#Hearties Quarterly eNews  S1 V2                                                  28th March 2024

This is a resend of the July 15 newsletter.  I apologize for any duplication but due to malware, many did not receive their copy.

Dear Hearties:

Welcome to the July 15, 2014 edition of the quarterly Hearties eNews.

As most of you have heard, Season 2 of Hallmark Channel’s sensational original series When Calls The Heart is slated to premiere in May 2015.  This means we have many months of delightful anticipation ahead as well as production tidbits to enjoy as filming finally begins! What do dynamic duo Brian Bird and Michael Landon Jr. and their fabulously talented production and acting teams have in store? Whatever it is, we’re confident that Season 2 is going to be filled with the wonderful characters, faith, love, and family friendly entertainment we have all come to cherish.

We hope you enjoy this compilation of stories, Hearties highlights, and special content that Sheri Lynn DiGiovanna has lovingly and painstakingly assembled. Thank you for being part of our Hearties family!

With Heartfelt Regards,

Marisa Loffredo Corser, Allyson Lapp, Debi Watson-Bailey, Camille Eide, and Susan Michael Cooper (Facebook Page Administrators), and Sheri Lynn DiGiovanna (Webmaster)

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Words from Brian Bird

Writer/Producer of When Calls The Heart

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job as an Executive Producer of When Calls the Heart is when I get to interact with our official #Hearties “crew-members.”  On the two occasions I was able to meet in person with groups of Hearties, once in Southern California and once in Atlanta, our question-and-answer session seemed to be the highlight of our time together.  So even though we aren’t always able to do this in person, I’m looking forward on a periodic basis to selecting a few of the hundreds of behind-the-scenes mysteries that inquiring Heartie minds want revealed and I hope my answers hit the spot!

            So here we go…

            Q: Who writes each episode and how much in advance is each episode written?  -- Charmaine Lipa.

           A.  Thanks, Charmaine, for asking the question nearest and dearest to my Heartie.  The answer, of course, varies from series to series, but in Season 1, Michael Landon Jr. and I had a team of 8 freelance writers who helped us craft our scripts (you can see their writing credits at the beginning of each episode).  The way most TV series writing staffs work is that each of the storylines are “pitched out” in a conference room in which the whole writing team helps develop the idea on a white board.  Then one writer is assigned to that script and peels off to go write the first draft, while the rest of the team keeps cooking up future episodes.  When that writer returns in a week to 10 days with his/her first draft, the entire staff then does a staff rewrite around a table, “punching up” the script.  That draft goes into the network for their notes, and then the writer does his/her second draft, addressing those notes.  From that point on, the head writer usually puts the finishing touches on the next draft that we feed to the “production monster.”

Usually, the writing staff begins working on the scripts scripts 3-4 months before production begins, because once that happens, we have to feed the “production beast” every 7 work days with a brand new script.  On brand new shows, the process begins a lot earlier because there is a trial-and-error process as the writing staff “finds” the right tone and pacing and “voice” of the show.  In Season 1 of WCTH, we started working on the first 6 episodes in March 2013, when the only guarantee we had was 6 episodes.  When it was clear the network was interested in expanding to more episodes, we had to rethink how those first 6 shows would end because we didn’t want the drama and romance to unfold too quickly or peak too early.  

 

            Q.  In regards to special effects, who is on the "team" and how long does it take, on the average, to add all of the graphics and effects? -- Carolyn Reed.

             A.  Our fabulous visual effects (VFX) team is led by John Gadjecki and Mike Leeming, two Vancouver-based VFX artists who have been figuring out ways to use their computers to enhance hundreds of films and TV shows for many years.  Some of their other credits include such films and TV series as The Santa Clause, Dr. Doolittle, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Stargate, The Arrow and Arctic Air.  The various VFX tools vary from shot to shot, as does the time that it takes make each one work.  When people refer to “Hollywood Magic,” the VFX process is where it really kicks in.  How was James Cameron able to convince us we were on board the Titanic back in 1912?  The answer:  visual effects and some brilliant artists sitting at high-end computers.  The magic of Coal Valley especially comes to life when you see those majestic mountains as a backdrop for the town, or towering over our Coal Valley mining operation.  Well, those mountains were actually imported to British Columbia all the way from Telluride, Colorado.  They came as beautiful still photographs (or “plates”) taken on a high-end Digital SLR camera and then they were married with original footage of the town.  There are beautiful mountain ranges in B.C., but they are quite a distance away from our Coal Valley location in Langley, so we decided to use the Telluride backdrop because of the unique box canyon that exists there.  Additionally, our VFX magic was used to create our mining operation.  In reality, the exterior of the mine was created with a “starter” mountain that was built by our Art Department on one end of a large A-frame warehouse at our Jamestown ranch location.  Our VFX team then extended the mountain visually by marrying it with the backdrop plates from Telluride.  Each VFX shot goes through several drafts before it is finalized, and each can take up to 2 weeks to perfect.

