How did Heated Rivalry’s Producers Make Their Massive Hit?

What It Covers

Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady explain how they produced Heated Rivalry for under three million Canadian dollars per episode using Canadian funding structures that let producers retain intellectual property rights. They discuss their anti-fascist production philosophy, thirty-six day shoot schedule, ten-hour workdays, and why American distributors initially rejected their queer hockey romance series.

Key Questions Answered

• •Canadian Production Model: Heated Rivalry secured funding through a hybrid structure: twenty to thirty percent from broadcaster Crave as license fees, twenty to thirty percent from provincial and federal tax credits, twenty percent from Bell Media's distribution arm SphereAbacus, and the final ten percent from producers reinvesting their own fees to retain full intellectual property ownership for future revenue streams.
• •Efficient Block Shooting: The production shot all six episodes in thirty-six days with ten-hour maximum workdays instead of the typical twelve to fifteen hour days. All scripts were completed before production began, allowing the team to block shoot episodes like one continuous film rather than writing during production, which significantly reduced overtime costs and crew exhaustion while maintaining quality.
• •Anti-Fascist Directing Philosophy: Tierney limits takes to capture spontaneous actor performances rather than pursuing perfectionist control through twenty-five repetitions. He prioritizes ensemble collaboration over directorial authority, allowing actors like Hudson to make unexpected choices that prove superior in editing. This approach values surprise and talent contribution over rigid pre-planned execution, creating authentic moments impossible through micromanagement.
• •Romance Genre Economics: Romance novels carry the fiction publishing industry despite widespread dismissal due to misogyny. The genre has massive built-in audiences of primarily female readers whose consumption patterns and desires are ignored by traditional media gatekeepers. Tierney notes that if Heated Rivalry featured a boy with a gun instead of queer romance, it would have been optioned a decade earlier.
• •Intellectual Property Retention Strategy: Canadian producers who use domestic funding structures own underlying IP rights for twenty-five years, unlike US studio deals where creators make more upfront but lose long-term ownership. This enabled Tierney and Brady to launch a robust merchandise business during post-production and benefit from all future revenue streams including licensing, distribution, and product sales.