Director Kevin Smith of Backyard Productions just finished working on a campaign promoting Reebok’s CCM skates that features the disembodied head of all-star Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. To celebrate, we asked him five questions about work, the industry, and inspiration. Watch the spots, then read the Q&A.

Backyard director Kevin SmithQ: What are you working on today?
A: Today… right now… I am working on a couple treatments. Yes, we do them ourselves sometimes. One is a food product, the other sells sporting goods. Both need help. Also I’m working on cuts for a pro bono project I did with a friend for an organization called Ampsurf. Tonight I’m celebrating my wife’s birthday.

Q: What is the best tool or innovation that has come out in the last year?
A: Not exactly the last year, but I would say that the democratization of high quality and relatively affordable cameras will have a huge effect on communication. It has pretty much gotten to the place where an idea won’t be discounted because of lack of funds. I know high school/college students who are making pretty sophisticated work. It will be interesting to see how things change.

Q: What project (film, television, commercial or music video) most impressed you in the last year?
A: I am a sucker for the last thing I saw, and that was a pre-release screening of 127 Hours. The film was both claustrophobic and vast. It was the work of an inventive director with great control of a vast palette. It also helps that Danny Boyle was there and is an infectiously energetic guy.

Q: The best or favorite project that you worked on in the past year? And why?
A: The last project I worked on was for CCM, a manufacturer of hockey equipment. We produced a variety of content for them, all of which had to do with the soul of hockey as personified by the dismembered head of one of the sports brightest stars, Alex Ovechkin. I liked the project because it was well-conceived and struck a new tone for the category in much the same way we did with some work for Titleist a few years ago … and it was fun to work on.

Q: Name the top 4 artists on your iPod.
A: Well let’s see, last played: Wilco, Neil Young, Band of Horses, Carlos Kleiber