             Q.   How long does it take to get the scenes just right? How long do the beautiful child actors have to memorize the lines? Do they get to choose what part they want to play? -- Destiny Thomas.

             A.  So there are 3 questions here that deserve 3 different answers. You might be surprised to know that each episode requires 7 days of filming and each script is broken down into bite-size chunks of production that can be reasonably accomplished in a 12-hour work day.  Scripts are normally about 50 pages long, which means we roughly have to shoot 7 pages of material every day. (Interestingly, most feature films only try to accomplish 2-3 pages of production everyday, but not so for TV series work).  That means an average of 4 - 5 scenes have to be filmed every day.  How long it takes to get right is probably not the right question because each scene typically has only 2-3 hours of production time available.  The way to answer this question instead is how good can we make the scene in 2-3 hours?

As for how much time our Coal Valley kids have to memorize their lines, the answer is that they have the same amount of time as our Coal Valley adults.  At the end of each day, the actors all receive their material to memorize for the next day.  Some of have more than others, but primarily they have to get all their “homework” done the evening prior to the next day.  They also have a little downtime in their trailer dressing rooms in between each scene as the lights and camera equipment are set.

In terms of whether the actors get to choose their parts, the answer is no.  The director, executive producers, and casting director hold audiences for each role and choose from among the actors who come in to read for those parts, so in essence, they choose whether they want to read for a role, but we choose them from among their peers to get hired for the acting job.

 

Thanks, Hearties, for the great questions.  I look forward to offering clues in future posts on all the film-making mysteries that get your hearts racing!

-Brian Bird

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-We thank you from the bottom of our hearties,

               Brian Bird

for your patience and time.

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Meet our Facebook Group Admins

I thought Hearties would like to meet the 5 women behind the scenes of our fabulous Hearties Facebook Group.  It has taken me months to get them to agree to this, as self-promotion is not what they are about.  We are very lucky to have these lovely ladies at the helm and I am glad they were (albeit reluctantly) willing to fill us in! 

Click here or on the pictures or link below to see the pdf file containing their gracious answers to my 5 questions: http://www.heartieswcth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Meet-the-Admins-eNews.pdf

-Your Webmaster

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Hearties eNews vs Hearties eNewsBOOM

The Hearties eNews is a quarterly email newsletter that you can expect to receive July 15th, Oct 15th, Jan 15th, and April 15th!   The Hearties eNewsBOOM will come out if there is special news to be delivered in between those dates - such as our inaugural eNewsBOOM announcing Season 2 back on May 5th.  We hope you enjoy reading both!

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eFangelism Challenge Winner

The winner of the July 10th eFangelism challenge where we asked Hearties to sign up some non-Facebook (or non Facebook group) Hearties to our newsletter subscriptions is:

Angelica Kidd

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Hearties Create Coal Valley Character Cards

Since the children are our future and will be the stars of Coal Valley when #WhenCallsTheHeart is STILL on the air 20 years from now, the Facebook Admin Team (Susan Cooper, Marisa Corser, Camille Eide, Allyson Lapp, Debi Watson-Bailey) developed a series of Coal Valley Character Cards on Miss Thatcher’s students for the enjoyment of #Hearties everywhere. These divine designs …

Read more.

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What is it?

We added this picture to our first eBOOM.  Still waiting on the gift itself, we have not yet posted it to FB for guessing so we're including it again.

This is part of a picture, drawn by the talented Brentan Harron, of a special When Calls The Heart item. You could win this autographed picture in an upcoming contest. Stay tuned for details! This is an eNews exclusive, but in a bit, we will post it to FB so you can give us your guesses!


 

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Hearties Around the Globe

Our Hearties map boasts 1,972 Hearties from all 50 states and 7 countries.  Have you pinned yourself?  Click on the map below to (go to our Hearties webmap) to search your city and state for Hearties near you.

