"They should make Big Wheels for adults," says an excitable Craig Champion. Produced by bicoastal Headquarters, the director's reel includes three spots for which he receives First Boards: "Ironworkers" for the Jimmy Fund, Sylvania's "Lighting Brilliance," and a snowboarding spot for Burton called "Originate."

Although he denies having an anchor tattoo, Champion served in the Navy and surfed as a professional snowboarder. Returning to school, he received a BFA in Photography and opened a graphic design house in Chicago where he shot and designed music labels and CD packages. After booking a few music video jobs, the director notes, "I got a taste for film...and it was all over."

The Big Break

"My partner and I shot and designed a catalog for a snowboard company and went to a Las Vegas trade show to help set up their booth. I ran across this guy named Michael Jager who runs an agency in Burlington, Vermont (Jager Di Paolo Kemp) that does all of the Burton advertising. He asked me to send him some of my work. About six months later I got a call asking me to shoot six spots in Austria. I didn't even have a passport. I spent 26 days shooting all over Europe. It was really intense and scary but we pulled it off."

One of the commercials was "Originate," a nostalgic spot that opens like a home video. The mood is decidedly melancholy as a group of future snowboarders paint racing numbers on inner tubes and thrust themselves down a snowy hill. The spot then cuts to present-day where the snowboarders continue to indulge in their extreme endeavors.

"We shot Super 8 and 16mm so it's a mix. When you work for Burton it's a different vibe. The crew was two other people, the kids and me. We went and found the location, wardrobe and shot the spot all in one day. The original concept for that spot was for them to be racing down the hill on Big Wheels and then it snowed like crazy so we opted for the inner tubes."

Champion shares a dark family secret

"I had several Big Wheels growing up. I like the adjustable blue seat and the fringes hanging off the handle bars. We lived in San Francisco when I was a kid and my parents wouldn't let me ride it down the hill because we lived on this really steep hill. So I would ride it down the steps of our house and I would just go through them like crazy."

Sylvania's "Lighting Brilliance"

Rob Benavides DP'd the spot. It follows a group of kids on the road at night and is meant to resemble VW's "Milky Way." All except the driver (who is seen yawning) are asleep.

"The thing that I loved about the VW spot was that it was night but you could still make out the landscape. That's what we wanted to do. Everyone can relate to that situation. It's a really subtle spot. It's telling the story of these kids on a road trip. Where they're going doesn't really matter. [It's saying that] even when you start to get tired the headlights will help you to see better and drive safely."