Heartie's Speed Round
When Calls The Heart Executive Producer
Brian Bird Responds to 10
Burning Hearties' Questions
In 250 Characters (Give or Take) + 1 BONUS QUESTION About the Reunion+ 3 DOUBLE BONUS QUESTIONS about the amazing Mrs. Bird
(In honor of the Hearties’ Record-Breaking Season 3 Finale Twitter-Frenzy)
BONUS QUESTION:
Bumpy Grimes: Is it true the Hearties Family Reunion #2 has its own website?
Brian: Yes, Bumpy (is that a boy’s or girl’s name?), it is true. As soon as you’re finished reading this, you should go there immediately for all the #HFR2 information in the universe! Heartiesfamilyreunion.com. And then, as soon as you’re done, come back to this website and stay here forever.
BURNING QUESTIONS:
Marianne Murphy: How many days does it take a writer (or writers) to create a first draft of a 1-hour episode?
Brian: Marianne, it is usually a 3-week process, starting with the entire team in a room “breaking” the storyline (putting it up on a white board). Then the individual writer goes away and writes an outline. After the network approves those pages, the writer does his/her first draft of the teleplay. Usually there is another week or two along the way for various revisions before the script goes into production.
Elaine Person: Brian, how much better were the ratings for Season 3 that we were able to hear about Season 4 so quickly?
Brian: Elaine, the key for Season 3 ratings were that they grew every week from the opening bell, which means the audience for the show was (and is) continuing to expand. Plus, the Hearties went above and beyond the call of duty with their E-fangelism! Each week, during the broadcasts, they continued to blow away the execs at Hallmark with their Twitter records! That’s the reason for the quick “pick up” of Season 4.
Georgette McDowell Rogers: I realize the episodes are based on Janette Oke's books, but as we know, the storylines are a bit different. How much say does Mrs. Oke have in the creation of the storylines and where do you get your inspiration for the episodes?
Brian: Because we have to create dozens of storylines to fill out our episodes (and hopefully hundreds by the time all is said and done) our goal for the stories is that they always hearken back to the spirit of the kinds of stories Janette unfolded in her books. The good news is that Janette reads our scripts and gives us her input. The even better news is that she loves the show!
Shaya Steward: What's the biggest unexpected challenge you have had to overcome with creating WCTH?
Brian: Shaya, in a nutshell, the answer is 2008. That was the year the sky seemed to be falling on the whole world with the economic meltdown. We were in production of the original WCTH movie when that happened and we had to stop production. It took us three years to finish that film, which is what led to the WCTH series. It was the hardest time of our lives and I almost quit the business. I’m writing a book about the whole experience, the good, bad and ugly, along with all the lessons learned. I hope it will be a booster shot of hope for anybody going through a crisis.
Amy Patton Prisco: This is silly, but I truly loved Elizabeth's hat in Season 1. Any chance we can have a hat scene or two next season?
Brian: Amy, you probably won’t see Elizabeth in the GIANT Victorian hats of Season 1 anytime soon. But we are likely to continue to follow the fashion trends of that era as we move closer to the Roaring 20s.
Debbie Hoy: How do you determine what children are present for the school scenes? For example, Hattie wasn't in school for two episodes after her big introduction. I kept thinking, where is she? Wouldn't most of the children be there every "day" for school?
Brian: In real life, you’re right, those children would likely be in school every day. But our challenge with our young actors is that they are very good at what they do, which means they are in high demand in Vancouver where there are always dozens of productions going on simultaneously. We can only work on a weekly basis with our young actors who are actually available to us.
Holly Boucher: I would like to know... how often do you have to stop a scene due to a plane flying over?
Brian: That’s easy. The answer is every hour of every day we are on set, and usually 2-3 times an hour. There happens to an airport near our Hope Valley set, and there is a pilot school flight plan that goes right over the top of us. We asked them nicely if they would consider moving it. They told us to take a hike.
Gina Ruggiero Llaneza: Is there an opportunity to allow a few Hearties to write an episode together and submit it, based on a few guidelines and selective characters? You won't have to tell us who was chosen; they'll know when they see the episode. No strings attached.
Brian: Unfortunately, there is no direct path from where you are to writing an episode of the WCTH. Sadly, because of our litigious society, on all TV shows there is a legal firewall that has been set up that keeps out all outside ideas for episodes. It would be nice if that weren’t so, but past experience dictates it’s safer that way. The second part of the answer is that there is actually a rocket science to writing for film and TV that has taken us decades to learn. Not just anybody can do it. The best way for a Heartie to break through that glass ceiling is to do what we had to do – work our butts off for years until we broke through. :)
Velez Delores: How many episodes in advance are you prepared for or do you write from season to season. Is your head constantly filled with the motion of the show?
Brian: Velez, before we start production of a new season, we try to have at least half of the episodes written and approved. Then every week, we have to feed the production beast with a brand new script. It’s very challenging to keep up with that demand, and by the end of the season, we are usually hand to mouth. As for the second part of your question, the answer is YES. When we are writing anything, an episode of WCTH, or even another project, there is usually nothing else on our minds. 24-7.
Sandi Fields: It isn't everyday that producers/actors/actresses interact with their fans so much. My question has to do with that. Did you every dream that WCTH would be what it is today when you started? And secondly, what are your hopes for the future of it?
Brian: Sandi, the reason we are so engaged with the #Hearties is that we realize they are the reason for the show, and from the beginning we all pledged to conduct ourselves differently than any show on TV. We are all on the same team, and part of the same family: Hearties, writers, cast and crew alike. And did I ever dream we would be entering Season 4 of this show when we first started making the WCTH movie in 2008? Not in a million years. It is an absolute miracle. And the Hearties are one of the biggest aspects of that miracle.
DOUBLE-BONUS QUESTIONS:
Laura G. Spence: How do you manage to juggle marriage to your amazing wife, travel to location shoots, keep actors available/interested, write this show and other shows/movies, along with finding the time to chat/tease/stir pots/update all us #Hearties? You must keep one heck of an agenda calendar.
Brian: Yes, she is an amazing wife and when she had mercy on me and agreed to marry me 35 years ago, I got a membership in the “Luckiest Man in the World Club.” Without her encouragement, organizational skills, counseling session, none of that stuff you mentioned would ever happen. I would be wandering around like a vagabond mumbling to myself and dumpster-diving. She is the reason any of it works or makes any sense.
Stacey Blessing Mathews: Do you ask your amazing wife her opinion about a storyline?
Brian: Always. She’s my audience of one and I know if it makes sense to her, I’ll be okay in the end. I also use her as my touchstone as a judge of good character with other people I work with. Working in Hollywood is like working in a band of gypsies and con artists. She usually has a pretty accurate B.S. meter when it comes to smoking out people who won’t be good to work with. And the opposite is also true. Most of my successful working relationships got her stamp of approval first.
Denise Blaise Bartholomew: I could see Brian and his amazing wife like Elizabeth and Jack when they were discussing her "adventure" story.
Brian: Totally. Except our true life adventure is way more dramatic than Jack & Elizabeth’s will ever be. If Jack and Elizabeth are oatmeal, we are huevos rancheros. :)
