It’s no secret that Hollywood is in the midst of an identity crisis. Between the recent, tumultuous sale of Warner Bros., almost weekly AI-related controversies, and studio heads openly admitting that they are chasing less original content, the industry that once led the world in innovation now seems much less interested in free-thinking than it does in a money-making safe bet.
While the shift toward formulaic IP remakes and appealing to the masses spells a very uninteresting string of years for Hollywood, it’s opened a window for other global players who are more willing to test the bounds of viewers’ interests. And perhaps the best example in recent months is the Canadian film industry stepping in to help Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney make the spicy queer hockey show of his dreams.
“At first, it was supposed to be made with a U.S. platform. But he didn’t have the freedom he wanted. For example, [they wanted] to have the first explicit scene only in episode 5 to tone down the romance,” Julie Roy, executive director & CEO at Téléfilm Canada, said during a panel at this week’s Series Mania Forum, according to Variety.
“He decided to go back to Canada, and kudos to Crave who had the courage to welcome the full project,” she said of the streamer that ultimately teamed up with Tierney to make the steamy adaptation of Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. “For me, that’s a great example of not being Hollywood and being authentic. Authenticity is something that really works.”
Tierney, along with his stars and collaborators at Crave, have spoken in the past about why the show ended up being made outside of the U.S. and then taken to HBO for distribution. But Roy’s comments give insight into the Canadian government’s enthusiasm for stepping in to support other creatives who are growing weary of taking their work to an increasingly conservative U.S. market.
Touting the “insane” stat that Heated Rivalry has now been watched by “a high number of people” for the fifth time, Roy — who oversees the distribution of government funds to help support the country’s audiovisual industry — celebrated the fact that originality is what's fueling growth in the Canadian film industry.
“The diversity of Canada, the richness of its perspective and storytellers is such a great asset,” she said. “[But it’s also an industry.] It’s important to highlight that as well. In Canada, the economic impact of the creative industry is equivalent to aerospace industry, and it’s more than fisheries and automobile industry.”
Other industry leaders on the panel, which represented countries spanning from Canada to South Korea, also celebrated Heated Rivalry’s success, which they hoped would help set a precedent for international markets scooping up content that might be seen as too risky by U.S. streamers.
“It’s true that the opportunities and windows that have opened are very big, and that also drives us to think in another way about the storytelling,” said Mariela Besuievsky of the Spanish company Tornasol Media, which has found success partnering with production companies in Latin America. “I like what you said about Heated Rivalry: You have to find your own way and really believe that what you are telling and how you are telling it is going to communicate with the audience.”
