Heartland Television Series

[Horse lover]

i've calmed a little, but none the less, i'm still outraged. no way could they have done that. I was so looking forward to watching the series when i first heard about it, but after the summery no way. i probably still would watch it, even if it is the most messed up thing ever. Still i'm lost for words at what hey think they're doing.

[SpiritM]

Uh-huh

I don't understand....whats wrong?

[SpiritM]

Uhhh!!!!!!!!!!!?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhh!

I found out there was another page

THOSE CHANGES ARE BAD BEYOND BELIEF

[kate]

B-B-B Bad to the Bone.


Sorry, couldnt resist +]

[ladycanuck]

I've had the opportunity to view the pilot and you should know that it's not entirely as messed up as you would think. While some things have changed (like the setting), much of the main themes within the books remain the same. However, because it's a television series with the potential to last several seasons, and a show's renewal depends on ratings, some changes had to be made (with the approval of Lauren Brooke, I might add).  For instance, since the show is being made by a Canadian network, the setting has been changed to a Canadian location.

You all should be glad that this show is not being made by an American network or channel because then surely they would even dismantle the main themes--make it more raunchier, less about horses and more about teen hook-ups and controversy.

The show is being produced by CBC, which is a Canadian national network known for its family-friendly programming. I've been watching the progress regularily and you all would probably love the show if you gave it a chance. After all, how many other shows about horses are there on television now?

As far as I know, this show has been picked up in several countries, including the U.K., though as far as I know, not in the U.S. Here are a few useful links, the second one of which shows an actual promo clip of the series:

http://www.cbc.ca/heartland/

http://cbcmediasales.ca/?q=programs/heartland

[Cem]

I can handle a few changes, I get that there would have to be some, and some of them I can llive with, but I really hate how they've totally changed Ty's character. He and Amy's relationship (their frindship and how they work together more so than their romantic relationship) is one of the biggest things about Heartland, beside the work they do there, that makes the series what it is, and why I love it so much.

Any idea what UK channel has picked it up? I live in the UK so I'm curious to know.

[iffoncia]

5th October. Maybe I catch CBC Television station. Then I could watch Heartland mrrr.

[ladycanuck]

Here's a newspaper article from the Montreal Gazette:

Taking a big leap onto the small screen

Michael Weinberg's first project lands choice slot on CBC

BRENDAN KELLY, The Gazette
Published: Monday, September 24

First-time TV producers usually have to start off small, and then, if they're lucky, build from there to produce bigger, higher-profile projects. But not Michael Weinberg.

The Montreal investment dealer decided he'd like to try his hand at TV production a couple of years back, and his first show, the family drama Heartland, is one of the most anticipated new homegrown series on Canadian TV this season. The one-hour drama is set to premiere Oct. 14 on CBC-TV, and it has one of the choicest spots on the network's schedule, at 7 p.m. Sunday. This has traditionally been a great slot for family drama on CBC, home for many years to the hit Road to Avonlea.

Heartland, one of the priority shows at CBC this year, is a drama about a family living on a horse ranch in Alberta. The main character is Amy (Amber Marshall), a 15-year-old girl with a talent for communicating with horses. After her mother dies in a car accident, she has to grow up fast and try to keep the debt-ridden ranch afloat with help from her older sister Lou (Michelle Morgan) and their grandfather (Shaun Johnston). Things are further complicated when their estranged father (Chris Potter) re-appears on the scene.
Michael Weinberg was "looking to take it easy," then he heard about the Heartland books.

In an interview in his office just opposite the McGill campus, Weinberg said he didn't know what to expect when he made the move into the TV realm. "I had absolutely no idea how much work it takes to put a show on television," he said. "I was looking to take it easy - let's just say semi-retire - and play more golf."

Weinberg had spent more than 20 years as an investment dealer raising money for companies in the oil and gas, film and TV, mining, and research and development fields. Prior to embarking on the Heartland adventure, he hadn't done an entertainment-related deal in seven years, and he had been focusing almost all of his attention on oil and gas companies.

It all changed three years ago when a former associate walked into his office and told him about the Heartland books. Just before that, Weinberg had set up a company, Olympia Films, to develop film and TV projects, with financing from himself and from other investors. When he heard about the Heartland novels, he immediately figured this was a great opportunity.

The series of books by British author Lauren Brooke have sold 6.5 million copies around the globe - a tale of a teen girl on a horse ranch is popular with teenage girls in many countries, including Canada, the U.S., England, France, and Germany. Weinberg bought the rights from an American producer who had been trying to develop a TV project in the U.S. and, initially Olympia Films was planning to produce a two-hour TV movie based on the first of the 21-novel series.

But then the programming bosses at CBC said they would prefer a full series, which is when Montreal writers Leila Basen and David Preston, along with Heather Conkie, a former Road to Avonlea scribe, began work to transform the books into a 13-part drama.

Weinberg was convinced from the start in Heartland he had a property that could appeal to family audiences all over the world.

"What we felt was that television was becoming a wasteland," he said.

"People were getting fed up with reality shows, were fed up with violence, and we thought that there hadn't been a good solid family drama for some time, something that you could sit down and watch with your kids and not be embarrassed."

The novels are set in Virginia, but Weinberg and fellow executive producers Conkie, Jordy Randall and Tom Cox decided to shift the story to Alberta.

"We thought that the Rockies would give it a different look."

Weinberg has been commuting between Montreal and the Alberta set since shooting began there in mid-July, and, so far, he loves his new job.

"It's a whole other world that I'm being exposed to. I'm finding it to be a lot of fun and I'm really impressed by the people in the business. But it's scary. I got (an early version of the first episode) and I was so nervous about watching this thing."

But test screenings have gone exceptionally well, he says, and advertisers are equally upbeat about the show.

"Advertising was sold out in record time because they wanted to get a family audience. They said - 'Family drama? Where do we sign?' "

[deferential]

hmm interesting article