PivotHeated Rivalry Producers: How We Made a Hit
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
How Heated Rivalry became a hit via Canada’s producer-led system
- Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady describe “Heated Rivalry” as a rare mainstream example of “queer joy” that avoids the typical trauma-first framing, which they argue is a major reason it resonated so widely.
- They break down the Canadian financing model (license fee + provincial/federal tax credits + distribution advance), emphasizing a key tradeoff: less money up front, but producers retain underlying IP and long-term upside.
- Production choices—six episodes written before prep, block-shooting all episodes like a feature, 36 shooting days, and shorter shoot days—kept costs low while protecting crew health and performance quality.
- They discuss industry dynamics shaping entertainment: executive “notes” culture, second-screen viewing pressures, consolidation/competition concerns, and where AI could help (operations) without replacing creative collaboration and “friction.”
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasQueer romance succeeded by centering joy, not pain.
Tierney argues the show’s “soft power” is presenting queer love as expansive, pleasurable, and emotionally fulfilling without turning it into a lesson or punishment narrative—especially rare for stories about men.
The built-in audience was romance—and it’s largely female.
They credit the show’s breakout to a massive romance readership that is often dismissed due to misogyny; the adaptation “took seriously” women’s desire and the genre’s scale.
Canada’s system trades upfront cash for ownership and longevity.
A Canadian broadcaster typically covers ~20–30% via license fee, tax credits add ~20–30%, and producers raise the remainder—yet producers keep IP, enabling long-term upside (merchandise, future seasons, back-end returns).
They bet on themselves by reinvesting producer fees to close financing.
To finish the last portion of the budget, Tierney and Brady put in most of their producer fees—framing it as a calculated gamble because IP retention means a hit can pay out for decades.
Operational discipline can substitute for budget—if you design for it.
They shot six episodes in 36 days, block-shot as one movie, and entered prep with all scripts completed; this reduces costly rewrites, overtime, and inefficiencies common in some U.S. workflows.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotes“Just present queer joy… that’s its soft power.”
— Jacob Tierney
“We don’t take female desire and stories seriously in media a lot of the times.”
— Brendan Brady
“We are the studio… in this system.”
— Jacob Tierney
“We shot all six episodes in 36 days… block shot them like one giant movie.”
— Brendan Brady
“It’s a rejection of an idea that everything has to come from one person… It’s very top-down.”
— Jacob Tierney
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