Twenty years ago this fall, Roy Skillicorn, who was at the peak of his career as a top print and motion rep, and his friend, director Blair Stribley, whose young commercial company had recently dissolved, were at Skillicorn’s home talking about the production company they planned to start.

“What should we call it?” they pondered as they sat and sipped lemonade in Skillcorn’s backyard.

And Backyard Productions it was.

Flash forward to April 22, 2009.

DIRECTOR KEVIN SMITH of Backyard Productions of L.A. and Chicago departs from his role of directing commercials to helm a 20-minute short titled “Bubblerama” around town this week. Leigh Jones is producing.

The story is about a young woman played by actress Annie Paresse, a bohemian artist type, who reinvents herself during the process of researching an upscale life style.

“Bubblerama” will head for the festival circuit when completed.

Backyard Productions is never one to stand still, always finding a new way to serve emerging trends?like its newly-formed Seed, a content company led by former DDB award-winning group creative director John Immesoete.

Immesoete is Seed partner/creative director and also a director for Backyard.

Seed will concentrate on “entertainment opportunities such as TV shows and Web-based films,” said Backyard partner/principal Roy Skillicorn.

Since signing with Backyard in December, Immesoete directed the “Lady” Bud Light Super Bowl spot in collaboration with DDB.

New York editor Michael Coletta exchanges the Mad Ave scene for Michigan Ave – more accurately East Illinois St. — when he returns home Aug. 16 after a nine-year absence.

He joins Red Car from Nomad Editing, bringing with him that New York panache from having worked with bi-coastal A-list spot directors for the biggest agencies and the most famous brands.

Red Car managing director Craig Duncan characterizes Coletta as “a natural storyteller with impeccable comedic timing.

THE AUDIENCE AWARD for the best documentary went to Fulton Market Films’ “Being Bucky,” at the recent Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison, one of only films so honored out of the festival’s 199 entries.

Award-winning Scott Smith, who grew up in Madison, directed the 80-minute doc about the seven students who play “Bucky Badger,” the University of Wisconsin/Madison mascot during the 2007-2008 school year.

If it feels to you like the spot business has picked up over last year, you’re absolutely right.

The Chicago Film Office, which keeps track of these things, reports a whopping 70% increase in the number of commercials shot here to date (as of Aug. 13).

CFO noted 61 commercial projects have filmed in the city, representing 104 shooting days to date. Compare that to last year’s 42 projects and 74 shooting days.

Among recent commercials produced:

Artisan of L.A.

HUNGRY MAN of New York, famous for its creative directors and take on comedy commercials, has won the Commitment to Excellence Award for TV commercials from the 2010 Hugo Television Awards, announced Jesse Berkowitz, competitions coordinator at a party Thursday night.

Hungry Man’s managing partner/executive producer Kevin Byrne will accept the Gold Hugo on behalf of his company at the April 15 awards ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Famous for comedy commercials, Hungry Man’s work is always a dominant force on the Super Bowl.

Director/producer Jenna Maria Constantine’s $350,000 feature “A Sicilian Odyssey,” the fictional journey of a young American writer uncovering her mother’s deepest secret, is also Constantine’s odyssey.

Its Dec. 20 premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center marks the second anniversary of when Constantine, of Chicago-based Jade Entertainment & KaplaniKid Productions, started filming in Italy.

I hope to generate a different image than we have of Sicily with a different focus and goal,” said Constantine.

California is determined to keep its feature film and TV production in its own backyard with a stunning new five-year $500 million tax credit that will make producers think twice about shooting in states with tempting government incentives.

Passed by the California legislature Feb. 19, the Production Incentive Program covers 20% of below-the-line expenses for production of up to $75 million and 25% of expenses for indie feature productions of up to $10 million and for all TV series relocating to California.

TEST SPOT GURU and Daily Planet founder Fred Berkover continues to ply his years of expertise with a new company partnered with Swell president Mike Topel. Tentatively named Stealth, the company is located on the 14th floor of NBC Tower, as is 59 Films, Ron Lazzeretti and Ed Amaya’s production company.

OCT. 4 IS THE DATE set for the IFO’s “Sweet Home Illinois” party for Chicagoans who now work in the L.A. film industry.