#mark haroun

[heartlandians]

First Script Reading for Heartland - Season 20. Video by: Michael Weinberg

[the-real-tc]

Review! HL Ep. 1507: Bluebird

I’ve lagged behind the past couple episodes with my reviewing, but here are my thoughts about the seventh episode of Season 15. (Cross-posted in other regions of the Interwebs, as usual.)

Oh, my heart. (I didn't need to cry again, Heartland, but ya made me weepy again after all this time gone back when we said goodbye to Ty in Season 14.)

I'm grateful for this episode for several reasons, so thanks are in order to Mark Haroun for another great script.

Many of us wondered what the *legal* fallout was for JD Werth and Grady after Ty's death, so I'm very satisfied we got some answers to that, even if we weren't privy to all the gritty details (we don't need a "Law & Order: HL").The unfortunate encounter Amy had at the *MODO (snicker — someone has a sense of humour in that Writer's Room) gas station with Grady totally rips off the scabs of the deep wounds of loss, and exposes the anger still brewing beneath the surface.

Tim still feels totally impotent. He's angry he could not do anything back during the trial, and he's angry now that Grady is walking around, free as a bird, and Ty is dead. He hastily goes out to the gas station (Jack along for the ride) and punches Grady after a brief exchange of words in which a timid Grady tries to explain how he never meant any harm, and was being used by JD Werth.

Amy, bless her, is still angry, too, and she has a stunning moment of raw honesty with Jack when she reveals she's had dark thoughts about what she would do to Grady if they ever ran into each other.

All the while, Jack is in the background, ever the voice of reason, and still not above dishing out some tough love when necessary.

Jess, also, is a calming presence. She's there to listen to Tim, never judging his actions, but letting him know she's in his corner and wants him to know they're supposed to make it through the tough times together.

There was some lightness to an otherwise really heavy storyline, which was that Rick's ornithologist/photographer mother is across the Pond for a visit. Lou (wisely or unwisely) had previously promised Gladys a mountain bluebird sighting. Gladys apparently has 20K followers on her social media account, and they'd all love to see one. Lou, of course, is out of town, leaving Jess to deal with this potential disaster, as mountain bluebirds are extremely rare. (Shades of "Pros and Connie's" travel blog.)

Jess enlists Parker and Katie in the mission to find a mountain bluebird with the promise of a $20 bonus for each of them, should they be successful in their quest. Parker's recent negative mood threatens the success, and Katie calls her out on it. Only later does Parker reveal the source of her malaise: her crush on Logan and the fact Jade put him up to asking him to dance with her at Tim and Jess' non-wedding. Parker had assumed he had asked her there as his date (he hadn't.) Parker never thought she'd be one of those girls to brood over a guy (poor kid). Katie, wise beyond her years, offers a friendly ear and some encouragement: she tells Parker she's a smart girl with a caring heart, and Logan's got nothing on her. I look forward to more of these pals supporting each other. It's the kind of friendship I wish we could have seen for Amy and someone else, since Soraya, Ashley, and Cass never quite seemed to either stay around or click with her. (But I digress.)

The girls do eventually discover a mountain bluebird nest, much to the delight of the hard-to-please Gladys. (Oh, look at that, I just had a K-PAX flashback.)

By the end of the episode, Tim's worked through his anger by doing a join-up with Champ. His anger had previously been messing with his ability to work the herd with Jack, but regaining the animal's trust meant he was back on his game. He thanks Jack for being there for him, and tells him he never met a "good man", and never knew what it was like to *be* a "good man" until he met Jack. (We agree with you on that, Tim. Jack is a very good man.)

Amy manages to make her peace with Grady. She's recognized he isn't a monster. She tells him he took away so much from her, but not everything. She tells him she's moving on with her life, and she wants him to move on with his life, too. We're left with the impression they both hope they never run into each other again, but Amy's words to Grady come over as being very liberating for him.

Lyndy and Amy spot one of the mountain bluebirds later that afternoon, and Amy tells her child Marion said bluebirds bring happiness, and Lyndy says it must be true, because she's happy. And Amy says she is, too.

I'm happy we got to see this kind of "closure" (I don't like that word in these situations) for Amy and Tim, because I felt we were missing out on that piece of the puzzle when it came to who was held responsible for what happened to Ty. We also got to see that the worst memories can still bubble up to the surface, even when we think we're past them.

