Dennis Heaton learned a lot about secret societies when he was writing The Order, but his favourite societies don鈥檛 have Wikipedia entries or internet footprints.
鈥淲e鈥檒l never know about the best secret societies,鈥� says the Vancouver-based screenwriter and showrunner whose lengthy list of credits includes Motive,Call Me Fitz and Ghost Wars. 鈥淭he Skull and Bones and the Illuminati have percolated to the surface, but I鈥檓 really curious about the ones that are out there that we haven鈥檛 heard about. They鈥檙e the ones that are winning the game at keeping it under wraps.鈥�
Heaton鈥檚 latest project draws its inspiration from those unknown societies, and injects them with magic and werewolf lore.
The Order stars Jake Manley as Jack Morton, a university freshman intent on infiltrating the secret society that destroyed his mother 鈥� but in the process, he ends up joining a rival secret society completely by accident. No spoilers, but both societies engage in magic, mischief and murder. And because they鈥檙e populated by university students, they鈥檙e also rife with texting and beer pong and clumsy hook-ups.
The locally shot Netflix series dropped its 10-episode first season on March 7. Its remarkable cast includes Sarah Grey, Adam DiMarco, Katharine Isabelle, Max Martini, Thomas Elms, Devery Jacobs and Louriza Tronco.
Jewel Staite plays a pair of deliciously nasty sisters who are wholly different from Kaylee, the sunny character she played on Firefly, and Max Headroom icon Matt Frewer portrays Jack鈥檚 vengeful granddad.
The Order is equal parts funny and terrifying.
鈥淚鈥檝e always found horror and comedy to be two sides of the same coin when I鈥檓 writing,鈥� says Heaton, noting that he drew inspiration from The Howling and An American Werewolf in London. 鈥淔or me, they naturally go hand in hand. It鈥檚 not like I set out and go, 鈥極K, I鈥檓 going to write a horror film and I need to make sure I get some jokes.鈥� There鈥檚 just a natural balance between horror and comedy when I鈥檓 writing something in the horror genre.鈥�
Heaton and his Order writers were cognizant of the fact their viewers exist in a world that is already scary. 鈥淸With The Order], I think it鈥檚 less about trying to scare people in a scary world and more about trying to distract them so they can be entertained again for a while and have a little fun,鈥� says Heaton.
WhileThe Order is fun for viewers all over the world, it鈥檚 arguably more fun for Vancouverites, given that much of the action was filmed at the University of British Columbia鈥檚 Point Grey campus. UBC provided the exterior shots for the fictional Belgrave University; the interiors were filmed at Riverview. The old hospital 鈥渉as a whole educational building that had classrooms for training,鈥� says Heaton. 鈥淔or that, it was one-stop shopping. I appreciated it.鈥�
The Order was dreamt up and fleshed out in a writers鈥� room, which is industry jargon for the physical space in which the showrunner and screenwriters develop plots and generate scripts.
Heaton 鈥� who is the president of the Writers Guild of Canada 鈥� describes his writers鈥� rooms as 鈥渁 fusion between a confessional booth and An Evening at the Improv.鈥�
鈥淎s a showrunner, it鈥檚 your responsibility to make sure you鈥檙e creating a space where writers feel safe to share their stories, because there really can be those days where you鈥檙e drilling down into stuff that you wouldn鈥檛 necessarily bring up in conversation with other people.鈥�
In The Order鈥檚 writers鈥� room, Heaton and co. spoke freely about fear.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e dealing with stuff about what scares you, you end up telling each other a lot of nightmares and things that scare you and you lean into more primal fear stuff than you might if you鈥檙e doing a family relationship drama series,鈥� says Heaton.
When it came time to film The Order, Heaton was more delighted than scared.聽聽
鈥淚 think I end up ruining more shots on my show than anybody else because I鈥檒l be sitting behind the monitor laughing out loud at stuff, and oftentimes it鈥檚 not the stuff that鈥檚 supposed to be funny but it鈥檚 scary and I鈥檓 laughing because it鈥檚 so creepy! It makes me happy.鈥�
