Have you ever tried to direct? I have. It's hard.

I didn't really want to do it. We had no money, but we did have easy scripts, and I figured I knew how to turn a camera on and move it from side to side. I shot about five spots in a small campaign. It went all right. But when I went to the transfer, or telecine, or whatever it's called, I asked the DP why all the spots were in letterbox format. He said, "Because you shot them in letterbox." I didn't recall giving that order and the DP reminded me of a conversation we had about aspect ratios (whatever they were). So I shot an entire campaign in letterbox without knowing it.

Now I've had two partners who have gone on to direct, and they are really good at it. But not me. And not most people on the planet. I have developed an immense respect for directors - the real directors who find a way to put up with all the hassles and still create art, or at least a fucking awesome spot. I have worked with some real geniuses; people whose talent blows me away. I'm quite embarrassed that I thought I could do what they do.

But when you look around today you hear that the TV spot is dead, and that anyone with a video camera can be a director. There are bullshit contests on YouTube to direct your own Super Bowl spots. It's like we are living in the middle of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, a book that presents a scenario where true talent is not only ignored, but despised.

There is a lot of true talent in this issue. There are a lot of directors here whose work I love watching [see the "Directors in Demand" feature, beginning on pg. 21]. Imagine that, work you love to watch. Work that might make you stop when you are TiVo-ing your way through a show. Work you might actually search for on YouTube. Work that you might actually email to a friend because you think it's awesome. It's been my experience that people like to watch stuff that is awesome.

So here's to the geniuses. Hopefully they won't get fed up with us amateurs. It would be a shame if they left us to go live with John Galt.

Gerry Graf is executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.