Excellent job, everyone! I'm looking forward to next week's offering.

*MODO was most likely a parody of the DOMO full-service gas station chain in Canada.

[heartlandians]

Plotting shots, chasing light, finding moments…

Recently wrapped my second ride directing on Heartland. Feels like I’ve been welcomed into the family corral. Alberta’s weather was wilder than a bronc in a hailstorm… but we made it out alive!

Photos by: Cazhhmere Downey

[heartlandians]

Video by: Michael Weinberg

[heartlandians]

'I feel like we could just keep going:' After 18 seasons, Heartland showrunner says dynamic characters still have stories to tell

After filming Heartland for 18 seasons, it’s probably safe to assume that the producers, cast and crew have endured just about everything that Mother Nature could throw at them in rural Alberta. But the production faced a unique challenge this summer.

One of the main plot trajectories for Season 18 is that the Bartlett ranch, which has been at the heart of the series since its 2007 launch, will face devastating drought conditions. It is a story arc based on the real-life challenges faced by ranchers and farmers in Alberta. Writers for Season 18, debuts Sept. 29 on the CBC, began planning this thread not long after the province went through a particularly dry period in 2023. 

But when cameras started to roll in May, Mother Nature decided not to co-operate.

“We were shooting a drought in one of the wettest seasons we’ve ever felt,” says Amber Marshall, who plays protagonist Amy Fleming in the series. “It was quite a challenge showing characters out there talking about how if we don’t have rain, we’re not going to make it, in this lush green pasture. It’s one of those things where you write scripts so many months in advance and the previous summer had been so hot and dry, so that’s what they were basing it off of. Last year, everything was crispy and dry and hot and then this summer it’s beautiful and raining and lush green and we’re talking about this big drought that’s impacting the area.”

So the crew, already adept at negotiating Alberta’s mercurial climes, occasionally had to shoot around the flourishing green fields to capture the hardship. It all plays into a “save-the-ranch” vibe that will be a part of Season 18. Drought is not the only challenge this season facing the clan, which still includes Amy, older sister Lou (Michelle Morgan), father Tim (Chris Potter) and grandfather Jack Bartlett (Shaun Johnston). The operations are also facing increased competition by Pryce Beef, a neighbouring ranch whose practices are adversely impacting the Bartlett business.

“They are selling beef to a lot of the same venues that we would be,” Marshall says. “It’s head-to-head rivalry with your next-door neighbour and that’s why Lou steps up and tries to use her business background to make a go of the profitable side of the ranch.”

While the writers have decided to put more focus on the day-to-day struggles of a working ranch in Alberta, Heartland would not be Heartland if these challenges didn’t intersect with the characters’ personal lives and loves.

Since 2007, the Canadian public has had the rare opportunity to watch a family evolve for nearly two decades as the Bartlett-Fleming clan became the expanded Bartlett-Fleming-Morris-Borden clan. When Lou and Amy arrived at the ranch, the latter was only 15. That means she was a year younger than Lou’s oldest daughter Katie (Baye McPherson) will be in Season 18.

Longtime viewers watched Amy arrive at the ranch as a young teen grieving the death of her mother and grow into a young adult, wife, mother and – at the beginning of Season 14 – devastated widow forced to deal with single motherhood after the untimely death of longtime character Ty (Graham Wardle).

After mourning the death of her young husband, Amy eventually began seeing other men as time passed. In Season 17, that included Nathan Pryce Jr. (played by Spencer Lord). In a Romeo-and-Juliet twist, he just happens to be part of the family that owns the competing ranch. Further complications arise with the return of Ty’s best friend Caleb (Kerry James), who wants his relationship with Amy to be more than just friends.

“Amy is becoming very close with Nathan, who is the neighbour they are in direct competition with,” Marshall says. “So, of course, that doesn’t sit well with Amy’s family and it causes some ups and downs in the relationship with him and the family and she is stuck in the middle of it.”

As always, these soap-opera entanglements will be balanced with Heartland’s usual helping of horses and other animals as Amy continues to work with troubled equines. Marshall is now a producer on the series and one of her main tasks is dealing with the horses that are brought onto the show. She has been a devoted equestrian since before she was cast as Amy and it remains an integral part of both the series and her life.

“At the beginning of the year, we talk about the arcs and we look at the horse storyline(s),” she says. “Does this make sense? Can we bring in new horse characters? Can we bring in new horse breeds? How is this going to work with the fundamentals of what goes on behind the scenes, like the wranglers finding these horses? Can the horses do the discipline we’re asking them to do? Are they going to be comfortable on the set? So a lot of my time and energy goes into the animal actors and the horse storylines.”

It all fits into a solid formula that has been winning Heartland fans around the world. Last week, CBC announced it would be expanding its streaming portfolio with a separate channel dedicated to Heartland that will feature the first 17 seasons of the series.

Despite the drought, competition and heartache, the Heartland ranch still needs to be the sort of romantically rustic and aspirational setting where families and teens want to spend time.

Mark Haroun became showrunner of the series in 2016 but has been with Heartland since the beginning. He landed an entry-level script supervisor job on the series in its debut season. The key seems to be mixing new elements – the series has a habit of bringing in new pre-teen or teen characters every few seasons, for instance, to keep that demographic appeased – with the traditional aspects. While Haroun could have never predicted the show’s longevity, he said he did recognize early on that it was something special.

“I certainly knew that there was lightning in a bottle with Heartland,” says Haroun, who picked up the Showrunner Award this year at the Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards. “It’s that combination of the cast and the kinds of stories we were telling. That sort of family drama didn’t exist on television. That audience hadn’t been tapped into. It did feel like there was something really special from Day 1.”

While the series is still going strong after 18 seasons, there are inevitable questions that come with such longevity. When will it end? How will it end? Are the cast, crew and writers prepared for it to end?

Of course, the decision will ultimately be made by the Mother Corporation. But Haroun says the hope is that the series would get enough of a runway before cancellation that the writers could create an ending that is satisfying for them, the actors, the characters and the audience. Whatever the case, Heartland is a long way from being exhausted, he says.

“Nothing is guaranteed, but I feel like we have so many more stories to tell,” Haroun says. “I’ve never gone into the room at the beginning of the season and struggled to come up with stories because there are such rich, dynamic characters and it feels like we have so many places to go with stories. I feel like we could just keep going.”

Heartland airs on Sundays on CBC.

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[heartlandians]

‘Heartland’: Baye McPherson Talks Katie’s Teenage Angst, Relationship With Mom Lou & More

It has been a journey of self-discovery for Katie Fleming-Morris on Heartland, and it’s leading to some tension with her mom, Lou (Michelle Morgan). Teenage angst is prevalent during Season 18 of the long-running Canadian series. For actress Baye McPherson, who plays Katie, it’s something she can relate to in a lot of ways.

Katie finds herself at a crossroads with a big decision to be made on the horizon. After a few weeks’ hiatus, the final episodes of the season will drop weekly starting Thursday, June 19, on Up Faith & Family. Here, McPherson opens up about portraying the long-time character and what’s to come.

Congrats to you and everyone on Heartland for the Season 19 renewal. I understand you’re filming right now. What’s the early vibe on set?

Baye McPherson: The longevity of the show is pretty crazy, but it’s great. We have a similar crew as last year. Everyone is super excited about this season. There is a nice energy in the air.

You came on to play Katie during Season 15. How do you reflect on that time and the transition of taking on a role that audiences have essentially seen grow up?

It was definitely very daunting. I mean, when I first booked the role, I was so excited. It was huge. I remember my first day on set I was so, so, so nervous. Joining a show that was at 15 years, I mean the show started before I was born. It was definitely a little intimidating, but the second I stepped on set it felt like home. I mean everyone was so welcoming and caring.

I had to do a bit of research on Katie because she has had past storylines and memories that are sometimes mentioned before I joined. I did a decent amount of research in terms of who Katie is and developing. It was also really cool to put my own spin and interpretation of who Katie is. It has been really cool to grow with her. I started when I was 12, and am 16 now. I find it so interesting how Katie and I have similar experiences. As I grow in life, and so does she. Her storylines show that. It was definitely quite daunting at first, but quickly became a family.

What kind of feedback or advice did you get from those on set you really took to heart?

That first year it was my first time being on a big set like that. It was quite scary, but the wonderful Michelle Morgan, who plays my mom, was instrumental in helping me become more comfortable on set. Things like in a dinner scene where you have to keep up your continuity. If you take a sip during this one line for example, you have to keep doing that. It was something I’d never thought of before, so it was those little things. Making sure you hit your mark is another tip.

I remember the first day filming at the Heartland ranch, she took me to Katie’s room to get familiar with it. She was like, “This is where you grew up. This is your room where you have grown up.” I would say Michelle was really helpful. Shaun [Johnston] (Jack Bartlett) I had some lovely scenes that he helped talk through with me. Different directors of course in Dean Bennett and Ken Filewych, too. I had a great support system of people that were very willing to answer all of my questions. And I had a lot.

You mentioned Katie experiencing the same things you do at 16. There is a lot of relatability for younger viewers. How would you describe what she has gone through in Season 18 as she is trying to find her place? Whether that is on the Heartland ranch or not.

Katie has always kind of struggled. More or less, most people on Heartland have followed a similar route to Amy (Amber Marshall). The ranch lifestyle. Katie never really totally fit into that world. Seasons leading up to that one it was her trying to figure out what she wanted. What she wanted to do and what she was passionate about. During Season 18 she found writing. Of course, she had the difficult balance of wanting to grow up too fast. This is something I’ve experienced, and I know my friends have experienced. Having to take a minute and slow down. Like wait a second, I’m still a kid and can act like one. There shouldn’t be these expectations that I have to know what I want to do with my life and know what I’m passionate about.

How would you describe the dynamic between Katie and her mom throughout this season?

Katie did struggle during Season 18. There is tension with her mom on top of all the things with this adult writing group. At the end of the day, I think Katie and Lou love each other. I think Lou was willing to support Katie with whatever she wanted to do. Even through this tension and rebellious phase Katie had, Lou is always there for her. I think toward the end of the season, there comes a realization that Katie doesn’t have to feel the need to grow up so fast. She can still be a kid. She doesn’t have to know what she wants to be. I think that’s a beautiful lesson a lot of teenagers, including myself, have gone through.

How is it filming with Michelle, especially during the back half where things are boiling over?

It was interesting playing that dynamic of so much tension and emotions running high. It’s honestly really fun to play in that world. Michelle, I love so much. She is incredible, so it was really cool to talk it out with her and experience all these things with her. I remember having a phone conversation with Mark [Haroun] our showrunner because he was telling me about Katie’s arc for the season.

I thought, “I can’t believe Katie is doing this.” Then again this is Katie trying so hard to desperately fit in and find a place she belongs. This writer’s group was the first place where she found that. I think once Lou sees that, it’s when she has a little bit of forgiveness in that. As selfish as it was of Katie, she still wants a place to belong and really felt that. It was this driving force and so accurate with many teenagers. This season I love the arc Lou and Katie have together. That anger and frustration with Lou, and Katie trying to defend her actions and lashing out a bit. Katie realizing she doesn’t have to grow up so fast and Lou realizing Katie has to learn from these mistakes. And only from those mistakes she can learn.

What are your hopes for Katie? Maybe more romance?

Yeah, it has been fun to see different fans speculating about what she wants. This season she finds herself. Just through the comfortability of who she is as a person. That’s new for her after all these struggles. Now I feel like this season she is content to be who she is, which is a really kind 16-year-old who loves writing and dirt biking and loves her horse Dodger. This is the season that Katie gets really comfortable with herself and allows herself to be who she is.

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[heartlandians]

Heartland - Season 18 Wrap Party. Videos by: Cazhhmere Downey

[heartlandians]

Congratulations to Heartland’s very own Mark Haroun, who has won the prestigious Showrunner of the Year Award by the Writers Guild of Canada!

He was presented the award by fellow Heartland writer, Ken Craw at last week’s awards ceremony in Toronto.

Heartland has the very best cast and crew, some have been with Heartland since the very beginning. Mark Haroun is one of those original crew members having started as a story editor in Season 1 (18 years ago), and now Heartland’s Showrunner and Executive Producer for the last several years.

Congratulations Mark! We can’t wait to bring more Heartland stories to you all this season thanks to the hard work of our writing team!

📷 Credit: Writers Guild of Canada / Photographer Jacklyn Atlas