"The death of drama." We have all heard of that supposed inevitability. But looking at Playback's 2003 "10 to Watch" - emerging Canuck directors, writers and actors - one would think that aspirations to excellence in audiovisual storytelling have not waned at all. Despite the recent drop in drama and comedy production, the wellspring of talent that emanates from this country evidently can't be held back.

This year's 10 - we originally intended to choose nine but were so overwhelmed by the crop - were selected by Playback staff after careful scrutiny of the mountainous pile of CVs sent by talent agents. (If you count the animation/kids writing team of Simon Racioppa and Richard Elliott, there are actually 11 artists featured.)

In the end, what we have is a pool of young talents each on the verge of taking his or her career to the next level. Each has demonstrated a flare in genres as diverse as horror, comedy, fantasy, satire and realism. We even have the francophone voice of Spider-Man.

While such lists are ultimately subjective, we think you'll agree that this year's 10 are among the best and brightest the industry has to offer.

Directors

Brad Peyton
Age: 25
Residence: Toronto
Agency: Greenlight Entertainment
Buzz: is set to write and direct the CGI feature The Spider and the Fly for Tom Hanks' Playtone and Universal Studios

Prior to entering the Canadian Film Centre, Brad Peyton spent a lot of time in his room, painting and throwing around ideas. Growing up in Newfoundland, he says he saw his small hometown develop around him but never felt part of it. Being on the fringes served as fodder for Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl, a comically macabre short film that he directed (and cowrote with Lee Hoverd), making outlandish stylistic references to Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss.

Peyton received wide acclaim for Evelyn, produced while he was a resident director at the CFC in 2002. The film played at TIFF2002 and made the festival rounds, with stops at Montreal, the Aspen Shortsfest and, recently, the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. Evelyn has garnered numerous prizes, including a Grand Jury Award for best short at the Nodance Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Peyton had written a treatment based on a children's storybook The Spider and The Fly written by 19th century poet Mary Howitt. "I fell in love with the main character," he says of the lead, whom he describes as a fly with the persona of silent screen star Lillian Gish.

Peyton was flown to L.A. by Universal to pitch the idea and was immediately given the green light. Evelyn had also caught the attention of Tom Hanks, who is also on board for The Spider and The Fly. Peyton has glowing words for Hanks, whom he met directly. "Tom Hanks and Playtone want to support young, progressive talent," Peyton says.

Peyton is currently laboring on the script and also plans to shoot a music video for Canuck band Royal City as well as a short film, both projects with CFC cohort Jim Mauro.

Michael Dowse
Age: late 20s
Residence: Montreal
Agency: Great North Artists Management
Buzz: after producing and directing the cult mockumentary Fubar, is currently shooting the feature It's All Gone Pete Tong in Europe

Before "give'r" became part of the Canadian rocker subculture lexicon, director Michael Dowse honed his craft in Calgary helming music videos and a commercial for Big Rock Beer that won a few awards. But it wasn't until his 2000 short film 237, about an oft-used hotel room, won best experimental film at the Cabbagetown Film Festival and the NSI Drama Prize that folks started to take notice of the young director. Now, after his 2002 debut feature Fubar, Dowse has become a serious breakout player in Canadian cinema.

Fubar is about a pair of old-school rockers who love to drink, discuss the nature of friendship and, well, rock! Director/producer/writer/editor/cinematographer Dowse somehow made his foul-mouthed, scrappy characters endearing and Fubar is in line for status as "cult classic." Dowse seems to take the popularity of the film in stride, however.

"I think people like to drink and they like to watch people drink and they like to talk about watching people drink," he says. "It's all healthy."

Fubar won its share of acclaim, too. It was nominated for a 2002 Genie in the best editing category, was runner-up to Atanarjuat for the best-Canadian-feature-of-the-year prize from the Toronto Film Critics Association and was also hailed one of the 10 films to watch at the Sundance Film Festival by The Hollywood Reporter.

Fubar premiered at Sundance in the midnight program. Legend has it that Dowse and others involved with the film drove an RV from Calgary to the festival, set up lawn chairs and gave away flyers for the screening.

Dowse is currently shooting It's All Gone Pete Tong in Ibiza, Spain, and hates the food there. He also wrote the film, a sequel of sorts to Human Traffic, about five friends navigating their way through the U.K. club scene for a weekend. The film is being produced by the U.K.'s Vertigo Films. This, says Dowse, is the capper to a wild breakthrough year.

"It's been the kindest, warmest, gentlest year I've ever had the pleasure of knowing," he says.

Did we mention he's shooting in Ibiza?

Gaurav Seth
Age: 34
Residence: Toronto
Agency: The Saint Agency
Buzz: first feature A Passage to Ottawa received several international honors

Born and raised in Bombay, the nomadic Gaurav Seth was trained at Moscow's Russian Federation State Institute of Cinematography. After making the Russian TV feature The Art of Dying (1995), he moved back to India to shoot the one-hour biopic Prabhupada (1996).