Dennis Heaton is a Canadian screenwriter working in film and television. He formerly executive produced and show-ran The Order for Netflix.[1] Other recent credits include executive producing and writing on Ghost Wars for SYFY and Netflix, executive producing and showrunning Motive[2][3] on CTV/NBCU, Call Me Fitz[4] (HBO Canada/Audience Network), The Listener[5] (CTV/NBC), JPOD[6] (CBC), Blood Ties[7] (Lifetime/Space) and the feature film Fido.[8]
Dennis Heaton | |
|---|---|
 Heaton, in 2017 | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Heaton received two 2014 Canadian Screen Awards[9] Nominations for Best Dramatic Series for Motive and Best Comedy Series for Call Me Fitz, with Fitz winning the category.[10]He has four prior Gemini Award[11]nominations, four Canadian Screenwriting Award[12] nominations, winning for his Yvon of the Yukon script "The Trouble With Mammoths",[13] and eleven Leo Award nominations, winning for his Being Ian script "The Greatest Story Never Told"[14] and his Call Me Fitz script "Fucking Memories".[10] His web series, My Pal Satan, won[15] Best Web Series and Theme Song at the New York Television Festival.[16][17] His short film Head Shot[18] premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival,[19] won best short film at the Just For Laughs Festival[20] in Montreal, and went on to play in film festivals and on television around the world.
He won two Leo Awards in 2015 - one for Best Dramatic Series for Motive and one forBest Screenwriting/ Animation Program or Series for Nerds and Monsters - "Are You Gonna Eat That?"[21]
Dennis Heaton has served as the Pacific Region Councilor for the Writers Guild of Canada since 2012.[22] In 2018, he was elected president of the WGC.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | |||
| Let's Chop Soo-E | 1989 | No | No | No | Short film; production supervisor |
| Angel Square | 1990 | No | No | No | animation production manager |
| Pink Komkommer | 1991 | No | No | No | Short film; production supervisor |
| Deadly Deposits | 1993 | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| Headshot | 2006 | Yes | No | Yes | Short film |
| Fido | 2006 | No | No | Yes | |
| Funny Business | 2011 | No | No | No | Short film; story editor |
Television
editThe numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
| Title | Year | Credited as | Network | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | ||||
| The Brothers Grunt | 1994–95 | Developer | No | Yes (8) | No | MTV | Also producer |
| Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side | 1994 | No | No | No | No | CBS | Television film; producer |
| Life and Times | 1997, 2002 | No | Yes (1) | No | CBC Television | Documentary; additional producer (1 episode, 1997), writer (2002) | |
| Gary Larson's Tales From the Far Side II | 1997 | No | No | No | No | BBC | Television film; producer |
| Murder in Normandy | 1999 | No | Yes | No | History Television | Documentary | |
| Forced March to Freedom | 2001 | Yes | Yes | No | History Television | Documentary | |
| KinK | 2001–02 | No | Yes (26) | No | No | Showcase | director (seasons 1–2), creative consultant (season 2) |
| ZeD | 2002 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | CBC Television | segment "Cannibalism and Your Teen" |
| Yvon of the Yukon | 2002, 2004 | No | No | Yes (2) | No | YTV | |
| Atomic Betty | 2004 | No | No | Yes | No | Teletoon | unknown episodes |
| Being Ian | 2005, 2008 | No | No | Yes (4) | No | YTV | |
| Life with Derek | 2005 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | Family | |
| Blood Ties | 2007 | No | No | Yes (5) | No | Lifetime | Also story editor |
| Wayside | 2007 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | Teletoon | |
| George of the Jungle | 2007 | No | No | Yes (2) | No | Teletoon | |
| Jibber Jabber | 2007 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | YTV | |
| jPod | 2008 | No | No | Yes (3) | No | CBC Television | co-producer (4 episodes) |
| The Listener | 2009 | No | No | Yes (2) | No | CTV | Co-producer (season 1) |
| Casper's Scare School | 2009 | No | No | Yes | No | YTV | unknown episodes |
| My Pal Satan | 2009 | Yes | No | Yes (6) | No | web series | |
| Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story | 2010 | No | No | No | No | CBC | miniseries; co-producer |
| Call Me Fitz | 2010–12 | No | No | Yes (12) | No | HBO Canada | co-producer (season 1), co-executive producer (seasons 2–3) |
| Rated A for Awesome | 2011 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | YTV | |
| Motive | 2013–16 | No | No | Yes (13) | Yes | CTV | |
| Motive Digital Series: The Dark Corner | 2013 | No | No | No | Yes | web series | |
| Primeval: New World | 2013 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | Space | |
| Nerds and Monsters | 2014 | No | No | Yes (3) | No | YTV | |
| Olympus | 2014 | No | No | Yes (1) | No | Super Channel | |
| Ghost Wars | 2017–18 | No | No | Yes (2) | Yes | Syfy | |
| The Order | 2019–20 | Yes | No | Yes (5) | Yes | Netflix | |
| The Imperfects | 2022 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Netflix | |
Awards and nominations
edit- Awards
- 2015 Leo - Best Dramatic Series[23] for Motive
- 2015 Leo - Best Screenwriting for an Animation Program or Series[23] for Nerds And Monsters - Episode "Are You Gonna Eat That?"
- 2012 Leo - Best Screenwriting in a Music, Comedy, or Variety Program or Series[24] - Call Me Fitz: "Fucking Memories"
- 2009 Best Web Series and Theme Song, New York Television Festival for My Pal Satan[16][17]
- 2005 Leo - Best Animation Program or Series[25] - Being Ian
- 2003 Writers Guild of Canada - Top 10 - Yvon of the Yukon
- Nominations
- 2015 Leo - Best Dramatic Series[26] for Motive
- 2014 Leo - Best Dramatic Series[27] for Motive
- 2012 Leo - Best Screenwriting in a Music, Comedy, or Variety Program or Series[28] - Call Me Fitz: "Dysfunctional Family Circus"
- 2010 Leo - Best Web Series[29] - My Pal Satan
- 2009 Writers Guild of Canada - Best Short Subject or Web Series - My Pal Satan
- 2008 Leo - Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series[30] - George of the Jungle
- 2008 Leo - Best Screenwriting in a Dramatic Series[30] - jPod: "Betty & Veronica Syndrome"
- 2007 Leo - Best Screenwriting in a Feature Length Drama[31] - Fido
- 2007 Leo - Best Screenwriting in a Short Drama[31] - Head Shot
- 2007 Leo - Best Short Drama[31] - Head Shot
- 2007 Writers Guild of Canada Award - Feature Film Fido
- 2006 Berlin Film Festival Best Short Film - Head Shot
- 2005 Leo - Best Animation Program or Series[14] - Being Ian
- 2004 Writers Guild of Canada Award - Best Writing in Children's & Preschool - Yvon of the Yukon episode "Siamese Twits"
- 2002 Leo - Best Screenwriting Youth Or Children's Program Or Series[32] - Yvon of the Yukon - "An ‘F’ In Friendship"