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

with Jacob Tierney & Brendan Brady

7 Feb 2026 18 min read 1h 33m

TL;DR

Heated Rivalry became a massive hit by centering queer joy and female desire rather than trauma, leveraging the Canadian production system's IP ownership model to retain long-term value. The show succeeded on a budget under $3M Canadian per episode through efficient production practices and hiring talented collaborators who weren't over-directed.

Key Moments

Jacob Tierney

“what the show did in an in a kind of an unpreachy un trying to teach you a lesson way is just present queer joy. And I think that that's its soft power.”

Explaining why the show resonated so widely with audiences despite initial rejection from studios

▶ 3:09

Brendan Brady

“this is a story written by women and it's consumed primarily by women and we don't take female uh desire and stories seriously in media a lot of the times.”

Discussing how the romance genre and female readership were underestimated by major studios

▶ 5:10

Brendan Brady

“So basically the Canadian uh film and TV system has subsidies and equity and grant systems that are propped up by the Canadian government... the benefit to us in uh Canada as producers is it's unfortunate that we don't get necessarily the whole budget out of our uh broadcasters but we as the producers own all the underlying IP.”

Explaining how the Canadian production system differs from the U.S. and enabled them to retain ownership

▶ 8:38

Jacob Tierney

“I would rather be surprised by an offering from an actor than control every last aspect of their performance... I didn't insist on some idea that I had in my head because what he brought to the table was more interesting and it was surprising and it was full of life”

Describing his "anti-fascist" directing philosophy and how it led to better creative outcomes

▶ 15:47

Jacob Tierney

“I really was like, "I don't think it should be. I think it should be what it [is]"... they were like "That's not what we meant. Too much sex, too much hockey, too little hockey, too little sex."”

Recounting the feedback from studios and broadcasters who wanted him to change the show's core identity

▶ 24:00

About Jacob Tierney & Brendan Brady

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Jacob Tierney is the creator and director of the hit series Heated Rivalry, with over 100 episodes of television directing experience. Brendan Brady is the executive producer who helped bring the show to life. Together, they discuss how they built one of the decade's biggest cultural phenomena on a shoestring budget using the Canadian production model.

Takeaways

Canadian IP ownership model outperforms upfront payment Unlike U.S. studios that buy full IP rights, Canadian broadcasters use subsidies and tax credits covering 40-60% of budget while producers retain ownership. Tierney and Brady reinvested their fees because they knew long-term merchandise and licensing would generate returns for 25+ years—a structural advantage the U.S. model abandoned.

Pre-written scripts enable efficient block shooting Heating Rivalry shot all six episodes in 36 days at 10-hour days by completing all scripts before production. This contrasts with U.S. shows that write during production. For 8-10 episode seasons, pre-written scripts eliminate the scheduling chaos that inflates budgets to $6-10M per episode.

Collaborative directing attracts better performances Tierney's "anti-fascist" approach—trusting actors' instincts rather than demanding perfection across 25+ takes—produced surprising, authentic moments that editing revealed were stronger than his original vision. This reduced crew exhaustion (especially for female-dominated departments like hair/makeup) while improving creative output.