
The Calgary portion of the shoot ran across two setups. The first was a home scene: a die-hard fan who'd held onto his Blue Jays memorabilia for decades. Caps going back to the dynasty years, old programs, a "Cheek 05" jersey draped over the chair. And tucked in with all of it, a fan of tickets from the 1992 and 1993 World Series runs, still intact, still sharp.
There's something specific about filming someone's personal collection that requires a different kind of attention. You're not lighting a product. You're lighting thirty years of fandom. We took our time with it, finding frames that felt like memories. Close on the tickets, wide enough on the room to let the jersey and the hats breathe in the window light.
The second setup was a bar. Calgary talent Chris Doucher was on set, and we were capturing the live, reactive energy of fans watching a game. These are moments that either happen or they don't. You can't manufacture that. You can only put the camera in the right place and be ready.
Of all the frames from the day, this is the one I keep coming back to. Chris sitting at the bar, hands clasped at his chin, watching the screen with everything on the line. I was in the room when I got this, handheld and close. I didn't know until later it had made the final cut. That's the nature of verité commercial work. You shoot, you hope you caught something real, and sometimes you did.
Left: BTS of Dave shooting the moment · Right: the frame that aired during the World Series
That shot mattered to Chris too. When something you filmed is broadcast to millions of people during one of the biggest sporting moments of the year, it lands differently than your average project recap. He came to set as a fan and left with a piece of something that ran coast to coast.
Below is a selection of frames from the Calgary portion of the shoot: the bar scenes, the outdoor fan moments, the home setup. These are the clips that made it through the edit from this city.
There's a particular kind of commercial DP work that doesn't get talked about as much as the big-budget stuff: the fast campaigns where a production hub calls a local cinematographer, hands off the creative brief, and trusts them to execute without a full pre-production runway. No tech scout, no blocking rehearsal, no three-day build. You show up knowing your city, knowing how to read a location fast, and knowing how to make the footage feel like it belongs in the same piece as what they're shooting in Toronto and Vancouver.
That's the skill set agencies and studios are actually buying when they reach out to a local DP. Not just camera operation. The ability to translate a creative direction into footage that cuts cleanly with work you've never seen. Director Jennifer Roberts gave clear direction and the whole Calgary crew moved well together. When the pace is right and everyone trusts each other, you find frames you wouldn't have found otherwise.
The Jays didn't take the World Series. But the campaign brought the country together in the way that only baseball can: slow, attentive, a little tense. I'm glad a few frames from this city were part of it.
This project came through Westside Studio, one of Toronto's strong commercial production companies. Being reached out to cold for a national broadcast campaign is the kind of thing that opens doors. It's evidence that the work speaks clearly enough for another city's studio to pull your name up and make the call.
If you're a production company, agency, or brand working on a commercial campaign that touches Calgary or Alberta, I'd love to hear about it. You can reach me at dcfotofilm.com/contact or directly at dcfotofilm@gmail.com.
The Blue Jays campaign was a national commercial that captured authentic fan reactions and stories across Canada during the World Series. Westside Studio coordinated simultaneous crews in multiple cities, with Dave Copithorne shooting the Calgary scenes as the local DP.
The campaign was produced by Westside Studio, a Toronto-based production company. Director Jennifer Roberts led the creative, with TJ Nesbitt as partner and producer. Dave Copithorne served as Director of Photography for the Calgary portion of the shoot.
Production companies and agencies coordinating national shoots typically reach out directly to local DPs with commercial and broadcast experience. Dave Copithorne (DCFOTOFILM) has worked with studios across Canada on national campaigns. Reach him at dcfotofilm.com/contact.
For commercial productions Dave works with cinema cameras and a full grip and lighting package suited to the brief. He shoots handheld, gimbal, and cinema verité depending on the creative direction, and brings his own eye for natural light that agencies consistently mention in post-shoot feedback.
Yes, and it happens regularly. Calgary-based DPs work on national campaigns coordinated out of Toronto, Vancouver, and other production hubs. Dave Copithorne works with agencies and studios across Canada who hire him specifically for Alberta and Western Canada shoots.