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Hearties Initiatives

We have enjoyed many activities, contests, and discussions on our Facebook page and there are more to come being planned by our magical Admins.  For those of you not on social media (Facebook or Twitter), this eNews and posts on our www.HeartiesWCTH.com website will serve as a way for you to participate.  Looking forward to the coming season of fun!  Below are two of these initiatives:  The Pot Stirrers made by Hearties all over the map and put together by hard working Hearties and the Hearties Cookbook (ongoing).

Hearties celebrate Brian Bird's birthday with "Pot Stirrers" Project

Hearties celebrate Brian Bird's birthday with "Pot Stirrers" Project

by Sheri DiGiovanna, Webmaster

Brian Bird, producer and writer of When Calls the Heart and notorious master "pot stirrer" on the Hearties FB page (by way of delicious, exclusive never-before-seen pictures and puzzles for upcoming episodes and events) receives a birthday package from the #Hearties and responded in thanks with the following message and video: #‎Hearties‬... you ROCK! Honored to announce …

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Made from the Hearties Cookbook

When Calls The Heart nourishes us in so many ways that it has inspired the online Made from the Hearties Cookbook.  Submit your recipes!

The cookbook is an online version so peruse away, then print whatever you wish, add it to a Hearties binder (coming soon) and enjoy! Follow and join in on the cookbook discussions in the FB Events.

http://www.heartieswcth.com/fan-creative/cookbook/  

 

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Click to join us on:

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More Website Posts 

The following are just some of the many great articles you will find on our website under News

www.HeartiesWCTH.com

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Millennium Entertainment releases “When Calls The Heart” DVDs to Walmart

Millennium Entertainment releases “When Calls The Heart” DVDs to Walmart

“When Calls The Heart” DVDs will be available in box stores starting exclusively with Wal-Mart next week. The DVDs will be available in the stores and on-line at www.walmart.com. A total of 6 DVDs will be released over the course of several months. Each DVD will play like a mini-series movie (roughly 2 hours) and encompass 2 episodes each: Episodes …

Read more.

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S2 production begins summer of 2014

S2 production begins summer of 2014

S2 of #WhenCallsTheHeart One of the WCTH Executive Producers tweeted a few days ago that they are just now starting to write and production will begin late Summer. One of the cast members shared today (Twitter) that filming begins (sometime) in August. Official/Exact production and air dates have yet to be published. Cast/Crew have speculated that "S2 is unlikely to …

Read more.

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Lori Loughlin: ‘I Couldn’t be Happier’

Lori Loughlin: ‘I Couldn’t be Happier’

ShowBiz Spy Wednesday, May 14, 2014 LORI Loughlin says she “couldn’t be happier” working on her new show. The former Full House actress, 49, stars in the Hallmark Chanel series When Calls the Heart. Lori plays kindhearted Abigail Stanton, a resilient coal miner’s widow. “It’s been a long time since Little House was on the air,” Lori explained. “So the …

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God Winks and 5 Hearts Beat in Sync: How the #Hearties Were Born

God Winks and 5 Hearts Beat in Sync: How the #Hearties Were Born

By Susan Michael Cooper, Marisa Loffredo Corser, Camille Eide, Allyson Lapp, and Debi Watson-Bailey How The Admin Team met is a total God-wink moment. We found each other on Twitter in February 2014 while tweeting about “When Calls The Heart” and have yet to meet in person. We live in 5 different cities across 3 different time zones. We were …

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Johannah Newmarch - Leo Award Nominee

Johannah Newmarch - Leo Award Nominee

Nominees for Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series-- Johannah Newmarch- When Calls The Heart - A Telling Silence http://www.leoawards.com/  

Read more.

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When Calls the Heart: A Telling Silence DVD Dove "Family-Approved"

When Calls the Heart: A Telling Silence DVD Dove "Family-Approved"

DVD Release: April 22, 2014 Dove "Family-Approved" For All Ages Email Print Synopsis Feeling sorry for 8-year-old mute Rosaleen Sullivan, teacher Elizabeth Thatcher reaches out to the little girl as they share lunch. But when Elizabeth is called away and then returns, Rosaleen is missing! Meanwhile, constable Jack Thornton discovers evidence that Cat Montgomery may have been involved in a …

Read more.

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#Hearties Quarterly eNews  S1 V2                                                  28th March 2024

www.HeartiesWCTH.com